"First Kisses, Real & Imagined"

“In the past few months, my story collection The Geography of First Kisses has allowed a way in for prospective readers to speak of their own first kisses. A First Lady’s first kiss as a young girl under a front porch light. An elderly gentleman’s remembrance of full lips under a full moon. A girl’s memory of butterfly kisses from when she was much younger with her grandmother, their eyelashes fluttering together, and her grandmother laughing and saying,“Honestly? The first one? No idea,” her voice trailing behind her, the memory gone. And while these stories are lovely and spontaneous, it’s the first kisses in literature, rather than in real life, that draw me in.”

- from “First Kisses, Real & Imagined,” a little essay I wrote on first kisses, mostly literary ones, inspired by readers, novels, and the stories of The Geography of First Kisses & featured in the Women’s Writers, Women’s Books’ ON WRITING column

Sybelia Drive’s 1st Birthday

Sybelia Drive’s 1st Birthday is here! Celebrating with an interview in the October issue of local Columbus Clintonville Spotlight, first ever in-person book club event, a future Taylor Swift as Books IG Live Interview (TBA), and the November Sewanee Writers’ Conference Reading (November 18, 8 pm, online: link to come). I’m also sending out #sybeliadrive postcards with quotations from the novel. LuLu and Rainey are still kicking! Thanks to everyone who helped bring this story into the world! And if you’d love a copy, follow this link - https://www.karinceciledavidson.com/sybelia-drive - for purchase options. Signed copies at local Columbus shops too: Prologue Bookshop & Bookspace Columbus.

Springtime is blooming with Sybelia Drive Book Reviews

From Emily Webber’s book review of Sybelia Drive in Mom Egg Review:

“The effect of the multiple voices in Sybelia Drive is like being in a big shifting ocean, and you never know what or who is going to be churned up and if the waters will be rough or calm. We aren’t promised complete pictures of these lives, which is clear early on. Characters come and go, some getting only a chapter or two and fleeting mentions in other parts of the novel, but every character is deeply felt. Davidson weaves a complex and rich tapestry of each of these lives regardless of how much space they take up in the novel.”

Gratitude for another beautiful Sybelia Drive review!

Mother's Day on Sybelia Drive

This Mother’s Day the mamas of SYBELIA DRIVE—Eva, Minnie, and Lillian—are sitting together in lawn chairs by the lake, little paper umbrellas in their drinks. It’s cool in the shade, and they’re laughing and laughing. Want to join them? 🌸🍹🌴☀️

Buy your own mama and yourself a copy 💕

Braddock Avenue Books

Bookshop.org

Beautiful Book Review of Sybelia Drive

“Sybelia Drive is the sort of book that leaves me feeling that everyone should know about – it deserves to be widely read and loved. It’s a lyrical, intelligent, probing book that also hums with the comfort of friendship and connection, and moves along at a rhythmically soothing pace. It is subtle but also surprising, written with a lightness of touch and a depth of feeling that left me feeling changed.” - Ellie Hawkes of Elspells Book Blog

In her beautiful review of Sybelia Drive, Ellie Hawkes notes how challenging it is to respond to a novel she loves “so fiercely.” Not only is her response engaging and comprehensive, it is the most amazing and rewarding kind of acknowledgment a writer might ever hope to receive. Gratitude for her generous praise and for her invitation to other readers to “seek out” and read the novel themselves!

To read the entire review, visit Elspell’s Book Blog. To purchase a copy of Sybelia Drive, visit Braddock Avenue Books.