Issue 21

Summer is starting to wind to a close here in the Finger Lakes, the heat will hopefully break soon, and things have been very busy chez moi! I’m on deadline, I have stories to read for the anthology I’m co editing with CJ Subko, I’ve got mentee edits to dig into, and I also signed up rather spur of the moment for adult sailing classes. As of tonight, I’ll have done 30 hours of lessons in the last month, which is extremely fun and also… a lot. I’m exhausted and covered in bruises (who knew dinghy racing was so hazardous to my shins?).

For those who don’t know, I studied abroad on a sailing ship in college with SEA Semester—an experience during which students conduct oceanographic research and also work as part of the crew. But that was over a decade ago, and I don’t have much experience with small boats, so I wanted to take a course to get comfortable going out on my home lake of Cayuga. I’ve always loved being on the water, and it’s such a joy and a privilege to be able to pursue that again now. (Also good research for books, of course! Even if I’ve given up on a career as a privateer.)

A small note that you might have noticed there’s no catchy title for this edition of the newsletter. Frankly, I’ve never known what to title them, so switching to numbers seems a lot more efficient than scratching my head every month over what to put in the subject line. I’m planning to number them from here on out!

News

A big deal: for North American readers, the ebook of Behooved is currently on sale for $1.99! You can get it on Bookshop, Amazon, and/or Kobo for the discounted price—but the sale is ending today, so don’t hesitate if you’ve been waiting to get your hooves on it!

Also, you can now add This Treacherous Night on Goodreads! Adding books on Goodreads supports authors by indicating that there’s interest, which can help drive support from publishers and retailers. Plus, I hope you’re excited for my YA debut and want it on your TBR!

Finally, I have a signed copy of Behooved and two query critiques up for auction in the We the People Summer Fundraiser! This fundraiser is to benefit #KidLit4Ceasefire families, with a portion of proceeds going to immigrant and trans rights collectives. The auction starts today and runs through the 27th, so you can bid now! If you win the book, I’ll personalize it for you and throw in some stickers and an art print.

Here are the direct links to my items: book, query critique 1, query critique 2

Writing updates

As mentioned, I’ve been on deadline! I’m currently working on the second draft of my opposites attract adult fantasy rom com. I finished the first draft in July and am now working on making it readable to other people—as well as fixing the biggest issues.

Even though I outline, my first drafts always end up going some places I didn’t expect and developing lots of holes as I figure out the heart of the story and my characters—basically, as the saying goes, they’re me telling myself the story. My second drafts are for making the story cohesive, and they’re the first time anyone else sees more than a couple lines of my books. I’m excited to see what early readers think soon!

I’m also expecting to get my first notes from my editor on This Treacherous Night in the next few weeks! I’m excited to spend time with my crew of characters again!

Events and appearances

Come find me at All My Friends Books in Cortland, NY on August 30 from 1-3pm! I’ll be signing books, and I’ll have some stickers and art prints for anyone who stops by (including the gorgeous new character art I got from Odette Locke).

In October, I’ll be on two panels at HearthCon! I’m excited to talk about spicy cozy fantasy and humorous cozy fantasy (two separate panels) with some amazing authors including Sangu Mandanna and Maiga Doocy, both of whose books I adore. Mark your calendars for October 11th and 12th! It’s free!

And a bit farther out, I’m thrilled to be heading to Love Y’All over Valentines Day weekend in February! Tickets are live now and the lineup is stellar. This will actually be my first in-person con as either an author or attendee. I am incredibly excited to meet readers and fellow authors! Also to see if I can sneak into the romantasy axe throwing experience?

Crafty Corner

I thought I’d take today to talk about something that often gets glossed over in publishing stories: after you’ve signed with an agent and revised your book, how do you survive being on submission without losing your mind?

(For those who don’t know, being “on sub” is when your agent sends your manuscript out to editors. This inevitably involves lots and lots of waiting, even when it goes quickly.)

While my sub experience with Behooved was shockingly fast, my first time on submission was not, and I didn’t end up selling that book… at least not yet (this is very common). These are three things that have helped me get through being on sub:

1. Forget about it as much as possible. I know, easier said than done. But when I’m waiting on something I’m nervous about, what works best for me personally is to try not to think about it at all. I direct my brain to other things. When my focus veers that way, I actively remind myself I’m not paying attention to it and mentally shove those thoughts in a drawer. Obviously I still know I’m on sub, but I relegate it to the back burner of my consciousness.

   This may or may not work for you depending on how your brain operates! It gets easier after the first week or two of being on sub, and easier than that after a few months.

2. Work on the next thing. This is what got me through querying multiple books, and it works just as well for sub. One nice thing about being on sub is that you can strategize with your agent on what to work on—revising an older book? Drafting a new project? Working in the same genre/age category or on something new? Giving my focus to the next book takes both attention and pressure off the book on sub and makes me feel like I have something else on the table if this one doesn’t pan out.

3. Manage what information you receive, and when. One thing that’s very different about querying vs. sub is that on sub, your agent can act as your filter. If you only want good news, you can ask for that. If you only want updates once per month instead of in real time, you can ask for that too. If you want to know which editors have passed, but not the details of what they said, that’s also doable. I find it lowers my stress to know there are certain times when it’s “safe” to open my inbox because I won’t find bad news waiting. Figure out what works for you and have a chat with your agent about how you’d like to get updates.

I won’t lie—sub is often a long and depressing waiting game. But there are things you can do to make it more bearable that you can’t do while querying, so take advantage!

Is there a craft or publishing topic you’d like me to cover? Hit reply or leave a comment!

Book recommendation

I recently read and really enjoyed An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder by K. Valentin! I actually had the honor of blurbing this one, so I’ll just copy my official blurb here:

It releases October 14 and you can preorder it now!

To see all my newsletter recommendations, visit the full list here!