I am delighted to be day two of the #MeetElviraCarr blog tour, courtesy of Mantle Books! Big thanks to Don Shanahan for inviting me to be a part of the tour! For my stop today I have the pleasure of sharing the author’s, Frances Maynard, letter to her younger self.
But first, here are the all important details of Frances Maynard’s new book, The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr, which will be published by Mantle Books on the 24th August!
Funny, heart-warming and ultimately triumphant, The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr is the perfect story for anyone who doesn’t quite fit in – and for everyone who chooses not to.
Elvira Carr is twenty-seven and neuro-atypical. Her father – who she suspects was in the secret service – has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke and is taken into care, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in Sheltered Accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that’s full of people she doesn’t understand. Not even the Seven Rules can help her, however, when she discovers that everything she thought she knew about her father was a lie, and is faced with solving a mystery she didn’t even know existed . . .
Click here to pre-order your copy of the book.
A Letter to my younger self by Frances Maynard.
Dear Frances,
Don’t listen to them.
Don’t listen to your parents. How can you be a carbon copy? Family doesn’t have to be blood.
Don’t listen to your teachers. Most of them will never teach you anything you need to know. But keep learning.
Don’t listen to advice. It will be unasked for, undeserved and irrelevant. You’ll only learn, unfortunately, by doing.
Don’t listen to conventions that, at the time, seem set in stone.
Don’t listen to anyone who’s certain about anything. Certainty is blinding.
Do listen to your friends (but not the drug-addled ones). Wisdom is not confined to the old.
Do listen to your gut instinct.
Do listen to the little voice inside that is telling you: one day things will be different, one day you’ll have more power, one day your time will come.
Love from
Frances
Huge thanks to Frances Maynard for such an honest and empowering letter.
The Writing Garnet 