A year ago, my first book came out.

Six years ago, a Fox appeared on my page and regaled me about how delicious paradoxes were to eat.

Thirteen years ago, I sold my very first story, a post-apocalyptic theory on vanilla ice cream.

Twenty-three years ago, I understood I wanted to tell stories in my life.

Thirty years ago, I read a book about a snowman coming to life, bringing wonder to a boy, and melting by day’s end; I read that book every day, I loved it so.

Thirty-six years and change ago, my parents wrote me into their story. And time marches ever forward, except for all the ways in which it goes still, or runs back, or finds new ways to sing itself around us all.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that time is weird and always has been, and what feels like yesterday is long gone and tomorrow is always a day away. It feels that way for me when I think about Audition For The Fox and its release into the wide world; like it’s just happened the day before and every new bit of news or excitement has that same rush of, “how have people found this book already?”

But it’s been a full calendar year as of today, 9/16 and I’m so proud of this book and how far it’s gone.

And how much further it has the potential to go.

Part of me saying that is merely hope, y’know, the fuel that keeps a lot of us going in these days of murk and shadow. And in a very real way, there’s been slow but steady progress on the Fox making it out further into the world. I had a second printing. I’ve got my first foreign language deal in the works, (more to come when I can). Royalties should be starting soon, I believe. And I’m working on a sequel and a screenplay of AFTF, which, hey, those are DEFINITELY in the hope bucket, but it’s not a bad thing to hope. Never has been, in my opinion.

What really matters to me, more than any of the above, have been the readers. Sure, there are those who didn’t love it, and I say to them: thank you for giving me and my work a chance. And I hope the next thing resonates more with you. To those who read and liked AFTF, and those who read and loved it, well . . . all I can say is thank you, and I will keep working as hard as I can to help you find a way to escape the difficulty of our world, or provide some measure of comfort, hope, or joy. Y’all are why I wrote this; you never know how people will react to a book, and that so many people have shown AFTF so much love. Thank you is only the beginning, but it is also the most true thing I can say <3

I also wanted to take this time to thank some of the people who I didn’t get a chance to in the book; some of that is printing timelines and some of it is by sheer dint of stuff happening between then and now! So . . .

First of all, a tremendous thank you to all the incredible writers who blurbed this book; that I get to count you all as my contemporaries is baffling, but even more mind-blowing is that I get to count you all as friends, too.

My whole heart and all my gratitude to Cassandra Khaw, C. S. E. Cooney, Kat Howard, Catherynne Valente, Premee Mohamed, John Wiswell, Max Gladstone, Lyndsie Manusos, Erin M. Evans, Jordan Shiveley, Karen Russell, and N. K. Jemisin; thank you each for taking the time to blurb my book. Your beautiful words in riotous support of mine is such an honor. Thank you <3

Thank you to Library Journal and Shelf Awareness for the Starred Reviews, to Elle Magazine and NPR Books for the Best Of picks, to the Crawford Award, Ignyte Award, Mythopoeic Award, and World Fantasy Judges for your belief in this book and nomination. Thank you to the institutions, and incredible staff, of Astoria Bookshop, Loyalty Books, WORD Bookstore, Skylight Books, Rough Draft, the KGB Bar, Sparkle Bookstore, and my old B&N in Nanuet for hosting me for so many incredible events. Likewise, a deep thanks to C. S. E. Cooney, Cass Khaw, Caitlin Rozakis, and Lin Codega for being such excellent event partners!

Thank you to Jil Hanifan, one of my old professors, for inviting me back to speak to her classes and be celebrated by my alma mater’s Writing Institute. Thank you to Iain Haley-Pollock and all the folks at Manhattanville’s MFA Program and Teaching Fellowship for cheering me on, and lifting me up in my first year of study. Thank you to Recorded Books for letting me narrate my very first book. Thank you to Erin Morgenstern for sharing AFTF on your Instagram with your wonderful kitten companion, Vesper, and for cheering me on throughout the process.

Thank you to my wonderful wife for, well, everything <3

And again, always, always, thank you, yes YOU, for reading!

As a way to celebrate one year of Audition For The Fox, I’ll be giving away a copy from my personal stash! This giveaway is open to the US and Canada, and all you need to do to enter is sign up for this newsletter! There, see? You’re already done!

I’ll keep this open until the end of September and then pick a winner.

And hey, if you want to buy a copy, you can do so here!

More to come, friends. Thank you so much for being a reader of mine. Your support means the world to me, this one and every other world out there!

With love and foxes,

Marty

PS: Last night I saw my newest favorite Goodreads review, and I don’t know why, but it made me lose my shit in the best possible way: