Life Lately

It’s 2025, which means I can now say my debut novel comes out next year. Very exciting, very surreal.

My query letter is now included in this query letter roundup created by . It’s an amazing resource, one that I wish I had access to when I was preparing to query—check it out, and be sure to share with your friends who are planning on querying!

Last month I took a trip to visit friends in Vermont for my birthday (I turned 34!), and it was the best birthday I’ve had in a while. Then winter break ended and S went back to school and I eventually packed away the Christmas decorations. S and I were both laid low by illness last week, which is why this newsletter is delayed, but after several days of cuddles and cold meds and endless Minion movie marathons,1 we have mostly recovered.

Thanks to everyone who reached out with kind words about December’s newsletter. It means the world to know my honesty about a difficult year was received with such grace.

Recently things in this country have felt especially dire as trans people, immigrants, disabled people, and other vulnerable members of our communities have been openly targeted by the current administration. I don’t have anything original or wise to say, but I’m calling my reps, reading Kelly Hayes, Mariame Kaba, and Robin Wall Kimmerer and doing everything in my power not to succumb to defeatism in the face of fascism.

I’ve been using my local library (and the Libby app) more, and that’s been such a good shift. There’s a definite sense of urgency to finish books I’ve started, which I’m finding fun (YMMV). It also prompts me to “DNF” books I’m not interested in continuing, rather than letting them linger on my list.

Here’s the best of what I’ve read this year so far in the fiction category:

Evenings & Weekends by Oisín McKenna

The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Evenings & Weekends was recommended to me by my critique partner. It’s about London, and desire, and heartbreak, and the tension between looking back on your youth while anticipating your future. I found one storyline in particular (Rosaleen’s) especially moving. I would devour an entire book devoted to her, but I appreciated the way McKenna wove her storyline into the others, it worked really well thematically.

I inhaled The Incendiaries in a matter of hours, mostly while waiting for my flight to Burlington. A young man, formerly a Christian fundamentalist, falls in love with a fellow college student who gets drawn into an extremist cult. It’s a short book, just over 200 pages, and the amount Kwon accomplishes in that space is extraordinary. I’ve seen it described as a love triangle between two students and God—a hell of a pitch.

I haven’t read much Ann Patchett until this year, and I’m really enjoying her novels. Tom Lake and Commonwealth both have really interesting structural things going on, which I’m always a sucker for. Both books examine complicated family relationships, and both had me really thinking about how Patchett chose to zero in on certain events and gloss over others, or share them with the reader after the fact.

The Wedding People was also recommended by my critique partner. I had a blast reading it. I can definitely see why it’s a popular book club pick. The relationship between Phoebe and Lila was like catnip to me, it was bizarre and awkward and funny and tender and frustrating. I did find myself craving Lila’s POV at points, but that’s just my taste. I’m curious to see how the film adaptation goes.

I was inspired to make a pitch deck presentation for Campus WIP, and I finished a sample chapter to send over to my agent along with the pitch. The process of creating a pitch deck really clarified the project for me. For my purposes, the pitch deck was a 30-slide presentation that included a synopsis, comps, character sketches, an outline, notes on structure, thematic questions I’m exploring, and a bibliography. I will probably talk about it in a future newsletter if anyone is interested.

I also followed the advice in this post by and came up with 40 scenes for Campus WIP. It was a really fun exercise that generated some ideas that I’m excited to tackle. 40 scenes initially sounded like a lot, but the outline I started with included about 20. I realized WASP’S NEST in its final form has about 40 scenes, so that number felt like a good starting point.

I met with my editor at the beginning of last month and we went over the revisions I submitted. I’m on the right track, as I hoped, and it’s a matter of continuing in that direction. I’m not adding or deleting significant sections, but tweaking things here and there to better communicate what the main characters are experiencing and what’s motivating them. I’m still having a blast. I really do love revision, and I live for creative collaboration, so working with an editor who understands this book in such a deep way makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

I’ll be spending this weekend finishing the current round of revisions. My final2 draft is due at the beginning of March.

I’m ridiculously excited to accompany WASP’S NEST into the next phase (copyedits, covers, ARCs!!), but there’s a bittersweetness to this phase ending as well. I’ve spent the last three years of my life writing this book. It’s seen me through a lot. It’s deeply personal in many ways. Reconciling the emotional components of my debut with the public-facing and business components is something I’ll continue grappling with.

In January I set my writing goals for 2025 (I talked about this in December’s newsletter), but I’m gonna hold off on sharing them in detail for now. The headline is that I’m focusing on two main writing projects that are in very different stages.

As I mentioned, WASP’S NEST is entering the final rounds of revision. It’s cohesive and formatted and A Book. Campus WIP is just coming together out of a sea of post it notes and whiteboard scribbles and digital moodboards. It will transform a million times on the journey from Potential Book to Book.3

I can’t manage multiple projects at once if they’re at a similar stage. The idea of drafting two projects at once is almost as panic-inducing as the idea of revising two projects at once. But since drafting Campus WIP and revising WASP take very different types of energy, toggling between those two works for me.

When I’m feeling antsy in my revisions, I work on Campus WIP. I can sit on the floor with all my notes and papers spread out and take a first pass at a scene I’ve been daydreaming of writing. And when I start craving structure and detail (or the reality of my deadline kicks in), I switch back to polishing WASP.4

I laid out my drafting plan for the year to my agent, my critique partner, and a few writer friends. It’s great to have that accountability, but it’s also a joy to share what I’m excited about. Thanks for letting me share with you, too.

On that note, in 2025 I’ll be sharing a bit about the pre-pub experience leading up to the release of my debut. If there’s anything specific you’re interested in hearing about, let me know!

I’ve been considering changing newsletter platforms for a while due to Substack’s far right problem, and I’m still in search of an alternative that 1) has the social (read: community) component that Substack has, and 2) is affordable. If you have a recommendation, particularly one based on your own experience, I’d love to hear from you. I left Twitter for Bluesky last year for similar reasons, but as of right now a clear alternative to Substack has yet to present itself.

I totally understand why folks are sticking with Substack, by the way. Plenty of the writers I admire are still here, and I intend to continue supporting their work. It’s a personal choice, there are no perfect platforms, and there are pros and cons to both leaving and staying.

In love and solidarity,

K