Welcome to Happy Valley.

First: The Wilderness of Girls is out now!

Second: Here is a weirdly disjointed blog post about the last two+ weeks! I started it pre-release and didn’t get back to it until June 26 because omg life, but I feel like it captures the truth of my experience better than re-writing it.

IT IS A FEW DAYS before The Wilderness of Girls will be released as I sit down to write this. She has been trickling out into the world for a while now–first as bound galleys, then as ARCs (advance reader copies), then because Barnes & Noble doesn’t like to hold onto inventory even if they end up mailing pre-orders out almost a month before the official release date, and now I am receiving word that people are finding Wilderness on the shelves of their local independent bookstores. None of this is uncommon apparently, but it feels especially appropriate for this book: we cannot control it, cannot contain it within the cage of a mere calendar. This book will claw itself free and into the world, just as the story clawed its way out of me, ablaze and howling at the moon. That’s what I hope, anyway.

As I write this, I am overstimulated. There are so many details to wrap up for the coming weeks: travel details, event details, what I need to do, where I need to be, who I will be doing these things with. I’m receiving an inordinate amount of communication (for me) from various editors (have I mentioned there will be a UK version?), my publicity and marketing team, my friends and family, my fellow 2024 debut authors, generous well-wishers and early readers. Plus, there is the good news: The Wilderness of Girls is an Indie Next pick! Also, an Amazon Editor’s pick! Also, I just found out this morning it’s on Barnes & Nobles’ Best of 2024 (So Far) list, and it’s not even OUT [at the time of writing this, it was not out yet]. Weirdly, good news can be just as overstimulating as neutral news. And while I’m grateful for it all, it surprisingly taxing on my neurodivergent brain.

So I want to take a moment to pause, and breathe, and reflect, and record.

Releasing a traditionally published novel into the world has been my dream for most of my life. This past year has been an adventure in more ways than just discovering the process of what goes into publishing a novel with a traditional publisher–it has also been an adventure in discovering who I am now that I am no longer so singularly focused on this one goal. One thing I have always been is a keen observer of humans and their behavior, which is why it has fascinated me to watch myself change as the goal post started moving for the very first time in my life. In 2023 I achieved the dream of selling a book to a traditional publisher, and I rode that high for a long time–I basked in that for months on end. But by the end of 2023 I was already bumming myself out because my book wasn’t on end-of-the-year “books we’re looking forward to in 2024” lists. LISTS. Essentially, blog posts. Who cares? I’M PUBLISHING A BOOK/ACHIEVING MY DREAM. But I cared, and I was both sad and fascinated by that sadness.

IT IS NOW THE END OF JUNE and my book has been out for two whole weeks. Trade reviews have come in and they are mostly positive. I have made important lists. All formats of my book have had the orange banner on Amazon since before release day. People are asking me about sales and I keep telling them, “I do not know, and unless they are spectacular I honestly do not want to know.” Something I have learned about being a sensitive creative type is that there is no shame in putting your head in the sand if the alternative is a downward spiral of self doubt and existential dread.

What I do know is that on June 10th, my aunt and my cousin, who I hadn’t seen in over a decade, showed up for my launch at Books of Wonder, along with my brother, my parents, and many friends and colleagues. What I do know is that at the book signing in Beverly, I hand sold copies of my book merely by mentioning “female rage.” I know at my second book launch in my hometown my entire immediate family plus their spouses were there, as well as my aunts and uncles, friends I hadn’t seen in ages, and people who have been rooting for me to succeed for as long as I have known them. I know people are leaving reviews that say things like “this book will tear you to pieces then lovingly sew you back together,” and “every mother should read this book with their daughter,” and some version of “I felt seen by this book. I felt something heal.“

That’s what I’m basking in now–the incredible support of my family and friends, and the true achievement of my dream: to write stories that will help people. Heal people. Make them feel seen. How many times did I scribble in my journals over the years, I want to write novels that will change the world…? And maybe I haven’t changed the world, but I’ve helped one person, two, three, four. And each person is a universe.

Anyway, thank you for coming along with me on this journey. If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of The Wilderness of Girls at your local bookstore or your local library. And if it’s not your cup of tea, I hope you’ll stick around for the next one.

Either way, thanks for being here.

Four feral girls believe they are princesses from another world. The world believes they are brainwashed kidnapping victims.

What is the truth?

You decide.

Order The Wilderness of Girls now.