Hello, dear friends,

I’m popping out of my writing cave to let you know that the Great Big Beautiful Life paperback will be available on Tuesday, May 19th, everywhere books are sold. To celebrate, I’m doing my usual, and teaming up with Joseph Beth to make sure you have first dibs on signed copies.

These will sell out, so if this sort of thing matters to you, grab it while you can, here. Other than that, I just want to send another heartfelt thank you for all of your love and support. It has always and continues to mean so, so much to me. More than you can know.

Keeping it short n’ sweet today, but here are some things I’ve been loving lately:

• Tia William’s The Missed Connection: so funny, sweet, so Tia (the best).

• Aisling Rawle’s The Compound: bizzaro, possibly dystopian Love Island? I’m loving it so far.

• PONIES: now streaming on Peacock; begging you to watch it, so it gets renewed.

• Mush: better than it sounds!

Xoxo,

Em

Hello, hello, my friends,

After the weirdest and wildest six months of my life, I’m finally fully back to immersion in a cozy, little writing cave, and I couldn’t be happier. That said, it took me a beat to find a moment to sit down and formally celebrate this incredible news with you:

We have officially found our January Andrews, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Phoebe Dynevor has joined the EHCU!

Everyone always asks me if I pictured anyone in particular when writing any of my books, and the truth is, largely, no I did not. I am much more concerned with picturing the layout of their kitchens. I see my characters in slivers, little bits of detail that I love about them, and that’s one of many reasons that I’ve always been adamant that an actor doesn’t need to match up physically to the book’s description of the character they’re portraying. For me, the performance and energy matter so, so much more. That said, Phoebe is so right for this part.

Yulin, Karina (our incredible producer), and I have talked so much about what matters most to us in seeing these characters come to life, and for January, the vision was always to find an actor who could genuinely and deeply encompass BOTH Januarys (Januaries?). The one that Gus knew way back when—the “fairy princess,” the optimist, the girl with starry eyes—and the one he finds today in North Bear Shores. A woman awash in heartache, melancholy, a tightly worn if completely unnatural cynicism.

We couldn’t have gotten luckier than we have with Phoebe. She has everything we need, in spades, and I cannot wait for you to see how perfect she is. I’ve spent the days since the initial announcement basking in your excitement. You really can’t imagine how much your support means to me. Like, I promise you that. You’re underestimating it.

Now on to what I know you’re dying to hear about next: Gus. The short answer is, we don’t have our Gus yet. The longer answer is, we’re getting closer by the day, and I am absolutely ecstatic with how things have been shaping up. Yulin’s and my phone calls are very exciting these days. This process is long and slow, and very complicated. Yulin and I have talked about doing a private Q&A at some point to demystify the whole Hollywood process, but as a fresher, I talked a bit about how casting works in this old letter. If you scroll down to the Who will play Poppy & Alex section, I try to explain a few of the factors that go into finding the exact right person.

I know that many of you, like I, hold Gus extremely close to your heart. I actually can say that across all the adaptations we’re working on, I’ve never felt more pressure to Get It Right than I do with this one. It’s so important to me that you know we’re leaving no stone unturned in this process. When we find our Gus, he WILL be the best possible Gus for this version of the story.

Some of your favorites won’t be available in our shooting window, some have a pay quote that won’t fall within our budget, and some just won’t be interested. Here’s another excerpt from that old letter about Alex and Poppy:

“That doesn’t mean they will necessarily be your mental Alex and Poppy, and I want you to know that’s okay… I hope you’ll continue to feel free to imagine these characters however you want, because they belong to you, no matter what happens with the adaptation. I think it’s helpful to think of an adaptation like you would a play, or a superhero franchise. The characters will always exist separate from the plays and films themselves. There are so many different Batmans, and none of them is the real Batman; it’s all about what different actors can bring to a character.”

And despite all of those caveats, let it be said, I’m not worried. We are looking at some seriously amazing Guses and we will find the right person for the job. And while rumors will swirl in the meantime, just know that when there’s something to report, I will tell you personally right here in the Grocery List.

Now, on to another burning question I’ve seen floating around: Will this movie be in theaters? Let me just say, that is the hope and the plan. Not just mine, Yulin’s, and Karina’s, but the whole team at 20th Century. We want you to get to go watch this movie in a packed room with your best friends and laugh, cry, moan, and scream together. That’s been our dream and goal from the beginning, and I’m so thrilled 20th is on board with that plan. (I also do have to say… readers are the reason studios are starting to see these movies as theatrical. The way that you guys show up for the things you love is huge, and helps a very risk-averse industry realize there’s actually very little risk involved here.)

In the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work to be more present in the moment, instead of looking forward to all of the good things I’m excited about, and all of the horrifying worst outcomes my anxious brain can concoct, but there honestly is a small part of me that wishes we could fast-forward to release weekend, so we could all just experience this together already.

I also feel a bit spoiled because I got to have this experience with PWMOV already, and it was so magical just desperate to recreate it for everyone else. First there were the fan screenings Netflix set up around the country (I got to stop by two of those and watched the movie with readers at the first one!), and then, on release day, I partnered with Lyft to recreate the magic.

There’s this place in Manhattan that has a bunch of small personal theaters available for rent, and Lyft booked them all and brought a bunch of book clubs, booksellers, and friend groups to come wine and dine while they watched the movie on the big screen. Best of all (for me personally), they brought me in to crash the screenings and give a teensy intro and meet some of you.

Your joy was so contagious and getting to share this moment with you was so unbelievably special. Pics below!

One final note before I get back to my draft cave (👀), the Valentine’s Day “Written By Emily Henry” sweatshirts are almost sold out—when they’re gone, they’re gone! If you want one, now’s your chance. (I have one of each but have been particularly obsessed with the red sweatshirt with pink script.) Once again, huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Palentine’s Giveaway. My team and I spent a couple days reading your responses and I loved learning more about you and your best friends and it was inspiring and sweet and life affirming to see your love for each other.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but surely tons more to follow soon,

Em

P.S. Current grocery obsession is simply the concept of room service, because I’ve been traveling a bit too much to keep my fridge well stocked :(.

Hello, dear readers,

I’m here with a fun lil merch snack with you. In honor of the upcoming holiday, we’re launching a very limited run of these cute candy-colored embroidered sweatshirts. This mini-drop will be available on Friday around 5pm EST! And to celebrate THAT, we’re also running a little giveaway for you and your best friend in the meantime.

It’s hard to express what a joy it is to connect with you over our shared love of love, and I can’t wait to read allllll about the platonic loves of your life. The Shadi to your January, the Poppy to your Rachel, the Nora to your Libby, etc., etc., etc.

You can enter the giveaway here! Details below!

Tell us, who in your life is written by Emily Henry (sometimes known as me). Forget about your romantic partner for a second, we want to hear about your partner in crime, your platonic soul mate. Are they fiercely defensive on your behalf, like Nora? Are they the life of the party, like Poppy? Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romantic love and we want to celebrate your best friends!

We’re giving away three (3) pairs of special edition Valentine’s Day “Written by Emily Henry” sweatshirts, one for you and one for your best friend! Giveaway details and official entry link can be found on the Grocery List!

Giveaway closes at 12pm EST on Friday, February 13th.

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

Enter for a chance to win a pair of special edition Valentine’s Day “Written by Emily Henry” sweatshirts. All entries must be received by 12pm EST on Friday, February 13th 2026. Three (3) winners will be selected by Emily and her team and notified via email by 5pm EST on Friday, February 13th 2026. Entrant must respond within five business days to claim. Both parties (entrant and nominee) must be 18 or older and live in the United States or Canada. Must be willing to share mailing address and size preferences. Giveaway not affiliated with Instagram, Facebook, or Substack. No purchase necessary.

That’s all for now.

Xoxo,

Emily & Friends

Sent from my laptop, on the floor, with RHOBH on

I’m home and I’m exhausted after a magical week. I plan to sleep for 48 hours but wanted to give you the first look at the second mini-drop of our PWMOV merch, as modeled by me and my best girl.

If you want to nab one of these for yourself or your watermelon-headed dog, you can find them here. Okay, goodnight, love you.

xo,

Em

Hello, dear readers,

I can’t believe I’m actually writing you this letter. The film adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation is finally out, worldwide, on Netflix.

The joke among writers is, you never tell anyone that your book is being made into a movie until you’re sitting down with popcorn to watch it. That’s how hard it is for things to really get made. In the nearly five years since this book came out, and the development process for this film began, I’ve spent far more time expecting this to fall through than I have daydreaming about this day.

Which leaves me ill-prepared to know just what to say to you today. The big thing, possibly the only thing, I know want to communicate to you is this: This movie exists because of you. In every conceivable way.

I wrote this book, more than any other, for my readers, which is why it’s dedicated to you. And when you embraced it so wholeheartedly, bought it, checked it out, reviewed it, leant or borrowed it from friends, read it, reread it, and read it again, all of that made this possible. It signaled to a very fickle, complex, and risk averse business that this could work. That there is a hungry and passionate audience for this kind of story.

And when our director, Brett Haley, signed on (forgive me; I’ve told this story fourteen thousand times in the last two years), the first thing he did was call me to ask about you. What you would be hoping for, dreaming of, terrified about. The moments and lines you’d be waiting for. He very intentionally kept you at the forefront of his mind throughout the whole process, with every new draft, every added writer, every big change. He came back to me again and again to check how you might feel about each little detail. This is exceptionally uncommon in this business. I need you to understand that. Even when an author is listed as an “executive producer” on an adaptation, we mostly have no say, over anything. We’re usually not even in the room where the decisions get made, and if we are, we’re the least important voice among many others.

Brett didn’t have to include me, whatsoever. But he wanted to do right by you. He, like, understood that none of this exists without you, and so he embarked on this journey with the goal of making a movie that honors the spirit of the book and captures what people connect with most about it. As

There are some changes—even some big ones—mostly for the purposes of truncating things that happen over much longer spans of time (and even multiple trips in some cases) in the book. But I want you to know that every single decision was made with you in mind, and I feel so, so, so endlessly lucky to now invite you into this little PWMOV alternate universe that Brett, along with our writers, Yulin, Amos, and Nunzio, have created just for you.

I’m thrilled, ecstatic, relieved to tell you how much I love this movie, and more importantly, how much I think you’re going to love it. I hope you do. It’s for you.

With so much love and gratitude,

Em


P.S. Now, before you go any further, I’m FINALLY going to share some of the behind the scenes pics I took during my set visits below. So if you don’t want to be spoiled at all (just as far as sets, costumes, etc), I’d advise bookmarking this for later and circling back once you’ve had a chance to watch. If you don’t care about that, or have already seen, then go right ahead!!!

Keep scrolling!

[The most important thing to note here are the bracelets in the last two photos. I brought every bracelet a reader has given me to set and we took pics with Brett, Tom, Emily, and Yulin all wearing one of your PWMOV-specific bracelets. I forgot to take more pics on other days of filming but I had these at LEAST in my bag at all times as just one more way to make sure you guys were there for it all.]