PUBLICATION NEWS!

Hello newsletter friends! I don’t know about you, but the last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind of not only awful things happening in the world, but winter blues (at least here in NJ). And as I write this on the eve of Daylight Savings Time(!!), I feel hope return as well as my passion for writing my monthly newsletter.

So, expect to hear from me once every month now for a sneak peek into what’s happening (goddess, there’s a lot happening now), what media I’m consuming, and of course a little hello from Amber the cat at the end. I’m so glad you’re here.

THAT BEING SAID - I have been teasing for a bit now that I have big news. THIS IS THE BIGGEST NEWS. I am self-publishing my debut novel, The Great Tree of Iris (TGTOI), this October. Wow, it’s quite something to write that! Chills.

I can’t wait for you all to meet Lia, Rory, Sol, Icarion, Aishagi, Hippa, and Rhael. 🥹🥹 This is the first time I’ve shared all my character’s names publicly, by the way. I hope you love them like I do (especially Rhael, who gets the most interesting early reader reactions). I’m going to be talking a lot more about them on Instagram so buckle up!

It’s been a journey to this decision, and once I’d like to share. Here’s the gist: I decided last year that I would query literary agents for six months, and then move on to self-publishing. There are many writers who keep going for much longer, or shelve their manuscript and move on to query another one, and there’s no one way to do it! But my heart has never been set on solely traditional publishing. There are also a lot of authors out there, I have learned, who are “hybrid” and do both trad and self-pub.

I queried for 6 months, and it was hard. I’m not going to lie. It was like a part time job. I was also looking for a new IRL full time job at the time, and even though I’m quite familiar with rejection, getting it from all sides was not for the faint of heart. As the months went on, I was becoming more and more heartened by the idea of publishing this book myself. Because I believe in it, and I can do WHATEVER I WANT with the publication process (of course, depending on funds).

Also, Amie McNee over at @inspiredtowrite on Instagram (their book, We Need Your Art, just came out this week!) made a post that stopped me in my tracks. “You don’t need them,” she wrote. I CAN do this on my own (with support, of course). To publish this book, I DON’T need an agent or publisher. I MAY decide to try trad again in the future. But for this book, I’m ready to move on. I have other books to finish and start writing! I have things to do! I love this story, and I want to publish it.

So, I waited a bit after the holidays to let it settle, and started doing a TON of research. When I tell you that for most of the last month, I’ve been making lists and plans and going back and forth with people I’m potentially hiring to help—it’s a lot on top of my newish full-time job and being a human with a family and social life.

But I’m doing it. Friends, this is really, truly happening. My book baby is coming out this fall and I hope you’ll be there to celebrate with me (near and far)! Preorder info coming soon! Hit “reply” and tell me: what else do you want to know about the self-publishing process? I’ll share more next time if I can answer it!

-Well, with this publication news means A LOT IS HAPPENING, finally!! I’m finishing up my website, which I hope to have live by the end of March (so see the April newsletter for the link). I am in the final stages of hiring a mapmaker, cover artist, proofreader, formatter, and character artist, to help me bring this book to life. It feels overwhelming in the best way. Don’t worry, I’m going to share the art here first when it starts coming in, so stay tuned!😃

Like I said, I’ve had a tough time this winter, and this is really giving me life again. I’m now in control of what happens. I am SO appreciative and literally tearing up in the club just thinking about all of you who have been reaching out and supporting me ever since I announced I was writing a book (to some of you as early as December 2022!).

-Pirate Princess book (my WIP) is in developmental edits! Again, this is being done by a team of 1 (me) and still needs to go through several rounds of edits before I’m ready to send it to beta readers. I’m hoping to be there in late summer, but well aware that producing TGTOI is going to be taking up a lot of my time. Plus, sometimes, you know, I might want to just write/draft something for fun again. Phew. I started reading Pirate Princess aloud to my alpha reader husband, and he’s helping me smooth out a few things. It’s been a very vulnerable, sharing this work with someone first time. 😆

-I was recently the featured poet at an open mic in Flemington, NJ (Flemington DIY) and it was such a privilege to be able to share 10-15 minutes of my poetry! I have a couple other features and a poetry workshop coming up in April and June, which I’ll share about next time.

Watching: Lately, the cat has been cuddling with me on the couch more, so I’ve been trying to find things to watch 😂. Recently I watched Fisk (Netflix), which was recommended by my tight-knit (no pun intended) group of crafty friends. AND I LOVED IT. The first episode I wasn’t sure about, but then I was hooked.

For those days where my brain truly cannot take anymore thinking before I dive into my writing for the night, I’ve been watching House Hunters International (MAX). There are like a thousand seasons so I think this will be a new norm for me. Though, I skip to the next episode if there’s too much drama in the first two minutes.

Listening: The new Lumineers album is pretty rad—there’s a few songs on there that have been on repeat. I’ve been on an AJR kick lately (comes and goes with the seasons), and the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack has been on regular repeat since November. I’m not mad about it. I think media will keep me going this year—hoping for HH season 2 late this year??? Who knows??!!?

Crafting: I’ve been sewing a bit to prepare for my annual quilt retreat with about 80 quilting friends in April! We do a secret swap and I finished all of my items early so I wouldn’t stress as much. Of course, I can’t share anything here right now.

Reading: Okay. Reading. It’s been up and down. Again, I think some of this is just the sheer amount of reading/typing/words I deal with on a daily basis between my job and my own novels, but I haven’t been super into reading lately. I did, however, absolutely DEVOUR The Dark Mirror, the fifth book in the Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, who I also got to see in conversation with RF Kuang in NYC in early March. I am once again relieved that I didn’t get into this series earlier because I’ve only been waiting a year for this book on a huge cliffhanger (the 4th book was in 2021). Now, as an author, I get it though. 😆

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