She doesn’t even bother glancing up at me when she mutters the words. This has made my sister intense and dangerous. Now, this morning, is Delorse’s first time stepping up to wear the crown. So, still reigning supreme, my mother declared she was abdicating her throne. Yes, she made it look effortless-that did not mean it was effortless. Last year, my mother announced that she was tired of doing all the work.

Food always delicious, flowers always fresh, colors coordinated. She has ruled our family holidays with flawless perfection. Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been my mother’s domain. Her lips barely moving, her eyes fixed intently on the large knife in her hands as she was dicing vegetables at a furious pace, trying to beat the clock. She didn’t even say the six startling words. She said six words and now, as I write this, I have become a different person. My sister Delorse said six startling words and changed everything. Best of all, she “can help motivate even the most determined homebody to get out and try something new” ( Chicago Tribune). “Honest, raw, and revelatory” ( The Washington Post), this wildly candid and compulsively readable book reveals how the mega talented Shonda Rhimes finally achieved badassery worthy of a Shondaland character. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun-when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes-from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything. With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy.

So who would suspect that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert? That she hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances? That she suffered panic attacks before media interviews? Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds.

She’s the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. “As fun to read as Rhimes’s TV series are to watch” ( Los Angeles Times). The instant New York Times bestseller from the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder shares how saying YES changed her life.

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes