November Newsletter

The one where I'm nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award!

Book updates

So… October kind of got eaten by edits, sick kids, Halloween, and prepping for our Disney trip, but…

Behind Every Good Man is in the running for a Goodreads Readers Choice Award!

This is INSANE. Like… out of all the books published this year, how am I on this list? Lynda Cohen Loigman tagged me in a post about it Tuesday morning, and my literal first thought was, “Oh no. I’m going to have to tell her she tagged the wrong person. How embarrassing.”

Then I clicked the link and SCREAMED. My kids came running because they thought I saw a giant spider—which admittedly, IS the main reason they’ve heard me scream in the past. I don’t do spiders.

So even though I’m up against insane competition (Hello The Women, James, my personal favorite author Beatriz Williams’ Husbands and Lovers, etc), if you read Behind Every Good Man and enjoyed it, here’s the link to vote: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/readers-favorite-historical-fiction-books-2024

The opening round lasts until 11/24. If I’m still in it after that, vote again please. (I’ll send an update if so.) Rabid about the book and want to help me win? Share it! Winners are announced 12/5.

And here’s a cool article about being nominated from The Moco Show: https://mocoshow.com/2024/11/12/former-mcps-teachers-book-nominated-for-goodreads-choice-award/

In other news, my editor told me she LOVED the draft of book 5 (her caps!) and we have a title! Good Grief will be coming your way sometime summer-ish in 2025! I’d assume we’ll have a cover by December/January, and you’ll get to see it here first.

Little weird that I’ll have three novels with the word “good” in the title—am I trying to convince myself? Or you? Hello imposter syndrome!

Life updates

In between my kids passing walking pneumonia around like a bag of M&Ms (I’m 100% going down next. My 4yo’s preferred method of covering when he coughs is to use my face to block other people from getting hit. Kids are grosssssss), we made it to Disney World for our third annual trip. (Not counting Disneyland in July—but really, that’s my brother’s fault. He lives 20 minutes from Disneyland and you can’t be 20 minutes from Disneyland and NOT go to Disneyland, right?

Some highlights from the trip, despite the fact that I lost my sequined, leopard Minnie ears the first day and the Disney lost and found didn’t find them. So sad.

Tour updates:

I’m terrible about updating this. I swear I’m going to make a graphic to post on social media soon. You know, if the kids stop getting sick and using my face as a mask.

Today, I’m heading up to Rochester, where I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the JCC. I’ve got a few virtual events coming up, and then I’ll be in Scotch Plains, NJ at the JCC of Central New Jersey on December 10. Live up there but can’t make it? I’ll be in Marlboro, NJ in April too!

And because I was in Cherry Hill and Margate this week, here’s me with Lucy the Elephant, whom I had never seen before:

Speaking to a south Jersey crowd, I felt the need to open with, “I know what your first question is: Why is Don’t Forget to Write set in Avalon, when there weren’t Jews in Avalon in the 1960s?” The answer, for anyone who was wondering exactly that, isn’t that I made a mistake. I knew Avalon wasn’t Jew-friendly, which is why exactly two Jewish families have houses there: Freddy’s family, who are social climbers and will use their money to do anything to make them seem better than they are, and Ada, who doesn’t follow society’s rules. They’re both rich and able to counteract a lot of the stigmas of the time with that money. It also lets Ada have a break and be a little bit more free. If she lived in Margate or Ventnor for the summer, she’s still surrounded by her community from Phildadelphia. In Avalon, she can just exhale and be who she really is. I won’t say more than that in case you haven’t finished the book!

That’s about it for this month. Please go vote for the Goodreads choice awards!

And as always, you can order signed copies of all four of my books from either Jurisdiction Clothing or Park Books. They make great holiday gifts!