2025 ended with a flurry of activity. At work, over half of my titles for Spring 2027 went into production, including a very exciting crash for Fall 2026 I cannot wait to share with you all. And we kicked off promo for Into the Blue with a cover reveal.

This marks the end of the part of the author cycle I’m most comfortable with (locking myself alone in a room) and the beginning of the part I’m the least comfortable with (drawing as much attention the book as humanly possible).

Getting to publish a book, with an incredible team no less, is an honor I do not take for granted, and there are many exciting moments in the process. But I’d be lying if I said I don’t also find it nerve-wracking. In order to catch the eye of your intended audience, you must first make eye contact with every person you have ever met (while they provide you with unsolicited takes on your sex scenes). You must to go to work and face your colleagues, whether the internet throws carnations at your novel or red paint. You must to learn to smile at signings when people ask if you wrote the book, then put it back when you confirm that you did. And through all this, you must continue to sound, sound, sound the trumpets, because this is your baby and you want it to have a good life.

2026, then, will be about guarding energy. As we round the bend into this last six-months before publication, I aim to pace myself, to stay as clean and soft as I can.

By staying clean, I mean resisting the siren call of sites like Goodreads. Riding the ratings rollercoaster is addictive, the high from reading positive reviews just as toxic as the low of reading bad ones. Both are equally destructive for someone who wants to be writing again, which is me. I’m not a saint about this. I literally Venmo myself a dollar every time I want to check. If I do break, I have to donate the money to the Center for Fiction. I won’t tell you what my current total is, but it’s a good trick.

Staying soft means making friends with the cringe that goes hand-in-hand with self-promotion—building up a tolerance for vulnerability, for withstanding judgment, for looking stupid in front of people whose opinions I value. This year, I mean to bathe myself in cringe; to float in discomfort until I can swim in it. I want cringe to be my ally, the iocane powder I have microdosed so that when faced with a lethal chalice-full I can throw it back with a piratey smirk.

I am approaching this via exposure therapy. My recent forays into cringe might be vanilla by an influencer’s standards— publicly sharing excerpts of my naughty Nancy Drew fan fic, directly asking people to preorder my book during a B&N promo, taping a video of myself that now lives on my grid, where I can project any number of unkind people thinking any number of unkind thoughts about it—though an influencer I am not.

Yet, these microdoses of cringe are proving good medicine for a writer. Every time I post about my new book, or slide into the DMs an author I love, or share a video of myself, I am flexing the same muscles I will need to stay sane when the book is widely available. And the deeper I sink into this practice of cringe, the faster I find I can get back to my day, my life, my writing.

Because that’s the real goal, isn’t it? To just keep writing.

Updates

Currently Reading: Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood

Currently Watching: Ancient Empires

Weather: Toddler-tantrum frosty. It snows, we shovel, it snows again.

Books I Read Last Month

(light spoilers ahead)

American Fantasy by Emma Straub: Annie is a woman between; recently divorced, she has just been demoted to report to her own intern when she embarks on a four day fan cruise devoted to Boy Talk, the New Kids On the Block-esque boyband she worshipped in her youth. All the hi-jinx ensue—and yes, Annie 100% meets the band. But this story is about so much more than that. With her trademark humor and wisdom, Emma Straub explores the deep bonds we feel to the pop culture that forged us—even as the world continues to change—and how pleasure doesn’t have an expiration date. It’s also just fun. I loved this book not only for Annie and Keith (Keith!), but for all the clever side-characters aboard the American Fantasy cruise ship (Sarah! Maira! (weirdly) Jonathan!). This one pubs April 07, but you can pre-order here!

Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck: This was so delightful—a reimagining of Failure to Launch as a single dad romance set in the aftermath of Covid. Yes, FMC Sam is hung up on her father’s abandonment—which is made manifest by the literal boxes of her dad’s comic book issues that crowd her bedroom. Kate Goldbeck is such a witty writer that I defy anyone to not be sucked into this story on her voice alone. She also tackles meaty subject matter with deftness, dramatizing the way our parents shape our attachment styles with poignance and humor; it was incredibly satisfying to watch Sam take responsibility for herself over the course of the novel. MMC Nick is an absolute cinnamon roll (with great hands!), but I also appreciated how honestly Hal was rendered/ all the truth in this book about situationships. Order here!

Bound by Ali Hazelwood: I have to admit that I don’t like reading romance via audiobook. I have tried, but I cannot shake the feeling that I’m…not alone. But I am a die-hard Ali Hazelwood fan, and this Spotify original is not available in any other format, so to Spotify I went. And I loved this—even if listening to it made me feel like I was in a thruple with the dual narrators. If you love Discovery of Witches, Season 1, you will love this story (the MMC’s name is Viktor Ashworth if that gives you any sense). FMC Vero is a lot of fun—an anti-social forger with a golden heart. Think Rebecca Romney meets Lucky Armstrong. Come for the deflowering of a hot, very restrained, thousand-year-old vampire, stay for the conversations around what makes original art. Listen here!

First, I’m so excited to share that we have a cover for Into the Blue!

I am absolutely in awe of this. To put it in perspective, on this day last year we were still a week out from selling the book, and I wasn’t sure it would ever get a cover. The fact that it now has one that channels both Star Trek and NOW That’s What I Call Music 4 is beyond my wildest dreams. And the comets! Did I mention the comets? So stellar, so star-crossed, so AJ and Noah.

Cover craft is notoriously difficult. Into the Blue is a story about creative resilience, and familial bonds, and fierce love to whatever end…and also SNL, and Broadway, and space whales. How can one image possibly capture all that? Yet somehow, my brilliant designer, Cassie Vu, pulled it off with literal flying colors.

I’m so excited for you to read this story. If you want to give me an early holiday present, you can:

request it on NetGalley

and/or

pre-order it for July 14, 2026

Emma’s *Immaculate* Guide to Holiday Gifts (and Self-Purchases!)

Now, for my present to you: stress-free holiday gifting. You’re welcome. (To be fully transported, click the images below.)

3 Romantic Gifts Under $10 That Will Make Your Loved Ones Think of You Constantly

1. Scotty Peeler Label Remover (Amazon, $8.99)

You know what your best friend is going to be doing a lot of this holiday season? Removing price tags. You could get her a manicure, which would be thoughtful I guess…OR you could get her this angelic set of 3 label removers and save every manicure she will ever get for the rest of her life.

2. ChefktCove 51 Inch Sink Snake (Amazon, $4.98)

No, this is not a jumprope designed by Picasso. It’s the sink snake that is going to save your mother’s blood pressure when she’s having fifteen people over and the bathroom basin has standing water. This is the gift of self-sufficiency. It is also the gift of all the money whomever you give it to would have spent on a plumber.

3. Dazzle Bright 8 Pack Christmas Lights Storage Holder (Amazon, $9.99)

You know what’s really annoying? Storing Christmas lights. These puppies might look like they were invented by Cindy-Lu Who, but when it comes to a harmonious tree lighting (or unlighting) they are not to be underestimated. If you want to give your friends the gift of never having to untangle Christmas lights again, drop a Hamilton on these.

3 Items You Can Dump into A Mason Jar for Instant Artisinal Wonder

1. Newmans Own Pineapple Salsa (Stop & Shop, $4.29)

But, Emma, that already comes in a jar, and it’s hermetically sealed! Folks, I’m only going to say this once: beauty is impermanence. Break that seal, plop that pineapple chunky goodness into a mason jar, and TADA. You just opened a farmer’s market.

2. Popcorn (Stop & Shop, $5.19)

Nothing proves the power of suggestion like popcorn in a jar. It doesn’t matter how intimate you are with Smart Food. Like any glow-up, a glass container plus a piece of twine has the power to transform this nerd into the bell of the Ball (jar).

3. Epsom Salt (Stop & Shop, $5.59)

I think you mean artisanal bath salt. There’s something about putting salt in a jar that kind of implies that you also left that salt out to absorb the energy of the Cold Moon, read intentions over it, then smudged it with sage for good measure. If you have essential oil you could also sprinkle that in for a truly transcendent gift experience, but most of us project our own bath oil when we receive a jar of salt, so this is by no means a necessity.

3 Movies That Are Irresponsibly Cheap That You Can Buy “For Your Children” In Case They Disappear from Netflix

1. Shakespeare In Love (Amazon, $4.99)

It is a warcrime that this cinematic treasure is so undervalued, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t be a war criminal this holiday season.

2. The Sound of Music (Amazon $4.99)

Again, what the fuck? Not that this shouldn’t be priced *slightly* lower than Dame Julie Andrews’ other seminal work, The Princess Diaries Two: Royal Engagement ($12.99).

3. Die Hard (Amazon, $4.99)

Hans Gruber is undoubtedly behind this, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t follow him like Karl to enjoy some explosive, heavily-discounted holiday cheer.

3 Gifts For Me The Entire Family Can Enjoy

1. Frasier Fir Gilded Frosted Wood Candle (Thymes, $47)

This isn’t *for me*, it’s for the Christmas tree. It says “I see you, I’m here for you, you’re not solely responsible for making the house smell like pine.”

2. Mongolian Cashmere Boatneck Sweater (Quince, $79.90)

What! It gets really cold wrapping all those presents FOR YOU. I need this FOR YOU.

3. Luis Vuitton Star Sign Pisces Bandeau ($225)

Okay fine, this one’s specifically for me, but do you think this whimsy just fuels itself, Kevin? Just because I’ve never worn a bandeau doesn’t mean I won’t, Kevin.

3 Gifts to Avoid Because No.

1. Alcohol-scented candles.

Why? Just…buy booze?

2. Atmospheric soap.

This is actually known to increase holiday anxiety.

3. Calendars.

How dare you imply life goes on beyond the holiday break.

+++

If for some *strange* reason the links embedded in the images above aren’t working properly, here’s a quick directory.

Wishing you a wonderful and safe holiday season!

xx

Emma

Quick Shopping Directory

1. Scotty Peeler Label Remover (Amazon, $8.99)

2. ChefktCove 51 Inch Sink Snake (Amazon, $4.98)

3. Dazzle Bright 8 Pack Christmas Lights Storage Holder (Amazon, $9.99)

4. Newmans Own Pineapple Salsa (Stop & Shop, $4.29)

5. Popcorn (Stop & Shop, $5.19)

6. Epsom Salt (Stop & Shop, $5.59)

7. Shakespeare In Love (Amazon, $4.99)

8. The Sound of Music (Amazon $4.99)

9. Die Hard (Amazon, $4.99)

10. Frasier Fir Gilded Frosted Wood Candle (Thymes, $47)

11. Mongolian Cashmere Boatneck Sweater (Quince, $79.90)

12. Luis Vuitton Star Sign Pisces Bandeau ($225)

• Does walking on a path beside a sheep pasture count as contact with livestock?

• Why is the throne room music from The Last Jedi in my head?

• Two seats over, I can see a woman logging onto her computer: Walsh, Chloe. Did she became goth because her parents gave her the cute name Chloe Walsh or in spite of it? She’s working at 7:30 am on Sunday. Chloe Walsh is diligent.

• Purple and gold LED Christmas decor is a bold choice. These trees look like The Cones of Dunshire. I would love if whomever arranged them was playing a game. I would love for things to be thoughtful like that.

• Heathrow had me arrive three hours early, but won’t tell me my gate. This has fast become a withholding relationship.

• If I open instagram, I will lose these three hours passively staring at other peoples’ content, and I should just download a movie because isn’t it better to decide to eat a bag of chips than to kid yourself by sneaking one at a time?

• I don’t think I will ever be as interesting as the man sitting behind me must be to the person he has been monologuing to on the phone for the last five minutes.

• No one ever talks about how the door in Rachel and Monica’s apartment is the same color as the kitchen in Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Why were the early 00s so obsessed with cornflower blue?

• If I share this list will I regret it?

• Is sharing inherently icky? Or is it implied in the creative impulse? I made something and I want you to see it, is different from I made something but it’s not real unless you see it, is different from I made something and it’s not good unless you see it. Would I share if I hadn’t been encouraged? Do I make inherently for myself or for others? Am I writing this for someone else even if I never show it to them? Are the projections in my head more precious to me than their walking counterparts? They are more portable, and they can never walk away...

• Perhaps I’ll share a purple Christmas cone to my stories.

• Foggy and bright: not mutually exclusive.

• I did not need to bring two notebooks on this trip.

• The man behind me, a new man, is praying using an app. I pray all the time, informally. I am forever sliding into God’s DMs. I believe a lot of things at once.

• Is that red lipstick tube real or did the person who shot this ad use a prop, like the plastic red lipstick I had as a child, some Fisher-Price-esque object that was not lipstick but taught me to imbue lipstick with a kind of forbidden candy apple magic?

• A very mousy woman with a very gutteral laugh. “I am here,” this laugh says. “I am not what I look like. I am fully alive in my Kelly green airplane dress.”

• The Vinery.

• Do the puffed up ads work? Yes, people love to be puffed up.

• Do people actually “vote for Heathrow”? They must if they’re pushing it so hard.

• My purple cone story has received three views. One viewer, I think, is a robot. The other two are humans who live on the West Coast and are awake. They are in the same city and they are not friends, but they used to be. And I wonder if they have any inkling that, even though they don’t speak anymore, they are still connected, as the only two living souls on this earth who viewed my purple cone story.

• Maybe this is why we share. Because we are all each other’s conduits and the people we lose are never really lost and we all might be useful in ways we don’t yet understand.

Updates

Currently Reading: I’m about to attempt Alchemized…!

Currently Watching: Music Box: Listening to Kenny G

Weather: There are now more leaves on the ground than there are in the trees, and at night the wind is biting.

Books I Read Last Month

Mate by Ali Hazelwood. I mean what is there to say? Ali Hazelwood is an auto-buy for me and this book is another barn burner—set in the same universe as Bride, Mate follows Misery’s best friend, Serena, through health crises, cult intrigue, and falling in love with Lowe, who…trust Ali Hazelwood to make me like a man bun.

200 Monas by Jan Saenz. I’m obsessed with this book, which officially comes out in March. It follows soon-to-be-college-grad Arvey, who has 48 hours to offload her dead mother’s stash of the most rare, erotic drug on earth (think ecstasy x 1000) OR ELSE. She teams up with a hot drug dealer named Wolf and oh my did do hijinks ensue (they take Mona themselves within the first 50 pages). This book is literary in that it’s beautiful written and explores some big questions, but it’s also supremely entertaining and incredibly propulsive. I turned down birthday cake because I didn’t want to stop reading, if that gives you an idea. Available for pre-order here.

June Baby by Shannon Garvey. This book pubs next May and is just the perfect slice of summer. Set on Block Island with all the insider-y references you want, this story reveals itself like a sun-kissed, wistful Russian doll, with layer inside layer of personal history and emotion. Some summer stories are about the ephemeral and some are about the cyclical—this is both. Mystic Pizza meets Little Fires Everywhere meets Elin. For updates on how to pre-order, follow Shannon Garvey.

This past month has been a whirlwind. I handed back edits on three titles for my Fall 2026/ Spring 2027 lists. Amid that, I travelled to Cancun for one friend’s wedding, then to NYC for another’s. Needless to say, my sweet husband has learned a very valuable lesson about taking a road trip with me on the day Taylor Swift drops an album.

Life of A Showgirl will forever be fused with the last week of my life, which is appropriate because New York for me has become a sort of theater. I spend so much of my life orbiting the same two creatures, that the moments I have to appear from the neck-down now feel like performance.

“We are bumpkins,” my husband informs me as we struggle to update our Uber apps. He is right. I may know how to track horse droppings, but that helps little when trying to enter the subway using my phone (hot tip: you can do that now).

I love this city, and I always will. I was born here, and to this day, no place has a higher concentration of people I love and personal landmarks. It’s fun and alive, and when I’m in town, I feel like my blood is laced with cherry candy and bubblegum.

But I have to say, I’m happy to be home. New York is a metropolis made of reflective surfaces, and in truth, when I’m there I become one. After about three days, even the best three days ever, I have a hard time locating my own instincts.

For me, intuition is soft. It’s not the honking of a horn or the blaring of a fire-alarm; it’s a dog padding across a patch of sunlight. It’s the quiet voice that says when to hold on and when to let go.

To make art, you need to be practiced at both—at taking great big gulps of the world and walling it out. So much of creating is maintaining the membrane between your creation and reality. We’re in first pass for Into the Blue, and the book is now in so many hands that creative containment is tantamount to pitching a tent in the middle of an airport terminal. Outside voices are drifting in, which is a good thing; but at the end of the day, it’s still up to me to carry the torch across the finish line.

The choices are small now, but vital. This word or that word? Should I keep this or STET? This paragraph isn’t working, but if I change it, I’ll need to adjust its twin in part IV. At this point in the process, when fatigue is high and security is low, it can be easy to want to someone else to tell you what is right. To want the sure thing. But the truth is, no one knows for sure—not even intuition’s quiet voice.

Still, the quiet voice must be followed at all costs. To ignore it or drown it out risks almost irreparable damage to the creative self, and truly nothing is worth that. My gut is not always right, but here is what I will say: I have never regretted following it.

And here’s the thing about intuition—it’s not stagnant. We are constantly learning and growing. Case in point: last night my husband grudgingly admitted to having “Opalite” stuck in his head. He’s not a full on Swiftie (yet), but it goes to show that our subconsciouses are always adapting.

Updates

Currently Reading: Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Currently Watching: Abbott Elementary

Weather: Cold and blustery! Our local flora is short and scrubby, but we more than make up for that with extreme displays of fall foliage at eye level. It’s starting—one more week of cool evenings, and my world will be red.

Books I Read Last Month

Heartless Hunter/ Rebel Witch by Kristin Ciccarelli: This duology is (ever-so-lightly) based on The Scarlet Pimpernel, centered on a vigilante witch masquerading as a socialite to save her kind, and the witch hunter who is forced to fake-date her. It’s a game of cat and mouse I really enjoyed. The world building maps easily onto the French Revolution and wasn’t overdone. Rune is so fun to root for (like Aelin Galathynius, she appreciates a beautiful gown as much as she appreciates getting to stab someone in it) and Gideon is a stone cold fox who knows his way around a measuring tape (he makes her a dress!!! I’m underselling this scene, it’s heart-stopping). Kristin Ciccarelli doesn’t let up the pace, the twists, or the tension at all with the sequel—truly, you should order them both, you’ll want to jump into the second the minute you finish the first. These are cozy and dreamy—light torture, cool magic system, and a couple who are hot and sweet in all the right ways.

Shows I Watched

Halt and Catch Fire: This show is so beautiful, holy shit. It’s propulsive, and clever, and interesting, and the characters will never ever leave me AHHHH. I know next to nothing about tech and found it riveting. Obviously, I’m obsessed with Joe and Cameron’s arc…but I’m also obsessed with Joe : Gordon, Gordon: Cameron, Cameron : Donna, Bos : Everyone. Despite being on the verge of cancellation its entire run, the show eked out 4 seasons, and each one is incredible. I’ve thought a lot about why this didn’t attract a larger audience, and I think it’s because artistic collaborations are given primacy over the romantic/family relationships, which just isn’t widely relatable. But clearly artists love it—and love to steal from it. If you care about story craft/ performance/ both, this is truly a must-watch.

The Paper: So fun! This is a The Office spin-off, which takes place at a local Ohio newspaper, and it’s exactly what you want it to be—a modernized remix of The Office, containing all the same ingredients in different permutations (and unlike the original, the lighting is great from day one). I laughed out loud at every episode—my only regret is that they only filmed ten.

The tourists syphon off at several intervals over the course of the fall, but Labor Day is a dramatic turning point. Overnight, State Road empties and half the checkout lanes at Stop & Shop go dark. We’re only halfway through wedding season so the Vineyard is far from closed, but after the summer congestion any added space feels expansive.

I’m on staycation this week, which is a lovely, much-needed respite bridging a jam-packed summer and fall. I’ll mostly be catching up on reading and laundry.

There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months—work projects delivering, trips to see friends, college football, my wedding anniversary—and it will all start next week. But this week is for sitting tight, for snuggling my dog, and for taking in the last of the cricket song and the summer ocean air.

xx

Updates

Currently Reading: Rivals by Jilly Cooper

Currently Watching: Halt and Catch Fire

Weather: Lovely. It’s still technically summer until the 21st, and you won’t hear any complaints from me.

Books I Read Last Month

Kingdom of Ash: I finally finished Sarah J. Maas’s OG series, Throne of Glass, which did not disappoint. I’m truly mourning the loss of these characters, which were on my nightstand for over a year. Kingdom of Ash was everything a grande finale should be—cathartic and twisty and beautifully, musically written and satisfying. Of course, I wish there was more, but I also appreciate that there isn’t. Everything has come full circle. If you’re an ACOTAR fan and are thinking of trying this series, I recommend with the caveat that the first two books are YA (lots of exclamation points!!!). SJM originally wrote them as a teenager, and as a huge fan, I loved getting to watch her style evolve in real time. That said, it is a shift from ACOTAR, so worth considering.

Tusk Love: When this title instantly shot to the top of the NYT bestseller list in July, a lot of people were surprised—which they shouldn’t have been. The D&D fandom is super powerful, and this book is the offspring of one of the most beloved D&D podcasts, Dimension 20. That said, I have only passing knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons and still enjoyed this. Thea Guanzon is an autobuy author for me ever since Hurricane Wars, and she brings the fire between these two characters—it’s a sweet and spicy adventure, with lots of bandits (and even more Easter eggs). Come for the references, stay for the scene in the lake.

Dot Slash Magic: Liz Shipton’s videos crack me up, so I had to get her book. It’s a romantasy satire as smart and funny as its author, and it’s honestly buckwild. The heroine, Seven, is forced to cross pollinate app development with her burgeoning magical abilities while at community college in San Diego, and the hi-jinx that ensue are nertz. I would comp it to The Magicians x The Matrix x She’s the Man/ the early cannon of Channing Tatum. The banter is really fun and the ending is out of this world in a way I did not foresee.

Shows I Watched

Foundation: All up to date on this now. I do really like this show, but it covers eons. Eons and eons of Cleons. Which gives me viewer fatigue because literally the second I decide I like someone, either something happens and they die, or the show jumps ahead 100 years and they die. So…watch with an aura of detachment?

Halt and Catch Fire: This is one of those underdog shows that did not find an audience during its life, but which has since gone on to be widely recognized as one of the greatest shows of all time. It follows a group of entrepreneurs in the 1980s in the silicon prairie (yes, this is a thing) who are essentially racing to create the first laptop. I look up whether Aaron Sorkin is involved at least once an episode because it has that sort of snappy-patter-life-or-death-stakes-but-it’s-just-computers pacing, but his name has yet to appear. It’s really, really good. Not relaxing, per se. Fewer murders in the Cotswolds than I’d like. But it’s still really good.