If you've read Curveball: A Love Story, then you know that Emma does not, in fact, collect turtles...but she might start! I don't collect turtles either, but I think Emma's ideas about how collections get started and then explode are so true. One person discovers you kind of like snow globes, or owls, or Christmas angels, or....whatever!, and then before you know it, you're getting dozens of them for every gift-giving holiday possible because hey, buying presents is hard. And really knowing what people like or want or need is hard. So those collections are like a friendship shortcut—a way to feel like you're sticking the landing in the present-buying Olympics. I've been guilty of it before. My sister has a collection that completely exploded that I cheerfully fed for years before she pointed out that she didn't have a single extra spot of room for even one more Noah's Ark figurine.
When I finished writing this book, I wanted a little tangible memento of the journey because I had fallen so deeply in love with Emma and Zach's story. So on a whim I bought myself a Connemara marble turtle even though, I swear, I don't collect turtles. Go to my Instagram or Facebook pages to see a picture of him, and read Curveball to understand why he was a perfect present to myself to celebrate the creation of this story.
Keep reading!
—Anne
July 11, 2022