G
Gabby
May 13, 2026
Oh, my Goddess!
Oh, my Goddess! I wish Carrie Byrd (the author) was here so I could give her a big hug and thank her for writing one of the best stories I’ve read this year (or last). How good is it? Let me count the ways. Perhaps its because of my age and/or past experiences, but either way it is so relatable to anyone at any age. The sense of being “not enough”; of seeing how your parent or parents treat you and others and how they feel about themselves; or the truth about who you are what you want, being so close that you can’t see it… until you finally do. And most of all, the depth of love we can give and receive when we are willing to “be brave” and accept the possibility (or inevibility) of loss and pain and love anyway. To top it off is the exquisite writing and dialogue mixed with the personalities and insights. So very good. As a novel and screenwriter, I could never surpass lines like, “Anne kissed Sadie until distance became a lie.” The entire book, by Ms. Byrd, is filled with honest and telling words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters… one after another. So, I’ll say it once again. Oh, my Goddess! My emotions and thoughts reading The Second Draft were like a pendulum swinging from a sense of loneliness and heartbreak, to pleasure, joy and buckets of happy tears.