Two turn tables and the month of June
Read to the end for a good advice about dying
(Kudos if you got the Beck reference in the subject.)
June is always tricky and this year even more so. Last year this time, my father was in the throes of late-stage dementia, and he died at the very end of June. For a whole year, I have known that June was coming, but there wasn’t much I could do to halt its progress so I put it out of mind. Annoying me further is the Bay Area’s almost total sense of “June Gloom” — where the marine layer of fog sits on our heads (anyone facing water, usually) almost all day and it is ROUGH. I don’t like white skies!
Other things have happened this June: I parted ways with my day job of three years (I’m extremely excited to see what’s next) and I’m headed off to New York to attend Thrillerfest. Very excited!
On May 31, which we will count as June because on Friday May 30, big 5 publishing switched on Summer Fridays, which means they work half days on Fridays from now until, god, I hope it’s not Labor Day but I think it is, anyway, on May 31 I was the “in conversation partner” for author Brenda Novak, hosted by Wild Sisters Book Co in Sacramento.
Claire at Wild Sisters asked me to do this and I said “are you sure I’m the right person? Brenda has published over 80 (!!) books and is an established author.”
Claire said “You’ll do it if I tell you” which she claims is not true, but it is true and of course I was going to do it if Claire asked me; we are good friends and host the publishing/reading podcast Heartracers. Come on!
Over 100 people came to this event, which was a lot.
This event took a extraordinary amount of mental energy and nervousness-overcoming that left me utterly wiped out by the end of the day, like I crashed at 8 pm, but that said it was really nice event and Wild Sisters had both my books there for purchase and signing and a good portion of those 100 people in attendance bought almost all of them.
My college-age son is also back home after completing his first year at university so the house is very busy right now, not to mention the food situation is as if a horde of locusts flew in a window. On the long drive home after packing up his dorm, he said “Maybe I’ll start a podcast too” and that he would pack it with history discussions of his own choosing and I said “you could call it Cool Story Bro” but he wasn’t amused and then I realized, omg, this child is a chip off the old block.
Good articles
Staying private in this world
The Atlantic has this article, How to Disappear (gift link). I have a book on my shelf called How to be Invisible, and I too would like invisibility although I am not a public enough person to warrant such a wish. Anyway this article is fascinating and describes in detail how to become invisible in a deeply visible online world. (Hint: the guy’s methods are amazing, but exhausting.)
But as Dave Pell of NextDraft says, “Perhaps nothing is more emblematic of this modern condition than the fact that a guy who has deployed every imaginable tactic to remain invisible is the star subject of an article that describes all of his habits.”
I meant to have more for you but then I realized I needed to get this newsletter out. I’ll have more juicy links for you next month— I actually collect them for you. I DO!
What I’m reading
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. This is one of those books I knew I should read, but worried it would be heavy. It was, but it was spectacular and no possible argument can stand for NOT reading it. A masterpiece. I think about it a lot. (Thanks Lauren Parvizi for the rec!)
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. Histrom isn’t in fashion anymore but it really should be, because this book (along with, I’d say, Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas) is romance canon and romance writers should absolutely read it and study it. An absolute masterclass. Just pitch perfect. (Thanks MLG for the rec!)
Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry. Excellent romantasy with some super excellent twists. Also has spredges that hands down one of the prettiest I’ve seen on any book (the other being Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris, out in the fall, preorder it now because you’re going to want it in print).
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood. 10/10. A few notes but they don’t matter. Very delightful. (Thanks Kori for spurring me to read the last two.)
Bits and bobs
Next week the 25th episode of Heartracers podcast airs, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with this first season. We’re getting noticed, we’re in the top 50% of podcasts (an admittedly large bucket but come on, give this to me), and we’re attracting the attention of publicists. Find us everywhere you get your podcasts.
Good advice for dying: last year when my dad died, it was June 28. His monthly social security payment for June was YANKED BACK by the government (which is yet more proof that dead people aren’t scamming Social Security, duh) even though he was alive for most of June.
My husband, who works for Social Security, advises that it is preferable to die on the first of the month so that you aren’t using that money to like, live, or pay rent.
Consider yourself advised!!
k thks bye 😘 🧟
As always, thanks for the newsletter. I would not agree that Ali's latest novel is 10/10, for me it is more like 7.5/10. I liked the atmosphere of Sicily and the Mediterranean. Of course, this is always a huge plus for me (which is why I love your book). But the "problem" itself was inflated in vain, and they spent 3 years suffering and anguish! My husband and I have an age difference of 12 years, which is also quite a lot, but we absolutely never saw this as a problem. I would recommend you the book "What Happened in Amsterdam" by Rachel Lynn Solomon. I lived in the Netherlands for some time, and the mood in the book was captured so wonderfully that I began to feel nostalgic. The plot is also good.
I love this post. I just finished Problematic Summer Romance, too! I enjoyed every minute of it. Lord of Scoundrels and Dreaming of You are top tier. All great recs.