A long overdue hello!
It’s been a long time since I popped into your inbox for many of you (since August, in fact... yikes!) and the first time I have done for many of you. Let me extend a very warm welcome to new subscribers! I’m so happy to have you here, in this little corner of the internet where my newsletter lives.
The Hacienda Updates
The Hacienda (which you can pre-order here or wherever fine books are sold, if you haven't already!) received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. They called it a “stunning debut,” adding that “Cañas clearly knows the genre, alternately deploying and subverting haunted house tropes. The result is a brilliant contribution to the new wave of postcolonial Gothics. Readers won’t want to miss this.”
The Hacienda has been included on a number of lists of anticipated reads for 2022, including Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022 and LitHub Crime Reads Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of 2022, which called The Hacienda “lush, beautiful, and completely deserving of the comparisons to Rebecca” and “essential reading in the gothic revival.”
Finally, I was profiled by Publishers Weekly as a part of their twice-annual Writers to Watch feature!
I was honored to be included in such prestigious, immensely talented company and have been overwhelmed by the reception this feature has received! Highlights included not one, but two people dubbing me the Taylor Swift of fiction, based on (1) the fact that I’ve written two novels over the course of drafting my dissertation, and (2) my glee at the prospect of my book appearing in bookstores across the country and terrorizing my exes forevermore. (There is no loftier comparison to be made. I am humbled.)
Appearances
In early February, I will be appearing at Brought To You By Berkley, an event hosted by Berkley for indie booksellers, alongside my fellow debut Colleen Hubbard, author of Housebreaking, as well as Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Take My Hand) and the incomparable Emily Henry (Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers). Unfortunately, this event is not open to laypeople, but if you are an indie bookseller, do get in touch with Berkley about the event. I am brewing up an utterly witchy presentation of The Hacienda and cannot wait!
Forthcoming Stories
I’ve sold a few stories since we last chatted! Here is a full list of my short fiction appearing in 2022:
“The Law of Take” in GigaNotoSaurus (March 2022).
“Six Goats” in Fireside Magazine (May 2022).
I have two flash pieces forthcoming in 2022, though I’m not sure when they’ll come out: “There Are No Monsters On Rancho Buenavista” (which is set in the world of my next novel!) will appear in Nightmare Magazine and “Stay” in Lightspeed Magazine.
Here is a list of my short stories that came out in 2021:
“A Land of Saints and Monsters” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #334 (July 2021).
“My Sister is a Scorpion” in Lightspeed Magazine #135 (August 2021).
“The Kingdom of the Butterflies” in The Deadlands (reprint; September 2021).
If you are reading for the Nebulas or the Hugos, I would be honored if you added “My Sister is a Scorpion” to your awards reading.
2021 Favorites | books I disappeared into over the last few months
I read 53 books this year! I thought I would share a few that really stood out from the pack.
Fantasy: For The Wolf & For The Throne (out in 2023), by Hannah Whitten. Immersive, atmospheric, feminist fantasy at its best, ft. a brush of cosmic horror—Whitten’s novels seize you by the collar and won’t let you put them down.
Romance: Beach Read, by Emily Henry and The Heart Principle, by Helen Hoang. These books made me realize that the romance I love best is the kind that sinks its teeth into some really deep issues (creative burnout, childhood trauma, parent infidelity, palliative care for parents, neurodivergence, and infertility) while still delivering deeply satisfying (and steamy) happily-ever-afters. (Prudish readers proceed with caution.)
YA fantasy: I read a lot less YA than normal this year, but wept reading Anna-Marie McLemore's magical realist contemporary novel The Mirror Season. I also reread McLemore’s Wild Beauty, one of my go-to comfort reads.
Literary Fiction: Infinite Country by Patricia Engel was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and boy, did it deliver—with a punch to the gut for good measure. I sobbed, I sobbed, I sobbed. It’s a tough read, but if it helps: the ending is happy. Oh, how I sobbed when I got there.
Short stories: “Everyone’s Abuelo Can’t Have Ridden With Pancho Villa,” by Andrea Saenz. At 1200 words, this story punches well above its weight in tears shed per word. I sobbed. (Sense a theme here?)
Memoir: Carmen Maria Machado’s In The Dream House broke my understanding of narrative and stitched it back together. I loved it.
A quick catchup, ft. promises to be back soon:
The last few months have been a whirlwind of moving, work, and utterly bone-crushing, mind-melting burnout. In sum:
- I searched for and then moved into a beautiful apartment in Park Slope that has multiple rooms. (Context for newcomers: my husband and I spent two years—including the spring 2020 lockdown—in a tiny, tiny studio.) I have my own office. I have a bedroom with a door that shuts. Luxury untold!
- I traveled (!) and saw beloved friends and family in Chicago, Austin, Lyon, and London.
- I finished one dissertation chapter that was giving me so much trouble, wrote another one, and have just begun the final chapter.
- In between these, I started and finished my draft of Book 2 and sent it to my editor.
- I scheduled my PhD dissertation defense.
- I celebrated my 31st birthday.
- I sampled many delicious restaurants in my new neighborhood, including the best Turkish food I’ve had in the U.S.
- I saw Waitress and Hadestown on Broadway.
- I returned to Canada for the holidays and slept for three weeks.
- When introduced to a hypoallergenic cat, I discovered that cats are delightful and begged my husband for one. He wants a dog. I also want a dog. Truthfully, a dog is better for our personalities, home, and lifestyles. But LOOK AT THIS CAT.
Now here we are, barely one foot in the door of 2022. It has already presented its challenges—like needing to move my dissertation defense and all relevant submission deadlines up by two weeks. (I am not panicking.) (I am definitely panicking.)
It’s an interesting feeling, sizing up a new year with the knowledge that in a decade, I’ll look back on these months as a huge, gleaming milestone. As a pivot point. As the beginning of some things and the end of others. It’s like shaking hands with a complete stranger, knowing full well that you’ll marry them in time, and that this is The Moment where a lifetime of memories with them begin.
It’s an interesting feeling, sizing up a new year with the knowledge that in a decade, I’ll look back on these months as a huge, gleaming milestone. As a pivot point. As the beginning of some things and the end of others. It’s like shaking hands with a complete stranger, knowing full well that you’ll marry them in time, and that this is The Moment where a lifetime of memories with them begin.
This year, I will finish my dissertation. I will graduate. After seven years locked in an ivory tower, I will descend, Rapunzel triumphant with a doctorate gripped in her fist, and enter the real world of... being a full-time writer.
I entered the academy on the roll of the dice. I gambled that a PhD program would be a good place to hide out from my student loans, learn more languages, and get teaching experience while I got my writing career off the ground. It has not been an easy journey. Academia has a bad rap for destroying people’s mental health, and it’s well-earned.
I never gave up on my original goal of becoming a career writer. Every year since I entered my PhD program in 2015, I wrote a novel of 90k words words or more. Some were bad. Some are salvageable (albeit cringeworthy). One got me my agent. Another is launching my career.
I took a risk, rolling those dice. Academia is a gamble; publishing is a gamble. But finally, after years of hard work and rejection, I’ve had some luck. I’m humbled by it. I’m grateful for it, and for the fact that you’re here, following along. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
This newsletter is going to evolve in the coming months. Writing my dissertation is my primary occupation until March 14th (62 days away… not that anyone’s counting) and it saps most of my creative energy. After that, and after The Hacienda’s launch in May, I’ll experiment a bit to see what works best for both you and me.
In the meantime, take care. This year will be one full of challenges, but also new chapters. So many blank pages await us, friend. I am utterly delighted that you’re here to share it with me.
—xx
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