What's new, August 2023

Hello! This is me trying to start a newsletter (again) and hopefully following through this time. Thank you for signing up for... whatever this ends up being. (Some of you signed up years ago, so I will look the other way if you want to quietly head for the door.)

exciting news, part 1

I have one more book under contract with Henry Holt. Puzzleheart comes out in May 2024, and I'm really hoping I can celebrate its release in a way that I wasn't able to celebrate the previous two (pandemic) books. (I'll give you pre-order links and the cover as soon as I'm able.) This book is especially exciting for me because... my editor let me do the interior illustrations myself!

I've always wanted to be an artist, even long before I wanted to be an author. Back in high school I told myself I wasn't good enough and relegated it to casual hobby status. But I missed it! After I moved to Portland in 2015, I decided to indulge myself and start drawing again. When I got an iPad and Procreate, my passion for it exploded all over again, and rarely a day goes by that I'd don't draw something. (Not gonna lie, it's usually a cat.)

Despite the hard work I've been putting in, I hesitate to call myself an "artist." Imposter syndrome is a wild beast! But I'm working on it with my therapist, and I fully intend to own that word eventually.

[SNEAK PEEK]

exciting news, part 2

I haven't officially announced anything yet, but I'll give you all the scoop: I sold my first pair of picture books! It happened like this... Last year I turned in Puzzleheart and felt adrift. I was struggling to find joy in writing anything new. I decided to spend a month writing picture books, just for fun. And wow, it was really fun! I loved it, and I ended up with several manuscripts I was proud of. My agent took one of them on sub, and much to my shock and delight, we found it (and an untitled second book) an amazing new home. I can't wait to tell you all about it, especially when we get an artist attached.

writing news speed round

• A Game of Fox & Squirrels is out in paperback and is on several (!!) state reading lists this year.
• Every Bird a Prince came out in May 2022 and got an asterisk for "outstanding merit" in the Bank Street 2023 best books list.
• I was interviewed for an episode of The Acknowledgements, hosted by Nutan Rubinson. We talk about A Game of Fox & Squirrels. Listen to the podcast
• My flash story "It Begins with RAVEN" is up on Flash Fiction Online. Read it
• My flash story "First Dates and Other Action Items" is up on Daily Science Fiction. Read it

TMI update

The best thing I did during the pandemic was to jump through all the healthcare hoops in order to get a therapist. Since then, I've started taking antidepressants and gotten an ADHD diagnosis. My life makes a lot more sense to me now, and is a lot more fun. Plus, I'm actually getting restful sleep for the first time in many, many years. If you're on the fence about getting help for something, let this be a nudge down that path. It can be life-changing, and I want everyone to experience this sort of revelation. <3

bye for now

I have so much more to share, such as the TV shows I'm watching and the video games I'm obsessing over and the songs I'm trying to learn on my guitar. Plus, I'm taking my first ceramics class and loving the heck out of it! So thanks for reading, friends, and I'll see you next time.

Jenn

Image: Cocoa Bean the squirrel enjoying the deck.