Tour: The Shoe Diaries

Lily

5 years ago

Goddess Fish Promotions Presents

The Shoe Diaries
by Darby Baham

A randomly drawn winner will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC – Enter Below

It’s never too late to put your best foot forward

From the outside, Reagan “Rae” Doucet has it all: a coveted career in Washington, DC, a tight circle of friends and a shoe closet to die for. When one of her crew falls ill, however, Rae is done playing it safe. The talented but unfulfilled writer makes a “risk list” to revamp her life. But forgiving her ex, Jake Saunders, might be one risk too many…

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

The Friendship Chronicles/Book 1: The Shoe Diaries

“Reminiscent of Sex and the City and the Shopaholic series in the best possible way. Her stories are a lot of fun and yet she still tugs at your heartstrings.”–Gail Chasan, Special Edition Editor

If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?

To read people’s minds. It would make trusting a whole lot easier, right?

What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

I’m a HUGE sports fan… like you may not want to watch with me because I get really animated, HUGE. I also started off working on the sports desk at Times Picayune in New Orleans and totally thought I wanted to be the female Michael Wilbon for many years.

When writing descriptions of your hero/ine, what feature do you start with?

I start with their personality characteristics and then that helps to determine some of their physical descriptions. For example, Reagan has been a person who carefully likes to dip her toe into what she thinks are risks for years, but never fully jumps in. So then I knew she had to have one tattoo, and a really small one, because that’s like her — taking a “risk” but only slightly.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Definitely a plotter. I tried being a pantser, and it ended up taking me more than a decade to finish the book lol

Did you learn anything from writing this book? If so, what?

Absolutely. Well, really it’s more that I worked through things in my life while writing it. I like to say that I’m a recovering perfectionist, so a lot of the internal fights that Reagan has were fictionalized representations of my own struggles. I found that it helped me to write someone else getting through it to make it connect for me. Now, there are plenty of times in my actual life when I remind myself that I wrote a whole book about pushing beyond this idea that everything has to be perfect, so I can’t very well live something differently.

Romance

February 13, 2016

“With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee the treasures of my mind, heart and hands…”

Staring at my friends from my seat, I noticed more than just their words as they recited their vows. I saw their hands clasped together throughout the ceremony, and the smiles they wore even through their tears; the way they focused on each other like no one else was present even while a hundred and fifty of us stared at them with glee. But most important, I saw the love that was undeniable between the two of them. Strange, but I was all at once happy and sad, amazed and hurt. In them I saw hope for a future. Here were two people who’d found love and decided that nothing else was more important than their union. Yet, standing less than two feet away from them, I also saw the man I’d hoped would be my future—and it hurt me to my core to know that we would never have this same moment.

Every few minutes I caught myself peeking over at him during the ceremony, hoping he would turn to me, and we would have some kind of knowing thought between us. That we would have a brief second where no words were necessary, and through our eyes, we’d say, “I know it didn’t work for us, but I still love you.” I craved that moment more than anything I’d ever wanted before, wishing with all my might he would just look over. Just glance at me…and smile.

That look never happened.

Darby Baham (she/her) is a debut author with Harlequin Special Edition and a New Yorker of five years who sometimes desperately misses the sprawling shoe closet she had while living in Maryland. She’s had personal blog posts appear in The Washington Post’s relationship vertical and has worked in the communications industry for more than two decades. The New Orleans, LA native is also a lover of big laughs and books that swallow you into their world. Her first book, The Shoe Diaries, debuts in 2022.

Darby Baham’s Washington Post bylines

I had the perfect date dress. Why did it hang in my closet unworn for more than a year? — March 2016

When it comes to relationship advice, sometimes it’s best to ignore your friends — February 2016

I’m the oldest sister in my family and I’m single. And that’s okay. — March 2016

I was afraid to say ‘I love you.’ Here’s how I found the courage. –