My New Novel . . .

Hello! It’s been a while since I sent my last letter. You may notice that this missive is coming from a new platform because my beloved TinyLetter was shuttered by its parent company, Mailchimp. The change shouldn’t make much of a difference to you, but let me know if you have any trouble.

It’s raining outside as I write this. My first winter in Maine was rainier and windier than I expected. There wasn’t a lot of snow and ice. It was a lot like the winters I experienced as a kid in Maryland, where there would be a few big snowstorms and a lot of cold, wet days in between. The one thing that felt different here, and reminded me that I really was a lot farther north than I used to be, was way the night fell in November and December. It was as if a heavy black curtain came down on the day. It was difficult to muster the energy to leave the house after 5 p.m. We ate dinner very early and then spent the evenings watching movies or reading—or maybe, if I was feeling energetic, I’d work on a puzzle and listen to podcasts. I developed a taste for Hallmark films and decaf coffee with milk and sugar. To be clear: I liked being in the cocoon of winter, though it did make it difficult to write anything public-facing, like a newsletter. I had the urge to be quiet and introverted.

But now, spring is on its way and so is my new novel, which is available for preorder. It has a new title, WE WERE PRETENDING, a cover that I love, and a publication date: August 13! (This also happens to be my son’s birthday, which I think is a sweet coincidence.)

You’re probably wondering—what is this novel even about? Why the new title? Why the psychedelic trees? My publisher has provided an excellent summary online, but if you were to ask me to describe it, I would say it’s a story about the existential dilemma of raising children in an era of rapid climate change. It’s about trying to outrun, or maybe, outsmart the dilemma and finding you can’t, that none of the fantasies hold, that there’s no escape hatch.

Yet, I don’t think this is a depressing book. I did not imagine a terrible future, in fact this novel is set mostly in the recent past. It includes speculative and even fantastic elements, but my jumping off point was always real life. While working on this book—on and off for six years, all told—I became fascinated with mushrooms, moss, and the hardy weeds that take root in cities and busy suburban spaces. I observed how people’s relationship to nature and weather was changing because of their engagement with technology—how, to give one example, people were using their phones to identify bird calls, plants, and trees. And at the same time, I noticed a hunger for the mystical, a new appetite for astrology, witchy rituals, and UFOs. Somehow, this led to reading the U.S. Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness Manual. I also started collecting champagne corks and painting them to look like mushrooms. It’s been a wild ride!

Now I hope that the novel will take you on a journey, one that is entertaining and thought-provoking and even a little bit fun. If you’d like to preorder a copy, you have the option of choosing between four versions: hardback, paperback, ebook, or audiobook. (One of the interesting things about publishing with Little A is that they release the hardcover and paperback version of the book at the same time, so you can choose your price point.)

Thank you, as always, for your support. I’ll be writing a bit more frequently in the coming months, to share more about this novel and how it came to be. There might also be some photos of my new adopted kittens, Wally and Andre.

Until then,

Hannah