Welcome back to Out of Practice! Thanks for being here.
WASP’S NEST received a fourth blurb, and I’m thrilled to share it with you. If you know me, you know how much I adored ALICE SADIE CELINE. Here are Sarah Blakely-Cartwright’s kind words about WASP’S NEST:
Old grievances and new attachments surface over the week before Tess Lowell’s second wedding. Set amid the rituals of wealth, the novel follows a small constellation of characters as they circle one another in a shifting landscape. What begins as a return to familiarity becomes something less stable when Tess’s ex-husband arrives, accompanied by a young man whose presence unsettles the balance of the house.
In this novel, Kat Stoddard masterfully explores the ways people construct and revise their own narratives, and in the complexities of human connection. In what happens when all the apparatus of intimacy gives way; what remains, and what cannot be easily resolved.
If you’d like to preorder WASP’S NEST (which comes out on June 30! in two months!), I would be so grateful. And preorder Sarah’s next book HEAVY CREAM, which comes out in September, while you’re at it. Sixteen-year-old Geraldine is left to navigate New York’s high society after her mother disappears, falling under the influence of three women each seeking to form her in their image. I cannot WAIT to read it.
Life Lately
Confession time: I have been on my phone way too much lately. I’m trying to stay on top of my emails and dms during this pre-pub time, and I’m very grateful for the way social media has allowed me to connect with other authors and readers. But my screen time has been alarmingly high. And it’s definitely affecting my mood and anxiety levels, not to mention my sleep patterns.
I’ve started using a screen time mindfulness app1 that’s been really helpful, and I’m also doing no screens right before bed. The real challenge has been to find the right bedtime book. I don’t want to read something I haven’t read before, because the risk that I will stay up too late reading “one more chapter” is extremely real. I also need to avoid books that will send me down research rabbit holes, which classic lit very often does. One minute you’re re-reading The Count of Monte Cristo, the next you’re three Wikipedia links deep investigating Dumas’ fraught relationship with his writing partner Auguste Maquet—fascinating, but not ideal for winding down.
Anyway, I’ve been re-reading the short story collection ENTER JEEVES and it’s been perfect. Light, ridiculous, and full of sentiments from Bertie Wooster such as this:
I don't know if you know that sort of feeling you get on these days round about the end of April and the beginning of May, when the sky's a light blue, with cotton-wool clouds, and there's a bit of a breeze blowing from the west? Kind of uplifted feeling. Romantic, if you know what I mean. I'm not much of a ladies' man, but on this particular morning it seemed to me that what I really wanted was some charming girl to buzz up and ask me to save her from assassins or something. So that it was a bit of an anti-climax when I merely ran into young Bingo Little, looking perfectly foul in a crimson satin tie decorated with horseshoes.
If you’re looking for a comfort read, I highly recommend curling up with the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster.
In cat news, Oscar and Emerald remain cuddly and vigilant—crucial, with all these birds boldly enjoying the springtime weather. They officially turn one year old next month, so plans for that celebration are underway.
Reading List
The Payback by Kashana Cauley
The third act of this book had me on the edge of my seat. I love the way Kashana Cauley captures the flash of an image in a few sharp, expertly chosen words. Plus, we need more books that deal with money and debt in a way actual working people can relate to—bonus points for the complex catharsis this one provided.
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
A weird and magical exploration of the narrator’s relationship to her father, her past, herself. This book drew me in from the first few paragraphs, and I became so fond of the narrator and her voice. Top tier cactus descriptions too.
Clear by Carys Davies
Another wonderful rec from my critique partner Ce. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting and ended up crying at my desk (many such cases). A beautiful story, beautifully written. Can’t wait to re-read a hard copy at some point.
Writing Progress/Writing Goals
I sent my agent the pitch deck for Midwest WIP (more on what a pitch deck entails below), and she had some great feedback for me. I’ve reworked the synopsis and planned emotional arc for the main character based on her comments, and the story is feeling much stronger. That revision has provided a lot of momentum for me, and I’m looking forward to working on the book this summer (when I’m not out and about celebrating WASP’S NEST). It’s always nice to have a new book world to disappear into.
In terms of drafting progress, my critique partner and I have been doing 20 minute sprints rather than setting a word count goal and wow it works so much better for my brain. Writing to hit a word count is torture for me, writing for 20 minutes is like a game. I want to get as much on the paper as possible. My fingers can hardly type fast enough to keep up with my brain. That’s my favorite kind of drafting. I love to take my time with revision, but drafting is better done in a furious word cloud. FWIW, Peter Ho Davies agrees.
Draft in haste, revise at leisure.
Practice Chats
I mentioned last month that I would share how I use pitch decks for novel writing, so here we go!
I love supplementing actual writing with writing-adjacent creative work. I love doing research on character economics and regional quirks. I love thinking about the visuals that inform my descriptions and my character’s experiences. I love playing around in Canva and I will not apologize!! (No one has ever asked me to).
I’ve never used ChatGPT or similar programs, but in a world where that is being pushed on us as the default, it’s important to keep using our own brains and building skills grounded in human creativity. We’ve all seen AI-generated book covers and promotional graphics and they always look like hot garbage. Even the worst effort in MS Paint (see below) or the most uninspired Canva template is infinitely better than something based on stolen work that’s ugly to boot. Authentic human weirdness > shiny ChatGPT bullshit.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the original meme I referenced in the title of this newsletter.
I really love learning from creatives in other disciplines—it was one of the best things about the residency I did in 2024. Talking with other writers, with visual artists and composers, helps me see my own work and my own creative process in a new way. I learned about pitch decks from a screenwriter.
If you’re not familiar, a pitch deck is a visual presentation created to supplement a script or screenplay. It’s intended to help sell your project, so ideally it’s concise, compelling, and comprehensive. It should include a logline (your project crystallized in 1-2 sentences), a synopsis (a more detailed summary of your project, 1 page or less), comp titles, character descriptions, and plenty of visuals.
My friend Nicky who introduced me to pitch decks uses them to generate inspiration during the developmental stage of a project, and I’ve been using them the same way ever since! Unsplash is my favorite source for free images—all the visuals featured here, apart from the book covers and movie stills, are from Unsplash or the free version of Canva.
I didn’t actually make a pitch deck when I was working on WASP’S NEST, it was something I incorporated into my practice after selling the book. But I thought I’d create one now to show you all how I use them! It’s shorter and simpler than the ones I’ve created for other projects, but it’s spoiler free and a pretty good sales pitch for the book, if I do say so myself.
There you have it! I hope this pitch deck will inspire you in your own projects. If you end up using the format for your own work, I’d love to hear about it!
Before You Go
HOT DEBUT SUMMER kicks off next month!! There’s still time to preorder the books on this list so do yourself a favor and set yourself up for a season of delicious debuts. If you don’t have the budget to buy (I get it, I really really do), please know that placing a request through your local library is hugely helpful as well. I’m a Libby devotee, but you can use your library app of choice!
Also, I’ll be doing a little book tour this summer after WASP’S NEST comes out! Events to be announced in Baltimore, DC, Brooklyn, Cape Cod, and more. I’ll be sharing details here, as well as over on instagram, so stay tuned!
Until next month,
Kat
1 It’s free and called ScreenZen. The app is super customizable, and after a week of using it I’ve already felt my relationship with my phone shift in a healthy direction.