GIVEN OUR HISTORY release date, plus some writing updates

So. I’ve been a bit quiet since the release of SEVEN RULES FOR BREAKING HEARTS in mid-May. I’d like to say it’s because I’m taking a moment to soak in the fact that I’m finally a published author—at risk of sounding like a cliche, I’ve dreamed of this since I was fourteen or fifteen. But the truth is that I’ve just been kind of busy. Within a few days of my book landing on shelves, I was already feeling the pressure to crank out my next project and keep the momentum going.

(The pressure is totally self-inflicted, for the record. No one’s demanding anything of me, I’m just a workaholic.)

And on that note, I’m super excited to share that I have an official release date for my second novel! GIVEN OUR HISTORY will be published on August 27th, 2024 by St. Martin’s Griffin. You guys, I’m so proud of this book. Am I allowed to say that? Seven Rules was sort of a one-off for me, an idea that popped into my head but not necessarily in line with the sort of themes I’m usually drawn to as a writer. GIVEN OUR HISTORY is the opposite of that. This book was a passion project through and through and I’m so ecstatic it’s going to see the light of day. To celebrate, here’s a mood board:

You can read the summary and add it on Goodreads here.

Keep an eye out for a cover reveal sometime in the next few months! I’m so damn excited for this cover. Earthy tones are my jam and it’s going to have ALL the cozy autumn vibes, you guys. 👀

And while we’re on the topic of passion projects…

I mentioned that I’ve been putting pressure on myself to keep moving forward. I finished edits for GIVEN OUR HISTORY in March and spent the rest of spring prepping materials for two other romance novels, which I hope to share more information about soon. But once I’d finished all that, I basically sat back and wondered: now what? There was really only one answer. I never planned to stick to one genre (it’s kind of in my website logo). I’m scared of getting pigeonholed if I direct all my energy toward one path and neglect the other possibilities.

I’ve written a few thriller and horror manuscripts but haven’t really done anything with them. I never queried with them back before I had my agent and they’ve never gone on sub. They’ve just kind of sat there on the back burner while I’ve tried to juggle editing deadlines with grad school. My time management has been pretty horrendous this past year. So at the start of June I set out to completely revamp one of those manuscripts, but it ended up transforming into an entirely new project. Basically, my dream project—a myth retelling that I’ve wanted to play with for years, but could never quite find the right angle until it all came together for me a couple weeks ago. My goal is to have something presentable by the end of summer, before school resumes. I’m currently at 18k words. I don’t want to say too much because I’m still in those early stages where I want to keep this idea close to my chest.

So, why am I sharing all this if I’m going to be cryptic and vague? Basically, I want to put it in writing so that I feel obligated to finish drafting it. I’ve been awful about finishing drafts these past few years (so many abandoned projects…) and something about telling everyone I’m working on it makes me feel more motivated. Being published has also shaken my perspective of myself as a writer so that I second guess myself more than ever and that’s hindered my drafting process, a little. I am working to shake that feeling.

Thank you to everyone who has read Seven Rules, posted about it on social media, told their friends, and talked to their booksellers and librarians about it. If you haven’t read it yet but think you might be interested, you can find links to various booksellers who carry it on the Macmillan website. And of course, thank you to anyone who’s actually made it this far into my semi-coherent ramblings. It’s one in the morning and for some reason my brain decided this was the perfect time to write a blog post. Cheers.