Hi friends! Itâs me, Anita, just writing from a new (old) account at Substack. I think I have migrated all of the contacts from my Mailchimp newsletter to here, so hopefully this is actually reaching everyone who might want to read it! If youâve received this and do not want to be reading it, please feel free to unsubscribe! Iâm sorry!
Iâm reviving this old Substack accountâwhich I used several years ago until something transphobic happened (I canât remember what) and I switched to Mailchimpâbecause now Mailchimp wants to charge a fee writers cannot afford, and isnât the internet fun?
When I made the (lazy) decision to simply revive this account instead of making a new one, I went back and read all the old posts I wrote here way back when. (I deleted the ones that made me cringe too hard and bravely kept the ones that made me cringe slightly less.) This newsletter back then was mostly documenting my journey to getting agented and published, and how overwhelming and confusing that whole crash course was (especially when coinciding with the beginning of a worldwide pandemic). So if youâve ever been curious about how all that happened/early writing thoughts I had while drafting and editing Love & Other Disasters and Something Wild & Wonderful, feel free to look through the archives. (Warning that I was exceedingly bad at editing down my thoughts back then, when I knew only five people were reading them.)
(This is probably my favorite bit in those archives, though, from when I was trying to decide which literary agent to choose:
This spreadsheet is full of strikethroughs and highlights, names and dates and details. Literary agents: ones who have my book, ones who decided to pass on my book, ones who are still reading, ones who have made offers of representation. Who want to sell my book. Who care about building my career. A career I have wanted since I was old enough to read. A career that suddenly feels scary and strange, now that it is on my doorstep. I keep thinking it must just be a hastily delivered Amazon package, waiting at the wrong house.
Because sometimes all of this still feels like a hastily delivered Amazon package.)
AaaaaanywayâŚSing Anyway is out in audio!
Sing Anyway is the first story I ever published, and I still remember how truly shocked I was when people actually liked it because I had been so anxious about throwing it out into the world/so convinced it was embarrassing that I wanted to puke. Which is to say, hearing clips of Yvonne Roberts and Aven Shore reading Lily and Samâs little love story out loud, two years and some change later, made me unexpectedly burst into tears.
Thank you so much to Tantor Media for producing the Moonieâs novellas in audio, and to Kim Lionetti and the team at Bookends Literary for making it happen! It should be available now wherever you find your audiobooks. <3
Also: Sale!
I am bad at remembering to mention sales in my newsletter, but here I am, remembering! Which is great, because $2.99 is a pretty great stinkingâ sale for the ebook of Something Wild & Wonderful. This should be the price at most major retailers (at least in North America) through July 5th.
Speaking of SW&W, I was pleased to see that Ben & Lex were on Library Journalâs Best Romances of the Year So Far, and even more pleased to find them on the same titled list at BookPage.
My emotions since the publication of this one have been very up and down/frequently unhealthy, but little boosts of serotonin like those lists do help, as does every time someone new tells me how much this story meant to them. Almost every day Iâm reminded that there are readers out there who Get what Iâm trying to do, and it gives me the strength and courage to keep doing this.
Thatâs probably enough words for now! Hope youâre all enjoying your first bits of summer and being kind to yourselves.
queer kisses,
anita
I read SW&W with the Parnassus book club this month. As i read i became more and more captivated by alexeiâs interest in the natural world, and in particular birds. I kept a list of every bird in the book and as i read and encountered one i would note it, pause, and find a youtube video of the bird singing. I have since become a passionate birder and it enriches my life daily. Your book changed my life for the better. Thank you âĽď¸
i really adored sw&w!! it was just what i needed and reminded me why i love romance so thank you so much for it!!! i'm gonna do a full series reread when How You Get the Girl comes out and i can't wait <3 <3 <3