Midwestern Jam-Making Throuples

Summer is in full swing and, somehow, almost over. I’m preparing to send S back to school (first grade!), getting the house in order after a year of living here (hanging art! in every room!), staying hydrated (my current drink of choice is seltzer with a dash of lingonberry syrup), and rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (essential queer media, you agree).

Both the public library branches nearest me have been closed for renovation this summer. Since I’m a creature of habit who doesn’t often venture outside her usual sphere, I’ve been doing more audiobook listening (I love you, Libby), as well as reading some of the used books I’ve picked up over the years but haven’t read yet.1

Here are my favorites of the month:

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

I cannot believe how long it took me to read Kristen Arnett, but I’m so glad I finally did because I’ve discovered a new favorite author. Mostly Dead Things is a perfect novel. It’s funny and complicated and moving and so grounded in the Florida setting that I felt like I was there. The dynamic between Jessa, her brother Milo, and Milo’s wife Brynn felt like it was written for me specifically. I’m very excited to read Arnett’s other novels!

Crush by Ada Calhoun

An engrossing look at desire, the way we construct and understand marriages, partnerships, our own happiness. What actually constitutes an “emotional affair,” and where can the participants go from there? The voice gripped me early on, and I didn’t put the book down until I’d finished it.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less is depressed, hopeful, pathetic, valiant, useless, brilliant, my friend. There were many passages that I savored and read aloud. I thought the point of view the author chose was really lovely, and I’m definitely interested in reading the sequel (I wonder if the same character narrates it!).

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

A character study in sci-fi clothing. I found all the robot mechanics handled in a natural and curiosity-stoking way. It made me consider how people, particularly men with significant social power (like Doug, Annie’s owner), are affected by the way they interact with AI, how those “relationships” reinforce cultural narratives and prop up existing power structures. The pacing didn’t totally work for me, but overall I would recommend.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

I fell in love with this narrator, and I highly recommend the audiobook (performed by the amazing J Smith Cameron). It’s full of astutely observed character dynamics, and unfolds over the course of a three day wedding weekend. And it’s set in Baltimore!

I’m continuing to split my time between two projects: I finished the first round of copyedits on WASP (very late-stage revision, polishing-level edits), and I’m drafting Campus WIP (still hoping to share Part 1 of 5 with my agent at the end of August).

I’ve never been through official copyedits before (I’ve used the open source version of MS Word until this point in my life), and I found the experience thrilling.2 It was an honor for my work to be treated with such attention to detail. Several of the discrepancies my copyeditors noted were things I thought I had resolved during earlier drafts (age differences between characters, college graduation dates), but I hadn’t caught every mention. Many of the notes were things that never would have occurred to me, and will definitely strengthen the book.

I loved seeing the style sheet for WASP. If you’re not familiar, a style sheet is a document that ensures consistency throughout the whole book: a collection of punctuation and spelling choices, proper names, and any non-standard stylistic choices. Some examples from the terms section of the style sheet for WASP:

The single term that was flagged most often was “guesthouse,” since a lot of the action in the book happens in that location, and I’d been splitting it into two words prior to this draft.

I think the list above gives you some idea of the flavor of the book without revealing many specifics (hence the click-baity title of this newsletter, sorry not sorry). The whole process definitely gave me a new perspective on my writing style.

And here’s the part that made me tear up: I have an ISBN!! A real ISBN!! 9781250387967!! That’s my book!! I didn’t realize getting an ISBN was part of the phase we’re in, so when I saw that number at the top of the style sheet I had to take a minute.

At this point I’ve returned my copyedits to my editor, either accepting suggested changes, making small changes of my own, or communicating that I’ll stick with the original language. I’ve also turned in my acknowledgements, my author photo, and bio—it’s short, that was easy enough.

Next up: seeing how the interior of the book will be laid out, fonts and margins and chapter headings. It’s getting real!

Back to Campus WIP for a minute. I’ve been working on this book for almost a year. I initiated the project during my residency last summer at the KHN Center for the Arts. It’s an iteration of an earlier idea I had for a campus novel, but rather than focusing on students, this one is centered on professors.3 A late night/early morning chat with my fellow residents (shouts out to Muyiwa, Ravi, and Steve) locked some things into place for me, and I spent the next week working on structure. Honestly…I can’t believe it’s been a year.

I started writing WASP in November of 2021. It took me until October of 2022 to finish a full draft—I won’t say it was a rough draft, since some of it was very rough but much of it had been reworked significantly as I got to know the characters better.

I’m definitely remembering why WASP took me a year to just draft. I like to figure out where I’m going in advance of writing a book, but I don’t usually understand the characters enough to know why I’m going there.

I'm coming to terms with the reality that I’m just not a quick draft kind of writer. The semi-circular way that I write first drafts yields something closer to the shape of the book I want to write.4 I’d rather take my time and meander a bit than force myself to hit word counts without regard for underlying structure.

I haven’t been focusing on Campus WIP exclusively the way I did with WASP, mostly because I’ve also been working on WASP with my editor. Ideally, I will have a full draft of Campus WIP by the time WASP is published next summer. We’ll see! I can only shoot for a goal and see where I land. I’ve plotted out some more specific drafting goals which I’ll share next time.

I’ve been trying to move newsletter platforms for a while. After playing around with Ghost but ultimately not finding it affordable, I’m planning on moving to Beehiiv, if all goes well. I will be able to migrate subscribers there, but I’ll give everyone a head’s up before I move. Date is TBD, I have some more work to do on my site and newsletter form before it will be ready.

For any 1000 Words of Summer fans, the next Mini 1000 is in August! You can sign up for Jami Attenberg’s letters at the link, they’re always encouraging and inspiring.

I’d love to hear what books you’ve been enjoying this summer! Let me know in the comments.

Until next time.

xo K