AFN #135, kind of

Hi All! It’s been a minute. I have several half-baked posts in drafts, on subjects ranging from NaNoWriMo and generative AI to fandom culture and allegations of sexual misconduct, but none of them feel fully-formed enough to share them with you. A reminder, if there’s a question you’d like answered, or a publishing topic you’d like to to read about from me, please fill out the google form linked in Housekeeping and I’ll do my best to answer it.

I didn’t want to let another week go without a newsletter though, so I thought I’d give you a rundown of what’s happened recently:

• I attended WorldCon in Glasgow, which was an absolute joy. Getting to connect with clients, editors, authors, and others in the SFF community felt nourishing and exciting—and it helped that the con itself was well-run and in a beautiful place.

• I took a trip to LA to visit family and hang out with my boss, who is West-Coast based now—we had a couple of meetings and Laura hosted a lovely party for LDLA West

• Upcoming: I’m attending the James River Writers’ Conference this weekend, in Richmond, VA

• Upcoming: I’ll be attending World Fantasy in Niagara Falls later in October

I’m still closed to queries because I still have manuscripts requested laying around, but I’m hoping to reopen as soon as possible.

WHAT I’M READING

My friend Becca Heyman got me hooked on the Rachel Reid hockey romances, starting with Game Changer (though that one didn’t do much for me.) Starting with the second, though, they’re very fun and compelling, with scorching-hot relationships and wonderful characters. I’m reading those on my phone, along with The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive Oral History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper that Changed America’s Culture, which I got from the library (and which definitely has the longest title of any nonfiction book I’ve read.) My purse book is an ARC of Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, the third in Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series. These books are a goddamn delight, and shoutout to Tricia for sending me the advance copy. Emily’s voice is so idiosyncratic and academic and wonderful, and her relationship with the determinedly handsome Wendell Bambleby is a joy. I highly recommend starting the series before the third comes out in February of next year.

THIS WEEK IN HOCKEY

At some point this year the trash fire that was the Meruelo organization in Arizona lost control of the Coyotes franchise, and it’s now moved to Utah. The as-yet-nameless team is playing in jerseys that just say UTAH on them, but the one encouraging thing about the move is that they are apparently committed to affordable stadium refreshments, which I can certainly get behind. I watched the Washington Capitals trounce the Devils in a preseason game last week and the less said about what we spent on popcorn, the better.

HOUSEKEEPING

Do you have any questions about the publishing industry? Requests for advice? Thoughts on your recent reads? You can leave them as comments, replies to this email, or fill out this Google form to ask anonymously!

I am closed to queries.

My first novel, Marrying In, is available for purchase on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo, and is coming soon to iBooks. If you’ve read it, consider leaving a review—that helps me and the book in the long run!

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This newsletter is a personal project, and the sentiments and opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.