VESUVIUS Turns One + Reflections on Debut Year + GIVEAWAY!
One year ago today, my novel VESUVIUS—a queer YA historical fantasy set in the final days of Pompeii—landed on shelves.
For a debut, I believe VESUVIUS had a solid reception. With placement in every Barnes and Noble nationwide, strong buy-in from indies, and subrights sold in multiple territories—including a Spanish and French translation—I’m happy with how it’s performed. In the past year, I’ve also traveled across the UK to various bookstores, taught at StoryCon, and I signed at Book Con—where copies sold out!
But numbers alone don’t tell the full story of what it’s like to be a published author. So to celebrate one year of VESUVIUS, I wanted to talk a little about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the... next?
This is what I’ve learned since debut day. But first, a giveaway.
A GIVEAWAY!
I’m giving away a signed copy of VESUVIUS, plus a pin featuring The Song of Achilles + other bookish goodies. Enter on Instagram by commenting on this post who your favorite mythological figure is (for me, it’s Hermes/Mercury).
For a bonus entry each, add ICARUS FELL and THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS on Goodreads, and leave “Goodreads” as a separate comment.
Anyway, let’s dig in.
Fandom is forever my refuge.
I often say, even during panels and interviews, that I’m a fan first, human being second—and I’ve been rooted in fandom since I was 12 years old. From Tumblr to Twitter, fandom spaces are where I thrive. I’ve met many of my dearest friends through mutual love of specific books and shows.
But within fandom, there exists a strange but often necessary divide between enjoyer and creator, or (in my case) reader and author. I worried that once I crossed that line and transitioned into author, I would lose a huge portion of my identity. Of course, the sentiment is very true that authors do not belong in reader spaces. I respect this, and it’s a personal boundary to not seek out any reviews, period.
My worry that I would no longer be welcome, though? Reader, it could not be falser. Fandom has had my back in ways I never could have predicted. I credit passionate members of shared fandoms with VESUVIUS’s success, truly ( AFTG, Capri, TDOU, RWRB, Hadestown, and IWTV in particular have strongly embraced my book, for some reason). Word of mouth moves mountains. Fanart, cosplay, fanfic, even a fansong—I’m overwhelmed that VESUVIUS found a home among the very groups I’ve found (and continue to find) home in. Here’s just a small selection of the beautiful pieces I’ve been blessed with:
To everyone who has told a friend or posted about VESUVIUS, I’m endlessly grateful.
It’s So Over vs. We’re So Back; or, Maintaining a cool head is an art (which I have not learned).
I have the right combination of neuroses that makes it exceedingly difficult to accept that 99.9% of decisions that occur will never cross my sphere of influence. Things are happening behind the scenes constantly that I’m simply not privy to until they happen. And if I had a nickel each time I found out something major about my own career through casual commentary on it after the fact, I’d actually have a good handful of nickels. Enough to buy a can of Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar, even in this economy.
Sometimes those things are good, like when I found out we sold VESUVIUS subrights in Spain and France, or that I was receiving a special edition from Dazzling Bookish Shop.
But a few times, they’ve triggered catastrophic crash-outs. Again, I do not cope with change well. Being neurodivergent in publishing is incredibly difficult for many, and it’s especially rough on me as someone with Borderline Personality Disorder, whose brain literally chemically and structurally cannot regulate emotions.
I’m incredibly thankful to be surrounded by people who keep me grounded. People like my wonderful agent, who advocates for me, but also has mastered the art of giving me much-needed reality checks in a way I respond to really well. My friends, too, help me keep perspective and find realistic solutions.
And there’s always touching grass. I fell into running as my primary hobby last October (you’re looking at the 1st Place Nonbinary Overall Medalist of the Salt Lake City Marathon 5K, by the way). I hike, I spend time training my dogs, and I sew, and somehow, these keep me from falling into the It’s So Over hole of despair.
My takeaway: Very little is in your control. Focus on what is, and find support from those who are calmer than you are.
Second Book Syndrome is real.
I’m very lucky in that I sold my second novel, THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS, about a year before VESUVIUS launched, so I already had another project to work on leading up to publication. What I didn’t anticipate was that the reception to VESUVIUS would be so strong that I would then sell its sequel—ICARUS FELL, Summer 2027—only a few months post-release. Thus followed the most chaotic nine months of my life, where I had to take a loose outline and turn it into a polished draft, ready for copyedits (which I did! ICARUS FELL will soon be headed to copyedits!).
Other authors might be able to do this more elegantly, but I had never been placed on such a strict deadline before, and the pressure chipped away at my mental health in unexpected ways. Where I had almost five years from the time I started drafting VESUVIUS to when the final manuscript was due, being asked to condense that process into less than one year triggered some of the worst imposter syndrome of my life... or, Second Book Syndrome.
Where, even though an author has already survived debuting, writing the next thing is somehow 10x harder.
I had to relearn everything I thought I knew about myself as a writer. You can read more about how I did it here, but just know that if you’re facing this wall post-publication, you very much aren’t alone.
Ultimately, I’m exceedingly proud of ICARUS FELL. It’s dramatic, it’s angsty, it’s gay—all the stuff readers enjoyed in VESUVIUS and would look for in a sequel, but it pushes the characters to new extremes. The themes I got to deepen and explore are incredibly significant to me, and I hope readers resonate as well.
Add ICARUS FELL on Goodreads!
What’s next?
Now that ICARUS FELL is more or less out of the active-project stage, I’ve turned back to THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS, slated for release in 2028. Here’s a bit about TTBM:
Edinburgh, 1820. Two boys with rivaling ambitions must stop a scheming botanist from cultivating the perfect poison—before he induces madness in them both. Inspired by Hamlet with the bite of The Spirit Bears Its Teeth, THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS is a YA historical gothic romance with Borderline Personality Disorder representation.
I’m so, so, so excited to continue working on this, and updates will come soon. In the meantime, please add it on Goodreads!
I’m also currently revising (what I hope is) my adult fantasy debut, RED WASTELAND. When I unexpectedly had to switch agents last summer, my new agent had a very strong vision for the manuscript that inspired me to pick it apart and start from scratch. I’m hoping to find time this summer between TTBM deadlines to continue working on it. Editors of adult fantasy... watch this space.
Summation.
There were epic highs. There were epic lows. This is high school football, after all.
Thanks for watching me play.
Obligatory links.
Buy VESUVIUS from my local indie.
Add ICARUS FELL on Goodreads.
Add THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS on Goodreads.
What I’m reading: THE SECRET WORLD OF BRIAR ROSE by Cindy Pham
What I’m listening to: Hadestown (Original Sound Track)
What I’m watching: The Vampire Lestat
What I’m excited for: My upcoming hysterectomy on July 7!