November Newsletter
Goodreads Awards, The New York Times, and finding my marbles
(Spoiler alert: there are SO many exciting things in my “Professional Updates” section this month, so if you read nothing else, scroll down to that part!)
At this point in the year, I have well and truly lost my marbles. They’re rolling downhill and falling into sewer grates. I’m slipping on them as I’m trying to pick them up. I snatched one off the ground and did a victorious fist pump only to realize it was actually a pebble.
In more tangible terms: on more than one occasion this month, I’ve nearly left home wearing my house slippers instead of outdoor shoes. I put two contact lenses in the same eye. My library books are overdue. I have unread texts from three weeks ago.
I know this is pretty standard for most people in the run-up to Thanksgiving. I don’t mean to complain about my dream job or suggest that I have it harder than anyone else (I don’t). I guess I’m hoping we can all commiserate together.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are a few things I’m particularly thankful for this year:
Stitch (my car)
This time last year, I was car-less. Having lived in Seoul and then Boston for the past 8 years, I was able to get around on public transit and Ubers. But there were things I wanted to do that were impractical without a car—going to my strength class the next city over, going on road trips to Western MA with my friends, doing more events at Brookline Booksmith, etc. So I bought Stitch last December entirely with money I earned from writing.
Now, every time I sit in my car, it feels a bit surreal knowing the car is a direct result of my writing. It feels a bit illegal to be able to convert my silly stories into a car.
Living in Massachusetts
MA is far from perfect, but I’m grateful every day to live in a liberal state with great education and healthcare. The healthcare was particularly important to me this year, when I had my heart issue.
Being a bridesmaid (x2)
I got to be a bridesmaid for the first time this year, and will do it for the second time in early December! I know a lot of people complain about how expensive and stressful the bridesmaid experience can be. But personally, I’m just so grateful that I have friends who like and trust me enough to give me that kind of responsibility. Of course, no one needs to make me their bridesmaid for me to feel appreciated in our friendship, and I’m never offended if one of my friends doesn’t ask me. But it does make me feel very loved to know that I’ve been chosen because I’ve been a good friend over the years, which is truly one of the most important goals in my life.
Now that we’re almost at the end of the year, I’m taking stock of what’s left on my 2025 bingo card, which was inspired by VE Schwab (much like this entire newsletter)
I don’t have BINGO yet, but I’ve marked off these squares:
Sell a YA Book
I will hopefully be able to announce this soon! It’s more similar in tone to I’ll Find You Where the Timeline ends than The Scarlet Alchemist. That is, it’s extremely silly. There are frogs wearing party hats. It’s SO unserious.
Deadlift 100lbs
I hit this goal early in the year, then promptly developed back problems and am now very carefully deadlifting 45lbs at a time lol. But I did it, so it still counts!
Host a party
I planned a Don’t Starve Together themed surprise birthday party for a friend, as well as a bridal shower for a different friend. I just really like celebrating my friends.
Sell an adult book
I hope I can talk more about this one soon too! It’s another NYC-based horror!
Do an escape room
I won, of course.
Sell a short story
More on this below, but I recently sold another sci-fi short to Uncanny Magazine!
Read 50 books
I’ve read 55 books this year so far, not counting a few beta reads and copious amounts of fan fiction. Maybe this seems like a lot to you, or maybe this seems like very little for an author. A few years ago, I probably never would have shared this number online out of fear of judgment. But I’m trying to care less about how I’m perceived online.
I love reading and know it’s incredibly helpful for both my career and my mind, but the truth is that a lot of things simply got in the way this year. Plus, as a full time author, reading is part of my work responsibilities and my ADHD brain responds accordingly. I read books not just for fun but for market research. When I’m sent early copies of books to review, I do my best to read them and write promotional blurbs to support the authors, which removes a certain element of choice from my reading list. I end up loving many of these books, but the fact remains that it becomes an obligation with a deadline rather than pure fun the way it was when I was a kid.
Some of my unfinished BINGO squares are a bit personal, so I don’t want to share them all, but here are a few that I still have a chance of crossing off before the end of the year:
Celebrate a BTS member’s birthday
As a freelancer, I don’t tend to take federal holidays off unless it makes sense to do so with my deadlines. But I know time off is good for the brain, so I want to take a day off and maybe eat a cupcake or something to celebrate a BTS member’s birthday, which to me is more exciting than, say, Arbor Day. Luckily, there are two BTS birthdays left this year! Jin on December 4th and V on December 30th.
Play cello
For those of you who might not know, I started playing the cello when I was 5 and continued through college. I didn’t bring my cello when I moved to Korea because that would have been logistically complicated, but I still want to continue playing before I lose my muscle memory entirely. If I take my cello out once this year, I’ll consider it a win.
I just turned in my “first” draft of my next adult horror. I say “first” because it’s the first complete draft that my editor will see, but it’s already gone through several rounds of revisions.
I already had a pretty reasonable draft of this ready to go a few months ago, but this last pass of “line edits” ended up being more intensive than I expected, and ate up most of my month. I ended up adding a whole serial killer subplot.
I’ve also done some edits on a short story that will be published in Uncanny Magazine soon! For those of you who don’t know, I’ve published two short sci-fi stories with Uncanny before (free to read here and here) in the style of Love Death & Robots. In other words, I love writing about dangerous AI and what it shows us about our humanity. This new story is called “This Story Does Not Exist” and is about an AI “woman” named Ayako who is tasked with writing a fantasy novel for her creator.
I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends is officially published!
My silly, adorable timeline book is finally out in the world! I’m truly so proud of this book and how it shows my range as an author. You can grab a copy here!
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is on The New York Times’ list of 100 Notable Books of 2025!
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is also a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Award in the horror category!
I know I’m not going to beat Stephen King lol. But I love using the Goodreads Choice Awards nominee list to get a sense of what books are popular in each genre, and usually end up adding a bunch of books from that list to my TBR, so I’m thrilled that readers might find my book this way as well!
December 9th: I’ll be reading a spooky short story at a Christmas Ghost Stories event run by Brookline Booksmith!
This will most likely be “Lady Jawbone” from the Aardvark anthology One Bad Night. I love working with Brookline Booksmith, and a spooky Christmas event is right up my alley. Come join me, Kayla Cottingham, and Nicky Gonzalez!
December 11th: I’ll be at Side Quest Books to chat with their book club about I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends!
Come join if you’re near Somerville! Side Quest Books is such a lovely hidden gem in the Boston area. I can’t wait to chat about how HARD it was to write a book with TIME LOOPS!
I’ve donated a signed Fairyloot edition of The Scarlet Alchemist to Fae Crate’s food bank fundraiser!
The fact that people go hungry in this country is unconscionable. Check out Fae Crate’s raffle to raise money for local food banks! Lots of other authors have donated some incredible prizes!
And lastly, I’ve finally shared the UK cover of my next horror novel, Japanese Gothic!
I absolutely love how the US and UK take such different approaches with my horror covers. I love how stark and sinister this one is. Which one is your favorite?
Preorder Links:
Japanese Gothic (US) (4/21/26)
Japanese Gothic (UK) (30/04/2026)
Signed copies of all my books (request signature in order comments; US only): Porter Square Books
What I’m Reading:
My favorite book that I read this month is Decomposition Book by Sara van Os. It’s about a woman who finds a corpse in the woods and decides to befriend it as it rots rather than call the police. The concept is as bananas as it sounds, but van Os pulls it off so beautifully. To me, this is really the epitome of what horror is supposed to be: gorgeously disgusting, but also rips your heart out. The book isn’t out yet, but you should definitely preorder or add it on Goodreads if this sounds up your alley.
What I’m Watching:
Season 2 of A Man on the Inside. I’m watching this to balance out all the darkness in everything else I’m consuming. The show is about a retired professor who takes a job as an undercover agent to infiltrate a nursing home (season 1) and then a university (season 2). It’s made by the creator of The Good Place and stars Ted Danson. It’s just as ridiculous and fun as you’d imagine.
Pluribus. I’m still not sure how I feel about this one. The main character is an author who’s one of only eleven people in the world who retain their independence when the Earth is suddenly taken over by a benevolent hive mind. This is an interesting experiment in just how unlikeable you can make a character before they seem irredeemable to the reader. I have a lot of patience for badass women in fiction, but the MC in this show is walking a very fine line.
That’s all from me this month! I hope you all stay safe and warm as we head into the holiday season!
All my best,
Kylie
Not me fangirling over living in the same state as you! Western MA girlie here!