Working With My Editor on the Structure of Seltzertopia

Working With My Editor on the Structure of Seltzertopia

So, “Where’re we at with Seltzertopia, the book?” you might be wondering.

Well, when I’m not on Facebook fielding press requests from NPR, I’m hard at work with my editor, Dena, trying to find the right structure for the book. What will make Seltzertopia not just original but stand the test of time is how we choose to frame the story of seltzer.

Over my 13 years working on this project I have structured, and restructured, it many many times. In fact, each new book structure drove the work that followed, inspiring the next set of interviews and research and the eventual writing of new chapters. It almost feels like making a sculpture out of marble. I keep wacking at it, then look from afar, then try again.

I think we’re almost there. It’s feeling good. I’ve made something rather complex, but accessible, like the structure of Netflix’s series Dear White People, because the stories are all interwoven. The story of seltzer is about many strands that, overtime, interconnect at different points, around different people or events, and then continue on their own. It would be SO much easier if the story of seltzer was a simple, linear, chronological narrative. But it’s not. Writing it has been so much more fun as a result and, I hope, will be that much more rewarding for you to read as well.

But first we need to nail it down. I think we’re close!

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