About post-pub life

Hello!

It’s been 4 weeks since THE COVER GIRL made her debut. The high so far has been my launch event at Quail Ridge Books was a dream come true – people I haven’t seen since high school, my parents’ friends, former teachers, coworkers, the amazing writer whose accountability group has saved my sanity the last year and a half, and my closest friends and family all showed up. (My friend group even made tee shirts!!) I don’t know how anyone gets through a launch event without crying. It was truly one of the best nights of my life, and I will be forever grateful.

I’ve also heard from some readers – people I don’t personally know! – who’ve read the book and loved it, which is an incredible feeling that does not seem like real life.

So while THE COVER GIRL isn’t exactly trending (yet???), hopefully it’s finding its people. If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, a Goodreads or Amazon review (even if purchased elsewhere) is hugely helpful in terms of getting it in front of more readers, as is asking your library or local indie bookseller to carry it. I’m hoping for a slow burn.

Events

I’m thrilled to have a few upcoming book events, and I hope to see you at one!

• 9/3 at the Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA - 7:30pm

• 9/10 at CLASS at Pawleys Island: The Moveable Feast, Pawleys Island, SC - 11:00am

• 9/10 at My Sister’s Books, Pawleys Island, SC - 2:00pm

• 9/25 at Malaprop’s Books, Asheville, NC - 6:00pm (with Penny Zang!)

I’ll also be joining my first book club discussion on 9/12, which I’m super excited for! 

Other Writing

The weeks leading up to publication were filled with essay-writing about topics related to THE COVER GIRL:

• Electric Literature: The Power of Withholding a Character’s Name

• Writer’s Digest: Writing a Character Who Speaks Volumes Without a Voice

• BookTrib: The Girls in the Background: Why I Write About the Footnotes of Fame

• Women Writers, Women’s Books: Debuting at 40: The Case for the Late-Blooming Author

• The Nerd Daily: excerpt

The Big Hair Video Lair: Retro Video Corner

As a refresher: in 2015, on a whole different internet, I started a blog about 80s glam metal videos, doing tongue-in-cheek analyses, especially of the girls in the videos. It’s never a bad time for 80s music videos, so I’m reviving the Big Hair Video Lair in this newsletter, in a much shorter form, and taking a trip down memory lane with some older posts.

In today’s throwback, Dokken is solving the male loneliness epidemic in a video that includes emotional ghosts, outfit mullets and hair mullets, a letter in which someone rambles on for 18 pages FRONT AND BACK, and a shortie robe. Check out the full post here.

Now Reading

I just finished listening to the audiobook of AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz, and my hold for THE STATIONERY SHOP by Marjan Kamali just came in. With a few flights coming up, I’m loading up my Kindle and I’m looking forward to IN THE NAME OF HONOR by fellow 2025 Courtney Collins and Clarke Collins.