Can You Hear the Ocean?

Author's Note

Dear Reader,

Thank you for clicking on this story. In all honesty, I originally did not expect to be publishing another novel so soon after my last novel, When the Violin Sings. I was experiencing some writer's block at the time of finishing that novel and expected I'd have to take a break before inspiration hit me for my next novel, and yet, something struck me one day in July of this year, and here we are. I'm very excited to present Can You Hear the Ocean? to you all.

I've always wanted to write a story about childhood friendship. Not just the lesbian community, but many times, the entire LGBTQ+ community is unreasonably sexualized and treated as something "adult" despite the fact that each of us members of the LGBTQ+ community were once children and many of us did feel attraction to members of the same sex as children.

*In Antoni from Queer Eye Voice* The friendships that young girls share is something that can actually be so personal. Months back, I saw a lot of tweets/text posts/memes about those times when you'd meet a young girl around your age at the pool or beach and play for a few hours before departing and presumably never seeing each other again. I experienced this many times as a child, and I am always blown away by how fast young girls can locate each other and immediately make a new friend. In addition, having a close female friend during your formative years is something that really shapes your childhood, and for many of us sapphics, those were often our first instances of same sex attraction. While many of those friendships often fade naturally over time, they still stick with us for years.

Despite the fact that I have not spoken to one of my close elementary school friends since possibly my freshman year of college (which is pretty impressive that we were still occasionally in contact up until that point), I still remember that her favorite color, what her school lunchbox looked like, her hobbies, her Webkinz username, what her childhood bedroom looked like, and so on. It took me many years, around the same time I was accepting my sexuality, to realize I had a crush on her the entire time I was in elementary and middle school. That love was pure and wholesome, and I'm sure many sapphics have had similar experiences. I wanted to translate those feelings into my next novel.

In short, yes, basically I listened to "seven" by Taylor Swift and decided to write this novel.

Please enjoy! Most of you who have been following me for a while know the drill by now. Updates are weekly on Fridays!

~Maeve