There comes a point in every book's journey when it stops feeling like a manuscript and starts feeling real.

LIPS is getting very close.

The release date is approaching, and the response so far has been far beyond what we expected. Interest is building, pre-sales are already coming in, and readers who have gotten an early look at the book are talking about it.

That makes this next stretch particularly exciting.

A Thriller That Doesn't Let Go

LIPS was never written to be a slow-burn mystery where you spend hundreds of pages waiting for something to happen.

It was built to move.

The story begins with Amber and Chris Lowe leaving behind an Ontario winter and heading south to Texas, looking for a different life. What they find is something much darker.

As people begin disappearing, the line between an ordinary couple and something far more disturbing starts to disappear with them.

And that's where LIPS gets dangerous.

The less you know going in, the better.

We aren't going to give away the twists. We aren't going to explain what happens. And we're certainly not going to tell you where the story ultimately takes you.

Some books are better experienced without knowing too much beforehand. LIPS is one of them.

The Interest Has Been Building

What's particularly encouraging is the response before the official release.

Pre-sales are already coming in, and interest continues to grow as the release date gets closer.

For an author, this is the part of the process that makes all the long hours, revisions, rewrites and late nights worthwhile.

A book only becomes something special when it leaves the author's hands and starts becoming the reader's story.

We're getting close to that point with LIPS.

Could LIPS Become a Movie?

That's a question we've already started asking ourselves.

Some stories are naturally visual. They have locations you can see, characters you can immediately picture, and scenes that practically write themselves for the screen.

LIPS has that quality.

Texas. Smoke. Long highways. Isolated places. A seemingly ordinary couple. People disappearing without explanation.

And underneath it all, something nobody sees coming.

Could LIPS become a film someday?

We certainly think it could.

Obviously, nothing is being announced, and there are no movie deals to report. But when you're writing a thriller and you can already imagine how certain scenes would look on a screen, you know you've created something with cinematic potential.

For now, though, LIPS belongs to the readers.

The Countdown Is On

The release date is getting close.

If you've been watching LIPS from the beginning, now is the time to get your copy secured.

If you're discovering it for the first time, you're arriving at exactly the right moment.

The story is almost ready.

And once you open the first page, you'll understand why we believe LIPS could be something very different.

The countdown has begun.

LIPS — Coming Soon from Carter Vale.

Some stories stay with you.

Some stories get under your skin.

LIPS is waiting.