March Newsletter
Surprise parties, grapefruit cake, and dread about tuberculosis
It’s officially spring, and my brain feels a bit like pudding.
In the run-up to Bat Eater’s US release, I’ve found myself doing a lot more interviews and promotion than usual, though I’ve shoehorned in time to attend other people’s book events, play too many video games, and amp up my half marathon training. This has been a work-hard-play-hard month for me, and now that I’m looking back on it, I’m amazed at just how full of friends, joy, and quietly beautiful moments it was. Here are a few of the highlights:
I made a grapefruit pound cake with this recipe, which was divine. I made one loaf for my family and one for my friends, and both were gone very quickly.
I attended a launch event for Ava Reid’s new book, A Fable for the End of the World, which she discussed with C.L. Herman. I read two of Ava Reid’s books this year (Juniper and Thorn, and A Study in Drowning) and really enjoyed them, so I’m so excited for her new dystopian book!
I learned how to play virtual hide and seek with my friends
I attended the launch event for John Green’s new nonfiction book, Everything is Tuberculosis, and sat in the fourth row. I so deeply admire both John Green’s writing and his commitment to helping others, and seeing him talk in person only confirmed how much I want to be like him when I’m older. He’s a very humble guy, so I’m sure he would be horrified to hear me say this, but he truly is such an intelligent and empathetic person. Absolutely worth all the hype.
I planned and successfully pulled off a small surprise party for one of my friends! Admire the matcha cake Yume and I made below. I LOVE surprise parties and used to plan them regularly when I was in college. One of my favorite college memories is the Pokemon, Go! themed party my friends and I planned during our senior year. All of us dressed as Pokemon and hid around campus. The birthday girl had to follow clues to find us and throw pokeballs at us.
All in all, it was a truly special month. Maybe I’m just saying that because it’s easy to feel optimistic now that the sun stays out past dinnertime. But I try my best to be grateful for moments both big and small, and to romanticize my own life and enjoy it as much as I can.
I’m hard at work on my next YA fantasy, which I just signed the contract for. This is another standalone, much like I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends. There’s a big and constantly bickering family, a huge inheritance at stake, and a prince who eats mayonnaise with his hands. It is somehow even sillier than I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends (which is my most lighthearted book to date) and I’m delighted that I get to write it.
I’ve always said that my personality is 1/2 Geralt of Rivia (perpetually Done With This Shit and ready to fight anyone who gets in my way) and 1/2 Miss Frizzle (just an agent of fun chaos, unapologetic joy, and ugly dresses), and I’m thrilled that my work is starting to diverge into these two paths that somehow feel equally Me.
“So, do you just write all day?”
It’s a question I get a lot as a full time writer. While I wish that were the case, I do have a lot of other responsibilities, so I thought I’d share a bit of what kind of admin work authors have to do.
I have worked “real” jobs before, so I’m not trying to say that any of this is uniquely challenging or more difficult than anyone else’s job—it’s not. I just thought some people would find this interesting.
Here’s a peek into the admin I did last Monday morning:
Finished typing up my answers to an interview for a book blog, then sent them back to my publicist
Skimmed the contract for my next YA book. I read it in detail last week, and so did my agent and agency lawyer. This was the final copy approved by all parties and ready for my signature. I gave it a quick once-over and then signed it.
Emailed someone confirming logistics for a podcast that I’m recording on Thursday
Looked over and approved the full dust jacket for I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends (it’s so gorgeous)
Scripted and then recorded 2 short videos for booksellers and librarians, which my publisher requested. This required doing hair and makeup (a rarity for me these days), cleaning off a corner of my office, setting up my lights, and practicing reading my script in front of the camera, so about an hour total
Prepped for a podcast interview by jotting down answers to questions that often come up (what is your book about, tell us about yourself, what are you working on, what are you reading now). Moved my lights, tested Zoom, set up my camera, mic, and headphones. I’ve done enough interviews at this point that I’m usually not terribly stressed about them, especially if it’s not live (which this wasn’t).
Recorded said podcast interview
Signed and packaged up one of my author copies of Bat Eater to send to my agent, who likes to get a signed copy of all the books we sell together (Bat Eater is number five!) while making a mental note that I need to take aesthetic photos of said author copies for Instagram. This wasn’t urgent, but I hate clutter and I want to get my author copies out of the boxes on my floor ASAP.
Emailed/DM’d 5 authors requesting blurbs for I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends
Drafted this section of my newsletter to send out at the end of the week
It was a particularly admin-heavy week, since I’d been traveling since Friday and my inbox was a bit clogged up. Some days I have no emails at all and can happily focus on other things. But now, leading up to the release of Bat Eater in the US, there's a bit more on my plate than usual.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a LibraryReads pick! As a former librarian myself, this is such an honor!
Reminder that if you preorder Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng from Porter Square Books, it will come with a print of the original cover. I will also sign and personalize all preorders if you request it in the order comments!
Double reminder that the Bat Eater launch event with Paul Tremblay is on April 29th at Porter Square Books! You can RSVP here!
What I’m Reading:
If you want to cry, I recommend A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang. Conversely, if you want to be horrified (in a fun way), I really enjoyed rekt by Alex Gonzalez.
I started watching A Man on the Inside, which is about Michael from The Good Place (not his character, but the actor) working as an undercover agent at a retirement home, which is as hilarious as you’d expect. I’ve also started watching Severance and… wow. I have never been so glad to not work in the corporate world.
That’s it for me this month! Next month is Bat Eater’s US release, so I’m sure I’ll look back at all the promo I was whining about this month and think “wow, that was nothing compared to what I’m doing now!”
I hope all of you have the chance to get out and enjoy the spring weather!
All my best,
Kylie