VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE is a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist!
And: misc. updates; we mourn TinyLetter; we reread Tolkien.
Hi all!
It’s been a while since I popped into your inbox! I could blame it on the fact that I have been on deadline for something novel-length and exciting or because I just went through the wringer of holiday air travel with an infant and am helping said tiny human readjust from East Coast time to West Coast time (our sleep schedule will never be the same). The truth is simpler than that: I’m just enjoying being a ghost on the internet. I lurk here and there, but being a new parent has forced me to reform my chronically online ways. My sleep is still in shreds, but my mental health thanks me.
However! I come bearing news! Two things of news!
Thing the First:
As the title of this post suggests, I’m ECSTATIC to announce that VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE is a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Horror! There are some big dogs in the ring this year (including a little-known guy called Stephen King). I’m not too optimistic about my little book’s chances of winning, but every vote cast counts. If you voted in the opening round, it is time to vote again!
In fact, today is the last day to do so! Go forth! Vote! Come back here after!
Thank you all so much for your support of VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE and for the paperback release of THE HACIENDA. I have been thrilled to see the latter coast to coast: from indie bookstores on small West Coast islands to the bustling chaos of Boston’s Logan Airport two days after Thanksgiving and in local Targets everywhere in between.
It is an honor and a privilege to spend my days telling stories and I never, ever, ever take it—or you—for granted. Thank you, dear reader, from the bottom of my heart.
Thing the Second:
You may have noticed that I have switched back to Substack. Mailchimp announced that it is sunsetting TinyLetter in the new year (RIP). Happily, there are actually quite a lot of you subscribers, which makes the options for free newsletters… almost nil. Especially since—though it is too early in my scheming* to commit to such a thing—I want to keep my options for going paid in 2024 open.
*Great scheming is in fact underway. I’m thinking new, exclusive fiction only available here. I’m thinking peeks at characters who have walked off the pages of The Hacienda or Vampires of El Norte leaving questions in their wake (cough Beatriz’s letter cough). I’m thinking sneak peeks at what I’m working on next. I’m thinking I’m curious to see if you would be interested in that.
If you stumbled across this update and are not yet subscribed to this newsletter, you might want to get on that so you don’t miss out.
Publishing Updates
National Novel Writing Month has come to a close! I wrote 25,000 words in the first two weeks and immediately fell off the bandwagon because I wrote THE END on something I have been working on for a very, very long time. I’m beat. I’m relieved. I’m happy. I can’t wait to tell you about it. But wait I shall, because this is publishing, and them’s the breaks.
I have some exciting announcements lined up for 2024, but a lot of work needs to be done between now and then. I have been quiet on Instagram and will continue to be. As I alluded to above, being off social media right now has been so restorative. 2023 has taught me that is vital for me to conserve my energy and spend it in ways that refill my well: with my chaos gremlin child, with my family, outside drinking in the fleeting rays of northern winter sun on runs, reading. And, of course, writing.
I only check my Twitter and Instagram inboxes periodically; I miss almost all messages that there these days. If you want to get in touch, here should work. If you have rights questions/opportunities/other publishing inquiries, please contact my agent or publicist (info on my website). Or maybe send a smoke signal. Light a beacon. Loose a carrier pigeon. Send a missive in a dream. Now that I think about it, it’s December. Hibernation season. Don’t contact me, go put down your phone and take a nap. Can’t it wait until the new year?
Currently Reading
Beren and Lúthien, by J.R.R. Tolkien: Yesterday, I visited the Museum of Pop Culture here in Seattle with out of town friends and saw real props from the Lord of the Rings movies in the fantasy exhibit. I was DELIGHTED. The sword of the Witch King of Angmar! Andúril, Flame of the West! Sting! (If these words mean anything to you, I have no choice but to assume that you had no friends in middle school.) It gave me a hankering for some good old-fashioned Tolkien; Beren and Lúthien have had a special place in my heart ever since I memorized the entire poem about them from The Fellowship of the Ring and performed it for English class when I was 12 (see above: I had no friends in middle school). This edition collects and edits some of the oldest notes Tolkien had on this seminal part of his lore, including a villain called, I kid thee not, the Prince of Cats (lmao, I cannot take this seriously). Conclusion: Tolkien really, really must have hated cats.
Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey: I read this frothy romance novella for a book club with friends. Not my fave of Bailey’s oeuvre, but I will say that it made for spirited conversation over mimosas about the inaccuracies of the love interest’s hockey career and the green card process (we have a lot of Canadians in the group).
…fanfic. A lot of it. No, I’m not telling you what. But it is a balm for the exhausted soul.
On Loop
I’m bringing back this section of the newsletter now that I’m back on Substack and able to easily embed music! The month has only just begun, but I already know I’m going to be listening to “Sobrenatural” by Jesse & Joy enough to mess up next year’s Spotify Wrapped.
(Naturally, I am also blasting evermore on loop. Tis the damn season, after all.)
Whoops, the baby has just woken up from her nap, which means it’s time for me to bounce! I’ll be back soon.
In the meantime, take care. I’m sending you all my love as this year winds down to a close xx