So.

You subscribed to my newsletter.

That’s pretty cool. Of course now that means that I need to come up with something to talk about because it would be pretty fuckin miserable if all I did was use this to send out advertisements for my books. Like we don’t all have enough junk mail in our lives already.

That being said, you should definitely keep an eye out as I will be setting up my book re-launch with a fresh look and updated story for KOH. What does KOH stand for? You’ll have to wait and see.

Since this is my first letter, I’ll start at the beginning and pretend like we don’t know each other. My name’s Olivia Trent - it’s a penname, but I value my privacy. Despite using a penname, I don’t craft my personality when I’m online. The fact is that I’m to autistic, too busy, and I just don’t care enough to lie about who I am.

This is me. Hi. Howdy. Yo.

It’s part of the reason that I kinda loathe marketing and self promotion. It goes against my innate desire to just exist and be left alone. By promoting yourself, you’re putting yourself out there and say “judge me!”. Which is not something I particularly enjoy.

That being said, I do enjoy just chatting with people who have shared interests. That’s where you come in. Because I have to assume that if you’ve subscribed to this newsletter, you want to know what I’m up to. You’d like to hear about what I am writing. Maybe you’re curious to know what I’m currently listening to while I write - eventually I want to drop playlists to go alongside my books.

Maybe you just saw a picture of my cat and thought he was cute and hoped that I would put more cat pictures in my newsletter.

Maybe. Maybe…

I’m not sure how other people write newsletters, but I am thinking of this as a correspondence. I can write to you but I guess you can’t write back. Maybe I am sending these letters to you while you’re away. In prison. Or at war. Maybe these letters are finding you across the great vast stretch of time and space.

These letters are for you in the same way that my books are for you. Every story I write, I write with a purpose. What can I do to make the world a little brighter today? How can I make someone’s day a bit better? How can I make someone feel seen? Sure, it’s cheesy but I think to a certain extent, romance is inherently cheesy.

Now I’m going to contradict myself:

Romance being cheesy doesn’t mean that it can’t be deep, too.

That’s why I’ve chosen to lean into romance as a writer. After circling it for the last twenty years, I realized that all of my stories have the same thing at their core: a love story. I love to write romance. My own love life isn’t dramatic. And I sure as hell don’t ever want it to be. But some of my favorite parts of romance writing are the messy, complicated parts of it. How do our pasts affect our relationships? What problems come up from everyone having their own baggage? How do our relationships help us grow? Alternatively, how are we changed by relationships that hurt us?

I like writing cute fluffy stuff too but I do love some psychological bullshittery.

Fiction writers are distinctly undervalued for what they create. I’m not saying that all fiction does this, but think about it - it’s been shown that our brains react to fictional scenarios in the same way that it reacts to real life situations. That means that the swell of hope or the flutter of falling in love you feel when you’re reading is real. The happiness of the characters is our happiness. Their adventures are our adventures.

Stories train us. They teach us how to live and love and fight for what matters most.

Books have always been a refuge for people in hard times. Both reading and writing have therapeutic value. We read to feel something. We read to stay sane. We read to bask in the glow of our deepest desires.

And ultimately, that’s why we write too.

Let this be a reminder that you should spend more time reading and less time doom scrolling. You can finish up that silly cat video compilation, sure, but then close the social media. Pull out that library book you’ve been meaning to finish. Melt into it.

Until next time,

-Olivia Trent

PS: Here’s that cat pic you wanted.