Announcing: UNTIL DEATH
Forthcoming from Little, Brown!
Friends!
Remember last month, when I was vague about Having News? (I know you do, because some of you emailed me like, what’s the news.)
Well…
Here it is!
UNTIL DEATH, my literary horror novel about the wedding industrial complex, will be published (in bookstores! On e-readers! In your very own hands!) by Little, Brown!
This is literally the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. Getting engaged was an extremely close second, but I knew to expect that one, more or less. (P.S. I can’t wait to plan my real-life wedding while editing and promoting this wedding-horror book, lol.)
Obviously I hoped the book would sell. But don’t you feel like it sometimes feels dangerous to hope too hard? So I told myself: Don’t get too excited. I told myself: Tons of books never sell, or they sit on submission to editors for a year or more. There are no guarantees. I added, Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time, or the second or the third or the tenth or even the hundredth, that it looked like something was really going to happen — an agent offer, a book deal — and then it didn’t. So don’t set yourself up for disappointment!
But between you and me, a spicy little voice in the back of my head kept whispering, I think this is it.
And I said, Shut up, voice! What did I JUST say?!?
And the voice grinned wickedly and said, No, really. I think we’re gonna make it.
Now, obviously I kind of hate the phrase “made it,” because that implies that I am Done Now, and everything is going to work out from now on. So don’t get it twisted! I am not done! And I am also under no illusions about the number of jagged rocks I still have to steer my little book-ship around. And that’s only for this one novel.
But even though there’s still a ton of work to do…
Dare I say…
Friends: We made it.
News
Because God forbid I only have one piece of big news per newsletter, this seems like an excellent time to announce that from March 12 through April 16, on Wednesday evenings, I’m teaching a virtual six-week fiction workshop. The cost is $200 for the full six weeks, and the registration deadline is Monday, March 3. Here’s the link to read more and sign up if you want:
Here are some nice things people have said about the workshop:
“Mary is fantastic and got my butt in the seat to write the thing that I’m proud of! Gentle nudging and criticism shared by the group work ethic and championing was amazing! I’ll be on the lookout for any of Mary’s future classes!”
“Mary is a thoughtful teacher whose feedback was kind and helpful. Her experience and knowledge informed the insights she brought to discussions, and to critique conversations. I had been struggling to revise a story, and she talked about the engine of a story… what makes it tick. That, combined with a comment she had made about one of the characters during a critique, helped me to make a major POV revision which really brought my story to another level… giving it focus and voice. Shout out to Mary for her insights!”
“Mary is so knowledgeable, thorough, and well spoken. It was clear from the critiques she delivered that she put deep and careful thought into each piece submitted by the attendees, and that she cares about each one of us becoming our best writer. This workshop felt very approachable, and even kind. I would love to do this again with another piece.”
Sticking the registration link here again, just in case you’re now convinced and don’t want to scroll all the way up, lmao. Join me! Find out straight from the horse’s mouth how I got my book deal!!!! (Hint: It was hard work + luck.)
I know I have been talking about my book a lot lately. I aim, robustly, to return to our regularly scheduled programming in the coming months, where I talk about what other people have written (although you’ll still be getting updates from me). But I do want to take a second to thank you for subscribing to my newsletter, for clicking on my name when it pops up in your inbox, and for joining me on this journey. Some of y’all have been following this newsletter since 2019, back when I only sent it once or twice a year.
I’m truly so, so excited, from the bottom of my heart, to be able to share this moment with you. I hope you’ll come along for all the future moments, too.
Preorders WHEN, Mary?! I am so excited!
This sounds amazing!