Then

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns, driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.”

I sat in a rocking chair on the porch of a house near the beach on Vieques Island, gentle breezes coming off the waves into my hair. I looked out at the waves and imagined Odysseus trying to get home. Adrift in the vastness of the ocean, only sky and sea around him. Confused and battered. Loyal to his men. Longing for Ithaca. And yet, despite the hardships and ill favors of his journey, still curious enough to want to hear the song of the Sirens. He could have plugged his ears with wax like his men, taken the easier path any number of times on his journey, but he chose more.

It wasn’t unlike how I felt at that point in my life. I’d left Ohio to move across the country to Los Angeles where I knew only my boyfriend and one friend—both of whom I’d met on the internet. I wasn’t a war hero trying to return to my throne and people, but I was a person in search of a home and I found comfort in Odysseus’s fraught and twisting journey. If it wasn’t a straight path for him, why would it be for me? If he could face every challenge in his path, no matter how improbable or dangerous, couldn’t I?

Now

“We left them a gift. An offering of peace that they took into their home. We violated all that’s ever sacred between people . . .And turned a fight into a hunt.”

I’m sitting in a lounge chair, wrapped in my softest hoodie in the extremely air-conditioned theater, grasping the strings just for something to hold onto and ground myself. It’s my second time seeing The Odyssey, this time in IMAX, and I am unwell in a way that only happens when I deeply connect with a story. When a story sees me, in this case making me wonder if I’m still searching for home these many years later. I feel the pluck of Odysseus’s bow string across my heart and cry as he takes vengeance on the suitors who have made a mockery of Zeus’s Law and his home and family.

I cry because Odysseus is finally home. (And also because of Ludwig Göransson’s unreasonably excellent chord). All he has weathered, all he has faced without and within, the grief and failure and bluster and the intentional shoving down of the darkest pieces of himself because the easiest place to put our shadows and shame is where no one can see them. Least of all ourselves. All that and he still made it home.

He didn’t believe he was worthy of Ithaca anymore, and the Sirens knew it before Odysseus did. He told Eurylochus what they sang to him as he was lashed to the mast with his ears open:

Odysseus knew he and his men, flailing in their desire to leave their atrocities in Troy and beyond behind them to get home at whatever price, had become the men from the sea. And why would he want to lead that horror, that energy to his home? Not with the Ithaca of years past still pure and precious in his mind, Penelope and Telemachus waiting for him. He later told Penelope, “he couldn’t bear to see the ruins of what he’d done, anywhere. Least of all his home.”

You don’t have to invade a city under the pretense of a gift, survive Scylla, or face the wrath of the gods to understand why Odysseus ate the lotus flower for years and chose peace and happiness with Calypso, even if it was a lie. When he started to remember—when Calypso realized maybe what she thought was a present to him was actually a punishment—every trauma and life lost because of his actions, he could have unraveled and never left. But he surrendered the one thing he could never quite let go of since Troy: control. In that surrender, he found home.

Is that how we find home? I believe many of us search for it. Somewhere we know with absolute certainty is the place we are meant to be. The idea of home as a place, or a person or a people, who holds us as we are, have been, and will be. That we can return to again even as we grow and falter in ways we cannot predict. We all want a place where we will always be welcome, arms that will always be open to us in kindness and trust, where we feel like we can be at ease.

What I didn’t understand nearly two decades ago, rocking on that porch and wondering where I was meant to be, is that home doesn’t fall into our lap like a gift from the gods. You’ll get in your own way again and again. You have to build your home or go on a journey to search for it and then, once you have a home, you have to honor it with continual work. Literal, yes, upkeep is necessary. But more importantly and more challenging than that is the work within. Of believing yourself worthy, of showing up and adding stones to the hearth, of opening your arms to others as they do you. You have to fight for your home and your belief that you deserve it.

Do you get one step closer to home by identifying the promises you failed to keep? That seems to be part of it. Loosening your grip on outcomes that aren’t really within your power anyway is another part. So is recognizing that maybe home isn’t a single place or person that you must find or else feel unmoored. Maybe pieces of home are all around us, waiting for us to be ready to see them. Waiting for us to be ready to see ourselves as worthy.

I know this is a departure from what I usually write in my newsletter, but between my recent Tolkien class and becoming obsessed with The Odyssey and where I am in life right now, I’ve been remembering what led me into my previous career: a love of storytelling and sharing that passion with others through writing and words and sharing what resonated with me—because I bet it resonated with some of you too. I feel aglow in the rediscovery… and I feel weirdly in Christopher Nolan’s debt. I guess this is a finding home of sorts.

Some, or most of you, know me because of my years of entertainment reporting and love of pop culture. I’ll still plan to send my usual newsletter format once a month, but I hope to have more essays and ramblings about stories in your inbox once a week and I hope you enjoy reading them. <3

I recently spent a week steeped in all things J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth. In a class called “We Are All Boromir: Embodied Contemplation and Conversation Across Middle-earth” taught by Connie Coady-Matisse - you can subscribe to her very Tolkien, very thoughtful newsletter - I spent time with a fellowship of five other students across five days of magic. Think spiritual and creativity retreat meets Middle-earth. It was not an academic take on Tolkien, nor were any of our discussions or activities about flexing knowledge of the lore.

The full details of our week of activities aren’t mine to share, but I can speak about how:

• I was excited to get out of bed and go to class every day and bone tired at the end of each day from the general enthusiasm of class, doing deep work, and being outside

• We had class in and around a cabin at a nearby college and that cabin overlooks a garden, so looking out from the porch and seeing the student workers weeding or harvesting felt like looking out at Bagshot Row

• I spent most of the days barefoot and grounded as we wrote, embodied the characters and stories, and spent time standing in the nearby Swannanoa River (just past the trees in the above photo) and sitting under apple trees

• I learned more about Tolkien, the professor, and am more smitten with/curious about him as a storyteller

• I reconnected to myself, creativity, and nature in ways I did not expect and found some healing, or at least the start of lifting layers I’ve been content to leave in place for quite a bit of time and seeing what’s underneath

Connie led us through peeling back layers of characters and preconceptions and ideas in a way that has me languishing in Middle-earth, rolling around in the dirt of The Shire in my mind, and celebrating what I’m calling an Ent-girl summer.

📘 writing things 📘

I’m turning two things in next week and then scribbling for fun in my notebook with bits and pieces of a story and we’ll see. I want to tap into a regular writing practice before I try to do the next book-shaped anything.

And in the meantime, I launched my snail mail club. This is what May’s bundle of stuff looked like and June’s is going in the mail tomorrow. If you want to get a letter, art, poem, and pocket-sized pep talk in your mailbox, sign up here!

📚 what I’m reading 📚

I’m staying on theme. This is the paperback copy of The Lord of the Rings that I reread before class and scribbled in and marked with little flags. I’m currently reading Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories” essay in Tales From The Perilous Realm.

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister
Related to the above! I read this romance recently and it references “On Fairy-Stories” more than once because the female main character is an English professor with a focus on popular literature. Anyway, this is an excellent rivals to lovers book, in which the male main character has an appropriate amount of yearning and being down bad. It’s my favorite romance in recent memory and I’m so grateful it was recommended to me.

I’ve also been rereading ACOTAR because a friend is reading it for the first time and what started as me wanting to not accidentally spoil plot points became fully reading the books again. It’s been joyful and I just got a tattoo of the Velaris stars yesterday. ✨

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

I like wholesome things and the whale emoji is cute so: whalesome!

Somewhere in the world, a baby animal is discovering puddles for the first time and sometimes it gets captured on camera.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃

Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.

Reread a book you love. Have a pen, pencil, highlighter at hand. React as you read. Write in the margins. Underline words or paragraphs. It gives you a new perspective as a reader and a storyteller.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“It seemed to them that they did little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees; and it was enough.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

This is about the fellowship when they were in Lothlorien, recently out of the mines of Moria and grieving the loss of Gandalf. It’s the “it was enough” that gets me.

🌞 I hope you’re well and making magic this summer. Comment and tell me all about it. 🌞

It’s not complex. It’s only as tedious as you choose to make it. You have flat-back rhinestones, you have adhesive, and you have little wax pencils and/or tweezers to place the rhinestones on your book cover of choice. The rhinestones can be clear or in a rainbow of colors and all different sizes.

Simple. Straightforward. No experience required.

Myself and a friend joined a book bedazzling event hosted by A Thousand Loves, a local romance book pop-up, at Day Trip, a delightful bar. The hardest part of bedazzling was choosing the book I wanted to give some sparkle. I went with Heated Rivalry and covering up the title went faster than I thought it would. The glue fumes didn’t even have time to affect me.

The book now sits outward facing on my messy bookshelf. It catches the morning light now and again and makes me smile. But… as someone with far too many hobbies and not enough energy to make time for them all, I feel a little relief when I don’t need to take a new craft and make it my personality. I liked it. I like the results. I don’t foresee myself book bedazzling again.

If you’ve bedazzled any books, I wanna see them!

Also, the Book Bedazzler should be the name of a superhero.

I left one of the many coffee shops in my neighborhood yesterday for the short, less than 10 minute drive home. I’d been body doubling with a friend and handwriting in a notebook to trick my brain into the act of writing. I’d had a delicious iced blackberry mocha with cold lavender foam (how did all those flavors work together, I don’t even know, but they did!!) But when I pulled out onto my usual road, it became apparent something was up and I would not be home in 10 minutes.

I live in a twisty turny part of town where streets are in anything but a tidy grid, but the longer I sat moving very slowly, the more I itched to turn off my usual route. Not because I was in a hurry but because I was bored. I knew the general direction I needed to head towards. How hard could it be, I reasoned?

Hahahaha.

It still took me longer than usual to get home. But instead of sitting in traffic I drove down narrow streets and through parts of my neighborhood I’ve never seen before. I saw cute dogs, new to me Free Little Libraries, and some adorable bungalows. It was greener and livelier. I didn’t have enough signal for Maps to help me out of my decision, but I eventually wound over to a street I knew and made it home.

Going the long way isn’t so bad.

📘 writing things 📘

I am here. I am writing.

I am having so much fun with my snail mail club! The first letters just went out. If you like the cozy vibes of this newsletter and want to get more coziness in snail mail form along with art and a poem, consider subscribing? Bonus: the quarterly mini-zine will be in the June mailing!

Sign up for The Acorn Quill Society Snail Mail Club!

I’ve also been doing regular micro blogs through Substack, but I don’t send them via email. Recent posts include a look at The Jim Henson Creature Shop Tour and my junk journaling fun.

📺 what I’m watching 📺

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Is it a good movie? Ehhhhh, not really. Is it still highly entertaining? Yes. I just embraced that it was a silly movie about weird lil guys doing stuff and went along for the mostly plot-less ride. It’s pretty. I look forward to the art of book. Grogu is cute. Rotta the Hutt is surprisingly great?

📚 what I’m reading 📚

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

I am not done with this book yet, but wow. It’s a high fantasy (the first in a trilogy) based on Chinese history and set at a military school. Rin, an orphan living in poverty, escapes her life by studying intensely for admission to the empire’s military school. Getting in is wildly challenging, especially for someone from her district. So far it’s cutthroat and more feral, I would say, than other fantasy academy settings I’ve read. I’m stoked to keep reading.

Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

This was May’s pick for the local romance book club I’m in, and I found it to be a moving story about grief and letting go with a side of goofiness. The premise, basically, is a lady haunted by a guy she went on a single date with and a guy haunted by his deceased fiancée have to solve their ghost problems. Silliness ensues. Also crying. Bonus for me: it’s set in Los Angeles.

I’m also rereading The Lord of the Rings because I’m taking a week-long class about Middle-earth and Tolkien next month. I am so, so excited about it.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

See, the ducklings go down the little water slide and then scurry back to the top. 🥹 I hope that later in life they remember the day mom took them to the Duck Water Park. (Yes I’m crying a little).

🍃 creativity corner 🍃

I cannot overstate how important it is to me to have a side project, a little piece of art or craft or poem - whatever, that is not connected to a deadline. Ideally it’s not even something the world sees. It’s something I do for myself and for the vibes and sake of doing it. It’s creative and stops me from feeling stagnant and it can be whatever it wants with no pressure.

What do you do that’s only for yourself?

📃 quote of the month 📃

“Sometimes fear is the ghost of love. The shadow drawn by the enormity of what it means to care for someone.” - Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Thanks for reading, friend. I hope, whatever you’re doing, that you’re well and that something makes you smile today.

If you didn’t know, I love cats. Days before this trip, I’d lost my oldest cat. Seeing this sushi place a short walk from my hotel seemed like a sign. It’s small, sweet, impeccably decorated, with a lot of options. Nothing extraordinary but everything I needed. I ordered way too much food and enjoyed spotting all the cat decor around me. Only actual cats would have made it better but you know, health codes.

The class turned out to be less instruction and “here’s a bunch of stuff you can use, have fun!” And actually, that’s a pretty solid introduction into junk journaling. You want to have junk journal spreads that are planned with themes and precision a la scrapbooking? Go for it. You want to punch out monochromatic palettes from magazines? Live your life, babe. Affix things onto the page with a glue stick, Mod Podge, adhesive tape - whatever sings to you (I’m currently in the glue stick camp because I’m incapable of not going wild with Mod Podge).

Come to a spread with stuff you’ve hoarded. Stuff could be any of the following (and a lot more I’m not listing):

• Pressed flowers or leaves

• Ticket stubs

• Receipts

• Stickers (did I pick up a sticker from the ground in NYC, yes I did)

• Wrappers from food or cardboard food containers

• Hotel key cards

• Menus

• Stencils from tattoos

• Wrapping paper

• Cards or notes

• Tags

You get the idea. Anything that you want, that you have a connection to.

Make a spread in your junk journal using the above. I add collage elements from magazines or junk mail, stickers, tissue paper, ribbon, or scrapbook paper. I use acrylic paint markers, gouache paint, colored pencils, gel pens, regular pins. Why yes, it is an excellent hobby for craft supply hoarders.

I make spreads centered around places I’ve been, moods, a tattoo, moments I want to remember, and vibe-y poems made from cut-out words. Recent pages included a cut-up KPop Demon Hunters happy meal box that I paired with bright markers and my favorite lyrics from songs in the movie. Sometimes I include actual journaling space, sometimes I don’t. You can do anything.

Your notebook, however it’s made, gets stuffed. Full of tangible elements of your life and thoughts and creativity. It’s been my preferred creative outlet lately and looking back through the pages brings joy.

Go glue stuff into a notebook. See how you feel.

Look, I struggle with making an appropriately-sized cheese plate for one. My grazing table dream was just that, a dream. A distant fantasy.

Until my friend Melanie (you should read her newsletter!) said she was considering a grazing table for her birthday party. I don’t know if I’ve ever volunteered to help with something so quickly. She picked up all the supplies, shared this helpful blog post, and I eagerly put “set up a meat table” in my calendar.

Another friend joined me and it took us a bit over an hour to set this up. I don’t really have any tips since I’ve only done this one time but! Leave more time than you think you’ll need. Elevating different items is nice. Be thoughtful about what you do with packaging because leftovers (some Amys did not pay attention to what she did with packaging).

Also! Melanie provided paper lunch bags for guests to take leftovers. 😍

Before

After

Until my next grazing table occasion…

When I look at plush, fur-like fabric as just fabric, it’s fine. Nothing special, nothing memorable. Maybe I imagine it as a warm blanket. But when I know it could be a muppet? Everything changes. Suddenly the fabric is a character waiting to become. To find life and personality in the hands of talented puppet makers and muppet performers. A piece of long periwinkle fur could become a sack puppet with expressive hands. A bolt of red fabric that looks spiky could become a sassy rod puppet.

That’s why I was drawn to an unassuming rack of fabric by the check-in desk for the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Yes, the colors were bright and attracted my gaze, but it was imagining their potential (or their past) that made me keep going back to the rack to touch every piece and eventually ask an employee to take photos of me in front of it (shout out to Alex: you were so patient).

And the tour? Forget about it. The Creature Shop recently started offering tours on Saturdays and if you are at all into muppets or Henson, it’s worth your time and money. Over the course of 80 minutes, you get a video about the history of the workshop and its many locations around New York City, a muppet performer demonstration, and the chance to see and take photos with Oscar the Grouch, a Skeksis throne, Fraggle Rock characters, and more.

Then the tour moves into the actual workshop, where no cameras are allowed. I had to clench my fists to keep myself from accidentally touching things. There was a Mr. Snuffleupagus all the way from Australia being refurbed. A Coca-Cola polar bear getting restored. Lots of pieces and parts for AMs - Anything Muppets. We talked with Victoria Ellis, who’s worked with the Henson Company since The Muppet Christmas Carol (her work making tropical costumes for the rats got her a gig on Muppet Treasure Island). We saw the travel bag Jim Henson would take when he would make appearances with Kermit the Frog.

It was 80 minutes of escape into a world of craftsmanship and magic. Where a piece of foam can become a bulbous nose, a thrifted pair of sunglasses a key character trait, a piece of fluffy fabric a bit of magic.

Subscribe now

It’s spring. I’m stretching. Soaking in thunderstorms (which we need more of because droughts aren’t great, dudes) and wiping layers of pollen off my car. Not getting outside for walks as much as I would like to, but still spending time with friends and books and art and my cats.

Even with friends I see at least once a week, I joke that I’ve lived a hundred lives since the last time I saw them. It’s a sentence that reminds me a) how much can happen and change in a short period of time, b) that I could almost always do with more slowing down, and c) that even if life has been weird, it won’t always be that way. It won’t always be glowing either.

I’ve been quieter than usual here for a while because of those ebbs and flows. Early last year, my marriage ended. Then I changed jobs in the midst of that. My first fiction book also came out in the middle of that and it just kinda happened and passed. I’ve adapted to living alone with cats, one of whom moved in with my ex in the winter and recently passed from a sudden illness. I’ve grown, regressed, spread my wings, crashed into messy heaps. I’ve felt like a failure (the number of deadline extensions I’ve had to ask for, y’all) and I’ve tried to give myself grace. I’ve cried more tears in the last 16 months than I have in… I don’t know how long.

But I’ve also smiled more. I feel more like me than I ever have. I’ve had such bright experiences. I’m much more comfortable in my skin and with my standards. I’ve found and connected to a wonderful community of friends here in Asheville. I’ve started a million new hobbies.

I can look back and mark time with various song lyrics I repeated or hummed like mantras. That I cried into like they were my favorite handkerchief.

• “Sunrise doesn’t last all morning, a cloudburst doesn’t last all day”

• “Hey Jude... Take a sad song and make it better.”

• “I am the one thing in life I can control”

• “I should’ve let the jagged edges meet the light instead”

It has been a lot. Overwhelming at times - quite a few times, if I’m being honest. But it’s also been life. I’ll keep moving ahead. And one of the most important lessons I’ve learned? I want to keep being the kind of person who risks an outcome of pain for the possibility of joy.

📘writing things 📘

I am behind on books. But I’m chipping away. I’ve found a lot of joy lately in writing poems. I’m also so excited about my snail mail club! If you’re curious, visit The Acorn Quill Society.

If you happen to be in Asheville, I’m giving a presentation at a library on May the 4th and would love to see you there!

📺 what I’m watching 📺

My weekly shows are done for the season and I have a pile of unwatched movies and TV series, so of course I’m in the middle of rewatching The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions and New Girl.

📚 what I’m reading 📚

Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity

Think gothic romance, moody characters and places, and a cursed estate. Leena and her relationship with the Saint of Silence is layered in secrets and hidden motives. It’s all dreamy. I do want to caveat that this book ends on a big ol’ cliffhanger but gosh, reading it made me want to put on a wispy white dressing gown and wander the moors with a candelabra.

Sister Mother Warrior by Vanessa Riley

This historical fiction is about the Haitian Revolution and based on the real lives of the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion that drove out the French and freed the enslaved people of Haiti. It’s hard, powerful, and woven together with beauty and nuance.

Thanks to some lovely guidance and picks from women in my romance book club, I’ve been getting back into some historical romance. A recent delightful read is Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

I like wholesome things and the whale emoji is cute so: whalesome!

Maybe more magical than whalesome, but hey, I make the rules here.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃

Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.

Collaging has become such a comforting outlet for me. I cut up junk mail, keep scraps of everything, and find free magazines at the library. I turn them into poems and art in my junk journal or make standalone pieces. I didn’t know a glue stick could be so healing.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“There are storm clouds in me. Something is going to crack and lightning will shoot from my heart.” - Sister Mother Warrior by Vanessa Riley

Be well. Be kind to yourself. Remember being messy is being human. No one expects you to show up perfectly. Just try.

As always, please reply or comment and let me know how you are!

Meet my new baby: The Acorn Quill Society

I love getting letters in the mail. Postcards. Greeting cards. Anything that isn’t junk mail (though as a new junk journaler and collage maker, even junk mail gets saved now because you never know!).

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any length of time, you know that I like a cozy meander through words. More than one of you has told me that reading my newsletter feels like a hug.

So, I thought… why not put that in letter form?

The Acorn Quill Society is my new monthly snail mail club. A few things aligned just so to spark the idea for this mail club. Most simply, I’m a writer. I like creating. After years of sending this newsletter (which I’ll continue to do!), I wanted to make something more tangible. And for the past two years, I’ve been exchanging handwritten letters with a friend instead of texting or catching up via video chat. The acts of sending mail to them and receiving letters back about their life brings me so much joy. THEN I learned about the wide, lovely world of snail mail clubs. They’re magical. I knew I wanted to start my own.

Members of The Acorn Quill Society will receive the following every month:

✉️ A thoughtful letter
🌿 A 4×6 poetry x art postcard (poem and art by moi!)
🍂 A pocket-sized pep talk

And every quarter, members receive a bonus:
🪶 Acorn Almanac mini-zine, grounded in nature and relaxation

I want to spread the feeling you get when you’re flipping through the mail and you spot something different. Not junk mail. Not a surprise bill from a parking company that snapped a picture of your license plate and fined you for leaving the lot 20 minutes late (not that I’m bitter). Not a catalog you didn’t sign up to receive.

An envelope that feels cozy. Warm. Like the look of autumn leaves and the smell of the first flowers blooming in spring. I like sharing the quiet moments in life - the ones likely to pass us by if we don’t pay attention. Like an acorn shaped so perfectly with its cute little cap that it’s hard to believe it’s real.

Visit The Acorn Quill Society to learn more and subscribe.

If you’re here for only my newsletter, I’m so happy to have you here! The first regular edition in a million years (or since September) will go out this Thursday. Then I’ll be back on track for newsletters the last Thursday of every month. I’ll post occasionally on Substack too, but I won’t email y’all every time. I miss blogging and this seems like a more joyful way to share things instead of on Instagram and an easier way than starting a whole new thing on another site or app.

✨ I appreciate you reading my words and I hope you find some magic today. ✨

I love getting letters in the mail. Postcards. Greeting cards. Anything that isn’t junk mail (though as a new junk journaler and collage maker, even junk mail gets saved now because you never know!).

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any length of time, you know that I like a cozy meander through words. More than one of you has told me that reading my newsletter feels like a hug.

So, I thought… why not put that in letter form?

The Acorn Quill Society is my new monthly snail mail club. A few things aligned just so to spark the idea for this mail club. Most simply, I’m a writer. I like creating. After years of sending this newsletter (which I’ll continue to do!), I wanted to make something more tangible. And for the past two years, I’ve been exchanging handwritten letters with a friend instead of texting or catching up via video chat. The acts of sending mail to them and receiving letters back about their life brings me so much joy. THEN I learned about the wide, lovely world of snail mail clubs. They’re magical. I knew I wanted to start my own.

Members of The Acorn Quill Society will receive the following every month:

✉️ A thoughtful letter
🌿 A 4×6 poetry x art postcard (poem and art by moi!)
🍂 A pocket-sized pep talk

And every quarter, members receive a bonus:
🪶 Acorn Almanac mini-zine, grounded in nature and relaxation

I want to spread the feeling you get when you’re flipping through the mail and you spot something different. Not junk mail. Not a surprise bill from a parking company that snapped a picture of your license plate and fined you for leaving the lot 20 minutes late (not that I’m bitter). Not a catalog you didn’t sign up to receive.

An envelope that feels cozy. Warm. Like the look of autumn leaves and the smell of the first flowers blooming in spring. I like sharing the quiet moments in life - the ones likely to pass us by if we don’t pay attention. Like an acorn shaped so perfectly with its cute little cap that it’s hard to believe it’s real.

Visit The Acorn Quill Society to learn more and subscribe.

If you’re here for only my newsletter, I’m so happy to have you here! The first regular edition in a million years (or since September) will go out this Thursday. Then I’ll be back on track for newsletters the last Thursday of every month. I’ll post occasionally on Substack too, but I won’t email y’all every time. I miss blogging and this seems like a more joyful way to share things instead of on Instagram and an easier way than starting a whole new thing on another site or app.

✨ I appreciate you reading my words and I hope you find some magic today. ✨

I hope this newsletter finds you with sun-warmed skin, windswept hair, and solid ground beneath your feet. I realize it’s more likely that it finds you at your desk or checking your email in the bathroom (no judgment).

Wherever my words find you, do me a solid: Unclench your jaw and relax your shoulders.

I am okay, if a little wrung out. The arrival of fall gives me life through cool mornings, even if they still give way to afternoons in the high 70s (gross). But the first week of fall is a weird one here and always will be because of Hurricane Helene. It’s the one-year anniversary of the hurricane that took so much from this area, and Asheville feels both on edge and extra warm. Kindness abounds, as does an edge of wariness towards anything resembling a severe storm. The hurricane shook this region deeply—in fact, some businesses and roads have only just reopened within the last month—and we’re all still shellshocked. It’s a layer of trauma on top of the trauma that is, you know, the world.

But I am persisting, dammit. I’m kissing my cats, watching birds, eating my new favorite meal (Goodles, I cannot get enough of them), pulling tarot cards, taking myself on solo dates, going out to my fave coffee shop, reading in bed, playing with leaves in my yard, spending time with close friends - basically, I’m curating whimsy and chasing any bit of joy I can, even if it’s a teensy tiny glimmer. Those little moments add up and I’m grateful for them. I hope you’re finding them too. In fact, I’d love to hear about them.

📘 my book things 📘

I am focusing on rewriting my first draft of the follow up to Thrill Ride because boy, that first draft was messy (and by messy, I mean it had no conflict or stakes and was just vibes, oops). I’m lucky to have an amazing editor who’s helping me give it life and encouraging me to make it way more nerdy. I feel hopeful (and still scared about not getting it right, but that’s me as a creative person).

Summer got me with two super cool IP projects and finishing my romance draft. Hence the long gap in newsletters. Time has stretched behind me like a blur between those projects, my dayjob, and other commitments. I’m working on doing less, I swear, and being present. PRESENT. Imagine! Especially as we head into the coziness of fall and winter.

And hey, things have taken longer lately. It’s been a challenging year for me, creatively and otherwise, for reasons I will go into at a later date. I’ve had to ask for deadline extensions, grace, patience, and forgiveness across multiple projects. I loathed doing it and I felt like a big ol’ failure. But across the board, my editors have been nothing but kind and understanding. I’ve shown up imperfectly over and over and no one got mad at me or scolded me. It’s been an important lesson and one I will try to remember the next time I need space to be a human with feelings.

📺 what I'm watching 📺

If I’ve had screen time lately, it’s mostly gone to comfort rewatches (that already includes Superman and KPop Demon Hunters) or playing Tiny Bookshop but while assembling new furniture and learning the intricacies of using an electric screwdriver, I put on The Summer I Turned Pretty and I have no regrets. I’m on the last season now. It’s so messy and angsty and I am hooked.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

Okay, we have established that I read a lot of romance novels, right? Good. Because I want you to take me seriously when I say this is the most wonderful, moving, real, aching romance I have read in recent memory. The yearning! The pining! The two people down for each SO pathetically. And it’s not easy that they feel that way because they’re two gay men in 1950s New York. I want everything for Andy and Nick, and I love how goofy in love they are together. UGH. Go read it now and thank me later.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

As two different friends correctly described this book to me, it's a cozy fantasy with teeth. Emily Wilde is writing, you guessed it, an encyclopaedia of faerie lore and as long as she can focus on research and the faeries, all is well. The second she has to interact with other humans though? Forget about it. But it's okay, because her charming academic rival Wendell can help. This book is spiky, magical, and just so fun. I'm going to read the others as soon as I find suitable physical copies of the whole series for my shelf.

Oh! And I read Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely and holy shit, I cannot wait for that movie. This story, y'all.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

I just relate to Marshmallow's energy okay.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃

Keep going. Make the art. Write the words. Someone needs them, even if that someone is only you. One of my favorite creative outlets lately is taking a travel-sized watercolor kit with me (I got this one), finding a view I like, and playing. I used it to make a scrapbook of sorts while I was driving around Maine during an impromptu escape last month and I’ve been keeping it in my tote bag here at home too. I find it helpful to have a creative thing to do that isn’t writing and comes with zero pressure. Whatever creative outlet speaks to you, grab hold of it. I promise you don’t have to be “good” at it, much less perfect.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“If you want something, you have to grit your teeth and jump in with both feet—that it matters less how you land than that you get there in the first place.” - Cat Sebastian, We Could Be So Good

Please tell me about your fall plans!

Be well, friends. Until next time.

Welcome to summer, to the precipice of a holiday that has me feeling decidedly unpatriotic, to hot and humid days that make me wish I lived in northern Scotland (I keep Inverness on the list in my weather app and gaze at the cooler temps longingly at least once a day). At least I have afternoon and evening thunderstorms that sweep through out of nowhere, loud and messy and torrential, and leave behind clear skies, maybe a rainbow, and blooming, if battered, flowers. The petals cling and persist despite the downpours; there’s something to that.

I am both intentionally moving and intentionally stuck–trying not to race ahead, trying to linger in re-meeting myself. Flexing my muscles, seeing what sits right. What doesn’t. Regenerating through greeting the parts of me that are the most me and no longer putting on pretenses for others, or hiding parts of me for the sake of how I could be perceived.

In short, I am trying to live my best life. My most me life. Once in a while I get hung up on why I haven’t been doing this all along, but I can’t change the past, so here I am. Trying. Always trying. Always staying open to learning. Living in a state of curiosity and not assumption is actually kinda great? It’s a constant practice and not my default. Maybe it will be one day.

I hope so. I hope it for you too.

📘 my book things 📘

I am… writing. That’s all I have right now. By the end of the month, I’ll have written two first drafts–one for my Thrill Ride follow-up and one for a licensed IP non-fiction book I can’t wait to tell you about. I’ve got this (she said with a question in her voice). I am *visualizing* being on the other side of the writing but also trying to enjoy the process (I GUESS) and also visualize my upcoming weekend days and evenings on the couch with my laptop, effing up my neck beyond hope because it is not at all ergonomic, but it is where I like to write.

Also! I did an event at a local Barnes & Noble the other day and got to see Thrill Ride in a coveted front table spot!! Look at her!

📺 what I'm watching 📺

Before Sunrise

Have y’all heard of this movie from 1995 with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy? Loool. I’m slightly behind the times, but I watched this on a plane recently and it had me swooning while seated. The chemistry between these two! The longing! I thought the ending might break me a little–it probably would have if I’d seen it when it came out. But I’ve loved and lived a lot since then and I can accept it for the moment in time it is. I’m watching Before Sunset this weekend and I can’t wait.

The Pitt

Medical dramas haven’t been my thing since early seasons of ER, which is why we’re here, because Noah Wyle is… Noah Wyle. He’s taking care of business in an ER in a hoodie and Carhartts. He’s compassionate. He’s competent. The whole cast is powerful. Every episode is an hour in an ER shift and I can only watch one at a time but I’m here for it.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Against a Wall by Cate C. Wells
I picked this one up for romance book club later in the month and it has one of the best/most convincing enemies to lovers turns ever. It’s about a woman and her high school bully, and when you start the book you’re like, no way am I gonna be rooting for this shit. And then… Glenna and Cash, I adore you. This book is funny, wholesome, hot. Love, love, love.

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
The way I've been itching for a new cozy fantasy... Greenteeth is about a lake monster who ends up saving a human witch who is being treated in the awful ways witches have been throughout history. Cue a magical quest between unlikely allies to defeat evil. It's charming. It's kind. It digs into mythology and unmoors it. And because I know it's a selling point for cozy fantasy for some folks, there is no romance of any kind.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

Not so much whalesome as like, how is nature this fucking cool?! And we exist in the same world as all of it.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“You’re nobody’s rainbow. You’re nobody’s princess. You’re nobody’s doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you.” - Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway

My wish for all of you is that you write a piece of your story every day. ❤️‍🔥

Will any of you be at San Diego Comic-Con later this month? I’m moderating a cool panel on Sunday and maybe doing a book signing or two!

Remember when I’d consistently send this newsletter on the last Thursday every month? Those were good times. I’m endeavoring to get back to that schedule.

Do you ever consider how much time we devote to thinking about if it’s the right time to do something? Is it the right time to pivot careers? The right time to start a project or a class? The right time to run away to the forest never to return? The right time to get bangs? I don’t have an answer to any of these, except maybe about the bangs but that would just be my personal bias speaking. (In case you’re curious, my personal bias says it’s never the right time for bangs).

Sometimes these questions are measurable. When I complete X, it’s time for Y. But so often, they’re these nebulous, maybe thorny spirals that I simply cannot follow to a clear answer. I’ve had a year—well, over a year—of feelings and opportunities and thoughts that can’t be measured in time as we recognize it. There isn’t a linear path or set amount of time to process an emotion or a hope or a loss and move on. How nice it would be for a timer to go off and notify you when it’s the right time.

But then again, it’s not really about time, is it? It’s a feeling. A pull. You have to be in tune with yourself to notice it and comfortable enough with yourself to trust it. That tells you what’s right. When to proceed, when to say wait a minute and hold yourself back. It’s easier to say than do and I’m trying. Just trying.

Thanks for hanging in through that ramble. Besides pondering casual thoughts like this, I’ve been trying to spend more time outside, spend more time being soft with myself and others, and spend more time resting without guilt (why is this so hard to do!).

Oh! Last time I wrote I mentioned I was starting a new job and a few of you have asked about it - I’m doing copywriting for The Army Painter, a maker of excellent paints for tabletop minis. I’ll be at their booth at Origins in Columbus in a few weeks - if you’ll be there, please come say hi! I can’t wait to visit Columbus, see my sister and brother-in-law, and squeeze in as many visits to Stauf’s Coffee as I can manage.

📘 my book things 📘

First of all: Dave from the UK, thank you for ordering Thrill Ride from Malaprop’s! So kind of you. It took me a minute to stop by to sign it, but it’s on the way.

I’ve been in a writing rut, which I feel like happens pretty regularly but! Historically I’ve always gotten out of it, so I know I will again. I still have things in progress, it’s just the actual creation of them comes and goes in inconsistent waves. Highlights:

• Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy Updated and Expanded came out on April 29th and she’s beautiful - the new art, the new characters. Ahsoka on the cover!

• Some of you have asked about The Art of Star Wars Visions: Volume Two that was supposed to come out on the same date. It’s on hold, that’s all I know. Trust me, I’m as bummed as you are. That art needs to be seen by the world!

• My middle grade fantasy went out on submission on a date I refuse to recall or look up because I’m trying not to think about it! I really want to write this series so please, please keep good thoughts for it.

• I pushed my deadline for the Thrill Ride follow-up because, life, but that’s on the horizon.

• I’m in the process of signing two non-fiction licensed IP contracts and I can’t wait to share about them in - I don’t know, it’s publishing, so eight to ten months?

📺 what I'm watching 📺

Andor, Season 2
I implore you, if you are not a Star Wars person, please consider watching Andor. I don’t need to convince my fellow Star Wars nerds. But you, person who likes drama, writing that punches you in the gut over and over, political intrigue, spies, and rebellion? Andor. Watch it.

I’m also watching season 4 of Welcome to Wrexham because of course I am.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura
1) Yes, it is an excellent title and you’ll be happy to know the first book in this series is called Raiders of the Last Heart and the next book is The Lust Crusade. Genius. Perfection. No notes. 2) What a joyful adventure to search for a lost city with a lil enemies to lovers vibe and the perfect amount of spice. If you have been looking for an Indiana Jones meets romance vibe, run to these faster than Indy running away from a boulder.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Look, I know you’ve probably heard amazing things about this book from a hundred people. Allow me to be the 101st. I understand the raising of an eyebrow at a prequel. But Haymitch’s story? Y’all. It’s a symphony of bravery, stubbornness, and tragedy. It will rip you apart. The same week I read Sunrise on the Reaping, I also saw Thunderbolts*/New Avengers, watched three episodes of Andor, and decided to rewatch Encanto for some reason? No, I don’t know why I punish myself either (welllll, actually I do, but that is for therapy).

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

If you need a gentle pat on the back that may or may not make you sob, I bet one of the images in this post from Christian Watson is going to be just what you need to hear.

📃 quote of the month 📃

"Perhaps the most life-affirming moments are when you’re at your darkest and someone opens their arms to you. Someone you don’t know. Someone who just looks at you and, even though they don’t know the why, know you need comfort." - Eric Alperin & Deborah Stoll, Unvarnished

If you need comfort, I hope someone sees you and holds out a hand. ✨

For much of this year I’d say I’ve been surviving, not living. And that’s okay. Survival is necessary and sometimes it’s all we can do. It doesn’t have to be one or the other either. Moments of living sit next to moments of surviving. Often, in fact, they find ways to overlap. I could be sitting in that middle space for a while longer, but I’m trying to tip the scales towards living. Towards thriving. I’m stretching my limbs outward instead of retreating in. And if that all sounds like a bunch of vague nonsense, I’m genuinely happy that you don’t know the feeling of having one foot on either side of the line.

Since my last newsletter, Thrill Ride released! I celebrated with a launch event at my local bookshop, Malaprop’s, with Beth Revis (read her newsletter!) and appeared as a featured author at the inaugural Read Freely Fest. My first book festival! Ahh! I met some hella inspiring and prolific authors on a romance panel: Vanessa Riley, Synithia Williams, and Cassie Verano. I went to an after-hours party in a library with crafts and canned wine. I stayed in a gorgeous bed & breakfast. I took long walks around Columbia. I came home with a bounce in my step. It was a weekend of living and I’m so grateful for the experience.

And speaking of things I’m grateful for, after many months of searching, I am happy to share I’ve found a new job! I start later this month and I’ll share details in the next newsletter. I’m still in a nerdy space, but it’s quite different than my previous work.

The energy of spring growth is flowing and I’m dipping my bare feet into it. I’m trying to go outside more and notice as green takes over the brown. Sometimes it seems to happen in a flash, like with a trumpet vine in my backyard. It’s the time of year when the “The world came back to life!” line from Hadestown plays in my head on repeat. Bunnies are racing across the road, chipmunks are dashing around the yard again, bluebirds are inspecting the nesting box.

Life is all around me. 🌱

📘 my book things 📘

Whew, it happened! Thrill Ride has been out in the world for over a week! Thank you to everyone who’s supported the book and cheered me on and listened to me talking about it in this newsletter for an age. Launching a book is weird, exciting, and also like, okay… now what? I know the answer. I keep going. Keep writing. While I do that, I hope people will pick up Thrill Ride and like it! If you’ve read it and feel like leaving a review on the internet somewhere, I’d appreciate it and I will never know because I refused to look at reviews!

I stopped by Nerdist’s Laser Focus this week to talk about the book and a lot of theme park feelings. I also talked about Thrill Ride on the Dillo’s Diz podcast!

Here’s what else is going on:

• Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy Updated and Expanded and The Art of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 are both out on April 29! If you want signed copies, please reach out to Malaprop’s.

• That middle grade fantasy I’ve been talking about for two years?! I finally got my rewrite done and it will be going out on submission soon. Eeeeek!

• I’m writing the follow up to Thrill Ride now. It’s due in a month-ish and I am chugging along. I can’t wait for you to read this one!

• I am planning to finish proposals for another rom-com and for my cozy fantasy before winter.

📺 what I'm watching 📺

The Wheel of Time
Season three of The Wheel of Time is a ride. Even if you aren’t familiar with the books, it’s grown into a captivating fantasy series. The scope is bigger, the characters are established, shit is getting real. The opening scene of season three with a bunch of middle-aged women absolutely shredding each other?! Oh my god. The experience in Rhuidean?! I cannot. Rafe Judkins, you beautiful man. And if you follow such things, scores for the series are way up on Rotten Tomatoes because it’s almost like a show needs more than a single season to find its audience and its way?

The Studio
The Studio is about a movie studio with Seth Rogen’s character as its head, and it is so true to what I have experienced in Hollywood that I both love and hate it. The conversation about Kool-Aid as a movie franchise is painfully real. But so are the parts where some producers care about the art and want to make good movies. That dichotomy is real too. Anyway, watch it. Prepare to cringe. Episode two will make you want to crawl under your couch.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen
Norse-inspired romantasy! Gods-blessed characters! Forbidden love! Freya is a messy shield maiden who every leader wants to use for their own purposes. But will she stand for that? No, no she will not. When I opened this book on my ereader and saw it was 432 pages I was 👀 but the pages flew by.

Much to my frustration, I haven’t had my usual ability to concentrate on reading. Books are my guaranteed escape and not being able to focus has been bumming me out. But! I have a stack of books coming available from the library any day (I am ready for Sunrise on the Reaping to wreck me) and a bunch of actual books on my TBR cart. I know one of them is going to pull me back in.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

I have two whalesome things this month.

This is Tortimer, an Eastern box turtle that decided to call my backyard home last summer. She showed up in the yard not long after I helped an Eastern box turtle across the road near my house. Coincidence? You decide. In the winter box turtles burrow under leaves and soil, and since I leave the leaves, she had plenty of places to stay warm. But of course I wondered about her, especially since it got so cold. I’m happy to report she has reemerged and seems to be enjoying the spring weather. The joy I felt upon seeing her crawl around the yard again!!

Then there’s Garbanzo. In brief: Rachael fostered Garbanzo when she was a kitten. Garbanzo was adopted but then showed up at a shelter earlier this year. Because of her microchip, the shelter notified Rachael. Since then she’s helped Garbanzo, who was tormented and abused, find her way back to trust. The journey of a scared Banzo to a total lovebug who lets people touch and love her again is healing—not just to Banzo, but to anyone who watches. I needed it. It’s a story about being vulnerable and patient. I will cry again thinking about it. Visit Rachael’s feed to watch Garbanzo learn to love again.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

I hope you’re good and that the temperature wherever you are is exactly what you want it to be. (Today is unseasonably hot here, if the word “unseasonably” still means anything).

This month I’d love to hear about your favorite comfort movies. It’s possible we’ve talked about this before - this is my 60th newsletter after all! Mine include, usually in this order: National Treasure, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, National Treasure 2, The Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended editions, obviously).

This year has not gone the way I expected. And look, change is the only constant in life, sure. Even with that in mind, things have been a roller coaster. I am not the biggest fan of roller coasters, but I’ve been strapping in and trying to anticipate the drops and I’m not going to keep dragging this comparison out. The point being that life happens moment to moment and what is right now will not be tomorrow. AND! I have some cool possibilities ahead. I will take any and all good vibes, please.

I’ve also found some joy too. That joy included visiting London during the best time of year: February! I had a couple of sunny days between rain and cold, but even under the clouds I meandered, sipped warm drinks, and ducked into any museums and shops that appealed. This trip was a bit of an escape, so I holed up in a flat in Southwark and explored the neighborhood and took things slowly.

I went to the Natural History Museum and had Dishoom with friends, I saw Hadestown, I popped into a delightful game store called Orcs Nest, and I wandered up a spiral staircase to visit The Old Operating Theatre museum. I followed my curiosity for some book research. I also followed my fandom to Wrexham in North Wales.

Like a number of people, I learned about Wrexham because of the documentary Welcome to Wrexham. I got invested in the club and its promotions because of getting to know the community and the players through the series. The show introduced me to English football and the highs and lows that come with being a fan. I’ll be up at 7:30am my time to watch tomorrow’s game live. Up the town!

📘 my book things 📘

HEY! How would you like to see me talking about Thrill Ride? BONUS: What if I was talking to the very talented author Beth Revis about Thrill Ride? You’re in luck! My wonderful indie bookstore Malaprop’s is hosting a hybrid launch event on March 24. You can attend in person OR virtually. Either way, register for the Thrill Ride launch event here!

Or could I interest you in preordering a signed copy of Thrill Ride? Get your signed edition of Thrill Ride from Malaprop’s!

Finally, if you’ll be in or near Columbia, South Carolina at the end of March, come to Read Freely Festival! I’ll be joining a bunch of authors for panels, signings, and general book nerdery. I hope to see you!

📺 what I'm watching 📺

I’ve been keeping up with new episodes of prestige (do we still use that word) TV like Severance, The White Lotus, and Abbott Elementary (it’s prestige and you can’t convince me otherwise), but I’m looking for my next show. People keep telling me about Slow Horses and I am intrigued.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Ali Hazelwood writing about a vampyre x werewolf romance - a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf, specifically - is just what I needed last month. Marriage of convenience, revenge, mystery, and fun worldbuilding—it's all here. Misery and Lowe’s story will make your day better.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
MURDERBOT! It took me an age to get around to this series of sci-fi novellas. The feelings! The processing! The very relatable moments with a robot! A friend and I picked this for our book club and were delighted to learn it’s becoming a series on Apple TV+.

I’ve also been digging into some ‘80s Daredevil comics for a comic book club with a pal and wow, the amount of text on pages back then is wild.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃

Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.

You know when you finally get around to trying something tons of people recommend and you’re like, “Okay but how helpful can it actually be?” That’s me and morning pages. I’ve been meaning to do The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron for actual years and I knew one component of the book’s work is morning pages. You write three pages in a notebook, stream of consciousness style and ideally you do it first thing in the morning. I started on February 9 and have only missed two days because I love sitting down with my coffee and getting my brain gremlins out of my head. I also love a) using a previously blank notebook b) putting stickers on that notebook’s cover and c) the feeling of a pen gliding on paper. Though I think I’ve about burned through my poor Sharpie S Gel.

I’m not saying doing morning pages have unlocked some speedy drafting demon or anything, but they do take weight from my mind and that weight doesn’t serve me when I’m trying to write prose.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“Whoever holds your pen can compose the terms of your well-being.” - Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, et al from Crucial Conversations

This is another book I’ve been reading as part of an effort to sprinkle in more non-fiction with my fiction and it’s a good one, full of tips I will have to work to put into practice. I’m gonna have to read it a few more times.

How’s your world? Reading anything cool? Trying out any creative tips, new or tried-and-true? Let me know in the comments!

25% Off Preorders!

Barnes & Noble is having one of their 25% off preorders sales! It’s happening today (February 5) through Friday, February 7. Just add Thrill Ride to your cart and use the promo code PREORDER25. Premium members get an extra 10% off.

Goodreads Giveaway for Finished Copies!

It’s time for another Goodreads giveaway, this time for finished copies of Thrill Ride! You can enter here and as a bonus, that adds the book to your to-read shelf.

Thank you for your support! I will be coming back with a usual edition of this newsletter before you know it.

Let’s talk about that holiday break since I’m just coming out of it! My last day at Nerdist was on December 19, so I took the last two weeks to rest. I’m so grateful I could do so. It was a necessary reset from work and the job search and all of it, and now I’m ready to get back to the job hunt this week. During my break, I:

• Spent time with my husband and our four cats

• Stopped being “strong” about my previously mild cat allergy that turned into a more severe allergy and started OTC daily allergy meds. I don’t blow my nose for two hours every morning now. What a gift!

• Started therapy for the first time

• Got a prescription for anxiety meds

• Read and played video games (okay, a video game) and board games

• Hung out with friends

• Put together a puzzle

• Did a digital detox for the 30th, 31st, and 1st and focused on meditation, magic, and rituals instead of my phone. I copied this idea from a friend and it has had such a positive impact on my relationship to my phone. I’m checking emails, Instagram, and LinkedIn less and striving to use my phone primarily for communications through text, WhatsApp, and voice (I guess). I mean, social media is communication too; I just don’t control myself well when I open those apps. I’m attempting to limit social media time to when I’m on my computer.

Then, to wrap up break, my husband and I started a house project we’ve been talking about for a while: a Haunted Mansion wall. We have a lot of Haunted Mansion collectibles because we love the ride. We even got a Victorian-esque cabinet to hold some of them. BUT we wanted a themed wall with the ride’s iconic wallpaper… which isn’t available for sale. So, we started painting. More on Instagram when it’s done (hopefully tomorrow because I’m seeing this pattern in my sleep).

📘 my book things 📘
Have I mentioned Thrill Ride is available for preorder wherever you buy books? I’ll have details on signed preorders and some lil preorder gifts soon! I got my ARCs of this beauty and it’s WILD to hold the almost final book in my hands!! I even took one to EPCOT last month.

Now to get to work on the sequel, which is due, uh… kinda soon? It will be fine. It always is.

📺 what I'm watching 📺
Silo
At this point in Apple TV+’s existence, I’m not surprised to discover amazing shows that have received little to no marketing. It’s a tale as old as this particular streamer. Silo is a smart, suspenseful sci-fi series with layers of mystery, good performances, and truly excellent set design and worldbuilding. Highly recommend if you want something with Fallout vibes but not something as cartoonishly violent.

Skeleton Crew
Star Wars hasn’t been this fun in a hot minute, and I’m loving it. I know the show plays on a lot of tropes and plot points from ‘80s movies, but they feel so fresh in the context of the Star Wars universe. I can’t get enough. Here’s hoping the last two episodes deliver.

📚 what I'm reading 📚
Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber
Preeti is so funny it’s honestly rude. This YA romance follows Payal as she tries to teach a lesson to the all-around athletic golden dude she has a crush on, while she doesn’t see the dude right in front of her face. It’s a classic high school love story with so many twists and lessons. I adored it.

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
A story about a ghostwriter and a star of a series that sounded like it would have thrived on The CW travel together while she writes his memoir and teaches him to be better at sex. It’s spicy yes, but also earnest and adorable.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃
Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.

I started reading Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller the other day. It’s a marketing book for brands and businesses, but as you might guess by the name, it includes a fair amount about storytelling. So, let this be a reminder to look outside the usual places for writing inspiration/instruction.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“Please watch out for each other. Love and forgive everybody. It's a good life, enjoy it." - Jim Henson

Visiting the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta was such a delightful way to spend an afternoon, and though I knew about this quote from Henson - it was from a posthumous letter to his kids - seeing it on the wall made it stick with me. I think of it at least once a day.

Tell me: how were your holidays? What intentions or goals or vibes do you have for 2025?

Hi there! I am in it right now between life, writing, work, and trying to find the next step in my career. I’m putting most of my energy and time into the latter because I know that will help other things fall into place and will take an elephant-sized weight off my shoulders. I am working with an incredible career coach, controlling what I can, and putting my trust in the Universe to take of the rest. I will take any and all good energy you have to share.

So, to that end, this newsletter is a short one. Done is sometimes better than perfect. Let’s do this.

📘 my book things 📘

Happy days, I have two things to share!

First up, physical ARCs for Thrill Ride are almost here! You can enter a giveaway on Goodreads to get a physical copy way ahead of the March release date. They will choose 100 winners, so go do the thing!

Related to Goodreads, I would be very, very grateful if you marked Thrill Ride as “to read” or added it to any lists you might make on Goodreads. This helps send a positive message to booksellers that folks are interested and can’t wait to read my book.

(Do this for all upcoming releases you want to support - it’s free and according to my editor, it helps!).

Also, book reviewer pals, Thrill Ride is available to request on NetGalley!

The second thing! If you’ve been wanting to pick up The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline, it’s 42% off through today!

📺 what I'm watching 📺

I am all in on the latest season of The Great British Bake Off (I’m only on bread week, so no spoilers). I love Nelly. LOVE.

Skeleton Crew is out today and y’all. I adore this series. So joyful.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Some recent favorites of mine are The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton (if you’ve been looking for a book to fill The Mists of Avalon-shaped hole in your heart, this is it. Thanks for the rec, Kate!) and Accidental Demons by Claire Edge.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“Rain is not always a storm. The wind does not always howl.” - Tessa Gratton, The Queens of Innis Lear

I’m grateful for all of you. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being cool. Let’s do good things this month.

Before the hurricane last month (we’re still waiting on drinkable water, but we’re okay and lucky outside of the surreal nature of things like regularly driving past or encountering destroyed businesses, homes and lives), I was going to talk with you about creativity. Specifically, how I’ve been at odds with it and beating myself up about it. 

Remember how I left my full time job in May? That needed to happen for mental health (because of that particular job and not because of it being a full time job) and I do not regret it. I went part time, which in theory, meant I had more time to write. And I did for a while. Then I started to feel the pressure I put on myself and my creativity to produce income more regularly. Some people would react by creating prolifically in hopes of getting something to stick and sell. 

Not me. I froze.

I felt like a failure, like I’d made the wrong choice.

Making little art with nature bringing me joy

As part of some work I’ve been trying to do on myself, I borrowed Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert in September, and OH BOY, did it resonate. It’s about creativity and working with it, instead of against it, and not holding it responsible for so much. Being kinder to it. That book is what made me realize why I’d been a bit frozen with writing, outside of tending to deadlines and things already in progress: I was putting pressure on my creativity to help me survive and I had all this extra time, what was I even doing with it? Why was I wasting this opportunity of time? Was I even a writer? Would I look dumb if I changed my mind and looked for full time work?

Never mind that I have written 15 books while I had a full time job and juggled all my responsibilities quite well, to be honest.

So I’ve been on a bit of a journey of forgiveness with myself and my creativity, trying to build that trust back up between both of us. Well, I started that journey and then Hurricane Helene came and I feel like most of October disappeared and then I went through a phase of feeling like a failure again because I haven’t worked on my middle grade draft in well over a month. It’s a circle. One day I’ll give myself grace before the “feeling like a failure” part comes in; that’s why I’m doing the work. I’m back at things now, though - mostly tending to proof pages for Thrill Ride, some edits for a book I mention below, and doing business of writing stuff.

I am also in search of a full time job where I can use my many talents (strategy, editorial/content planning, SEO, vendor management, project management, brand and voice!), and I am not above asking for help if any of you know of anything where you work. My creativity and I work better as a team when I have a full time job, period, and I’m excited for what I might discover in this next stage of the journey.

📘 my book things 📘

In case you didn’t see, I revealed the cover for Thrill Ride! Look at Charlotte and Gregory, those adorable nerds. I love the colors, love the vibes, love the fonts! Kris Noble at Kensington created this beauty. Thrill Ride is available for preorder wherever you buy books! I will have a preorder link for signed copies from Malaprop’s here in Asheville soon and I’m going to have a very cool preorder incentive. Preorders count for a lot so I will be talking about them a lot in coming months.

And some other news that’s out in the world but that I haven’t shouted about yet…

I wrote The Art of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2!! I had the most excellent time speaking with teams from animation studios around the globe. I can’t wait for y’all to see their gorgeous concepts. More details here!

Also! Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, my first ever published book, is getting an Updated and Expanded Edition! So many of y’all have asked me about updates over the years and I’m stoked to finally say it’s happening. You can learn about some of the new characters here!

Otherwise I’m setting myself an aggressive goal to finish my middle-grade fantasy draft by mid-November because around then, I need to figure out Thrill Ride #2.

📺 what I'm watching 📺
Agatha All Along
Y’all. I cannot get over how delightful the Agatha Harkness spinoff is. If you like witchy vibes, magic, tarot, and can appreciate a woman who chases power without remorse, watch it. You’ll pick on some extra bits if you’re a MCU fan, but I don’t think you need that knowledge to appreciate how much Joe Locke, Kathryn Hahn, and the entire cast slay in this series. Even though the finale only aired last night, I could rewatch it immediately.

The Wild Robot
Brag time: my super talent husband spend a few years working on The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders. It’s a visually stunning movie about the power of kindness, with a buttload of adorable animals and talented voice performances. It’s in theaters and available to rent or buy digitally at home. Please watch it. Prepare for emotions. It’s so, so wonderful.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
If you’re looking for a cozy and ghostly romance, please pick up Haunted Ever After. It’s set in a hecking cute Florida tourist town, Boneyard Key, where resident ghosts are part of every day life. The story is warm and welcoming towards spirits and the romance between Cassie and Nick is so sweet. Note: it will make you want and/or crave banana bread.

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
So, we can all agree (I hope) that Jim Henson rules. This dude just tried the damn thing, whatever the damn thing was. I’m familiar with a lot of his work and absolutely obsessed with some of it, but what I didn’t fully know from documentaries and general Henson info is how kind and positive he was (see the quote below). This book really resonated with me, not only because of his relentless creativity and experimentation, but because of how he treated others.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳
I like wholesome things and the whale emoji is cute so: whalesome!

Some kestrel chicks leaving their nest box! Kestrels are gorgeous birds, even in their floofy baby stage!

🍃 creativity corner 🍃
Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine and/or stay productive.

Before Hurricane Helene, two things were getting me through daily writing sessions: stickers and accountability. The latter is through a Discord group of fellow writers where we say we’re working and sometimes do sprints. It’s so helpful. And the former, is inspired by Claribel A. Ortega’s cozy writing method. I pulled out a wall calendar I don’t really use and started giving myself stickers for every day I wrote. It brought joy and I was pretty consistent until just before Helene. I’m getting back to sticker/writing life tomorrow!

📃 quote of the month 📃

“In broad strokes,” explained Jim, “the message I try to bring across is the positives of life and a positive attitude toward the goodness of mankind.” - Jim Henson: The Biography

What’s going on in your world, everyone? Any Halloween costumes or plans? Tell me all the things!