Collection Story
This Side of the Veil is a short story collection about characters who have experienced loss and are grieving but learning to move forward in their own unique ways.
My name is Karina Cheah, and I am the author of This Side of the Veil. This book emerged from an essay about my own experience of unexpectedly losing a friend during the summer of 2018. The essay unlocked many things I hadn’t realized I’d been thinking about, and this collection is an exploration of some of those thoughts and emotions.
My hope is that, in reading this collection, you will feel connected to the different characters who, in their unique experiences, are also united in the shared feelings of grief and love as they search for resilience they didn’t know they had. I hope that they might be able to provide some insight or space for reflection, regardless of whether you are currently grieving for a loved one or you have yet to process your grief from a loss in your past.
In this collection, you will read the stories of characters who have lost important people in their lives and delve into their emotions and experiences as they learn to move forward, now that a piece of their life puzzle is missing. Each character reflects different parts and emotions of the grieving process and so each piece is unique and multidimensional.
I can’t claim there’s something for everyone in this collection, because there would have to be over seven billion stories for that to be true. But I do think that if you are grieving or have experienced grief, there will be a story or stories that may resonate strongly with you. These are character stories — if you are looking for someone to connect with, irrespective of your grieving experience, then you will find that in this collection.
The Book — This Side of the Veil
The collection contains an Introduction (Author’s Note) and seven short stories.
The Author’s Note opens up on why I wrote this collection, centering on the dichotomy in grief that makes it both universal and unique.
“The Things We Keep” is the story of a seven-year-old girl learning to navigate her first experience with loss when her grandfather passes away.
“What Are Words” sees Carolyn, a recent college graduate, trying to reconcile hurtful words her mother said about her before she died with the loving mother she knew growing up.
“To Follow A Star” follows Pippa wrestling with guilt and making peace with her memories of her Aunt Mara, whom she lost to suicide.
“Pineapples” is about a young man, Dean, struggling with anger and guilt on the one-year anniversary of his friend’s death in a car crash.
“don’t burn out.” follows Olivia, who lost her brother Colton to cancer, and her best friend Marisa, who watched her mother fall apart after her own mother’s death, each trying to understand and reconcile their different experiences of grief with the other’s.
“resolution...” is about a young woman, Zoey, who has experienced numerous deaths in her life and is trying to reconcile those losses with her faith in God and her purpose in life.
“Dear Kelsey,” the last piece in this collection, is a letter and tribute to my friend who passed away and who inspired this collection.
About the Author
Karina Cheah is a second semester junior at Colgate University, majoring in international relations and double minoring in French and creative writing. She studied abroad in Switzerland for part of the spring semester of 2020 (the program ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic) to gain more experience in communications, social development, and international affairs, but she has been and always will be, a writer first.
Karina wrote this collection because she is a firm believer in writing as an outlet for complex emotions and in creating characters for readers to connect and identify with. She used this collection to process the thoughts and feelings she initially unlocked during the writing of an essay. She hopes that her readers might be able to see parts of themselves in her characters and believes that fiction is one of the most powerful tools for connection and understanding; whether that is with oneself, with the characters, or with others.
When she isn’t writing, you will find Karina reading, riding horses, playing the piano, or watching Washington Capitals hockey. She loves traveling, musical theater, and long one-on-one conversations with friends, and she is passionate about her Thai and Malaysian heritage.
For more information you can connect with Karina at karina.cheah.1@gmail.com, on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-cheah-75344915b) or on Instagram (@karinacheah17).
What We Need & What You Get
This book will be published with New Degree Press. I have set up the pre-order tiers to help cover the costs for publishing my book. Money raised will go towards the following:
- The Editor I will work with to revise and publish my manuscript in July 2020
- The Cover Design of my book - the mockups you see currently are a placeholder!
- The Layout Design for the interior of my book (physical copy, Ebook formats)
- The Copyediting for my book - to help polish the grammar and spelling prior to publication
- The Launch & Promotion Efforts for my book when I ultimately publish in July 2020
When I pre-sell 100 copies of my book, I will publish. When I pre-sell 200 copies of my book, I will publish a hardcover edition.
I am also offering some exclusive rewards for people who pre-order my book now:
- You will receive a personally signed copy of my book when I publish
- A personal, handwritten thank you note for pre-ordering my book
- Early access to the introduction (Author’s Note) of my collection
- An invitation to my launch party in August 2020
- The opportunity to be involved in selecting my book cover
- Early access to my manuscript
- I will do a book talk/workshop seminar where I will share my experiences with writing this collection
- And more...
Risks & Challenges
The biggest challenge with publishing a book is delivering the finished book to the backer, specifically my mailing of the book to you. I have eliminated this risk by building into the campaign the mailing and shipping costs of your signed copies to you within each pre-order tier.
The risk of delivering the pre-sale copies of my book is contingent on the publisher we use. I will be working closely with New Degree Press to make sure we get the earliest possible ship date of the signed book copy to you. We will keep all pre-sale backers up-to-date as my book hits each key milestone and publishes. You will know when the copies of my book you pre-ordered are expected to ship.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute financially, but that doesn't mean you can't help:
- Please share my pre-sale campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with your friends, family and network. Please use #ThisSideOfTheVeil and tag me as well as my publisher, New Degree Press so we can help amplify your efforts.
- You can easily share my pre-sale campaign page via Indiegogo at the top of the page
- Please share my book to 5 friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it. Please do this as a text message or Direct Message on social media.
Thank you so much of all of your love and support!
Karina x