I didn't think I'd ever say this, but...I have a favorite.

What I'm working on and why I love it so so so much

Hello!

This last month has had a lot going on! For one thing, we turned in MY SALTY MARY. Whew! We had to get a bit of an extension at the end, but I’m really proud of how the book has shaped up. There’s still a round of line edits left to do (then copyedits, then pass pages), but we’re getting really close to calling it done.

Now, I’m working on my next deadline (more on that below!) and also thinking about the next book I will write — the one that will come after this.

One of the weirdest things about publishing is having a book only a few months from coming out (hello, DAWNBREAKER) — but actively working on something that won’t release for a year or two or even more. When it’s time to talk about DAWNBREAKER and how it was to write that book, I’ll have to think back to 2021 and 2022.

It sometimes feels like authors are always engaging in a little light time travel. Nothing that will cause a world-ending paradox (probably), but just enough to keep us confused about when we are.

But speaking of DAWNBREAKER, I’m hoping to have all the exciting preorder and event details for you very soon. (Yes! I’m going to see some of you in person. The last in-person launch event I did was in 2019, for WHEN SHE REIGNS.) So be ready to hear more about that in the near future!

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A few weeks ago, my husband and I took the cats to the vet where we learned that Hildy needed a root canal and both of them needed a teeth cleaning. That happened yesterday.

We had to drop them off early — without breakfast! — and leave them until 2pm. So no one liked that. Some of us cried. And not only did poor Hildy get her tooth worked on, they took out another that couldn’t be saved. But we were there exactly at 2pm, ready to bring them home.

Hush has mostly bounced back, but Hildy remains deeply upset about it (and is probably still in some pain) and will only eat baby food. (Like, actual baby food.) When the vet called to check on them this afternoon, Hildy shot me a look like DO NOT ANSWER THAT.

Expect more photos of Hildy wearing her most tragic, concerned face.

Okay, so now for what I promised you in the second paragraph. . . .

Do you remember the sneak peek I sent you a few months ago? For now, let’s call it Cell Phone Story.

I finished writing it in summer/early fall 2021 — between turning in a draft of DAWNBREAKER and starting the first draft of MY SALTY MARY. Then I gave it to my agent and didn’t look at it again until last week, when it was finally time to start working on it again.

So it had been a while since I’d read it. But I’d been thinking about it.