The Ancient Things is a bestseller!

Three copies of How to Survive Camping on a skull patterned throw blanket.

The dog is of the opinion that all throw blankets in the house belong to him and he was a little offended I borrowed this one to take a photo on.

This month is all about The Ancient Things, which is now out. And I’m happy to tell you that it’s made the USA Today Bestseller list! Thank you to everyone that preordered or picked it up in the past few weeks. It’s been so exciting to not only see this story out there, but also seeing people having fun and enjoying the series.

There’s been two events so far as of writing this newsletter. The first was at Prologue Bookshop. They hosted my very first author appearance a bit over a year ago. That was an amazing time - my aunts and cousins came out for it, the Q&A was great, and I discovered that it’s actually kind of hard to write and talk at the same time when I wrote the name of personal friend incorrectly in their book during the signing (I live in terror of making that mistake again someday). This time, the event was in Prologue’s new space!

Bonnie on a short stage, talking to a group of people in a bookstore.

Prologue Bookshop in Columbus, OH

The second event was in New York City with The Twisted Spine, in conversation with Adam Cesare. This was my first event traveling outside of Ohio and it was my first event with another author. Unsurprisingly, it was the highlight of the trip. I loved meeting everyone and it was a great conversation. Huge thanks to both Prologue Bookshop and The Twisted Spine for hosting me! It was a delight to be there.

Plus, I got a copy of Adam Cesare’s Zero Lives Remaining so that’s now on my book pile. I also got an ARC of Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones and an ARC of The Mountain by Nanami Kamon and translated by Kalau Almony. Maybe next newsletter I’ll talk about books a bit, because on the plane I read We Hexed The Moon by Mollyhall Seeley and loved it, and I’ve got really high hopes for everything else currently on my book pile.

Bonnie and Adam in front of a group of people with bookcases behind them.

Twisted Spine. It’s such a cool space.

Otherwise, NYC in general was a lot of fun to visit. I haven’t been there since I was a kid. The highlights for me (other than The Twisted Spine) were The Met, The High Line, and Paradise Lost. Someone recommended we visit the Arts of Oceania exhibit at The Met and I’m very glad we did - it was fascinating and the pictures online really don’t do it justice. The High Line was a really nice walking trail that went past some really interesting architecture and some fun shopping areas. And Paradise Lost is a tiki lounge with some fantastic drinks and impeccable vibes. I didn’t get to see everything on my list, but we knew that wouldn’t be possible, so I might need to go back sometime!

Plus it was just nice to meet everyone at Saga Press in person. You’ll probably see some photos and videos popping up on Instagram (if you haven’t seen them already…)

I’ve got a few more events this month and then things should calm down just in time for October. Going to take a lot of photos of my books at my neighbor’s house because her Halloween decorating game is so much better than mine!

What’s Next?

I’m in a bit of a lull right now as we’ve handed The Beast off for copyedits and the first draft of Hemlock Hollow has also been turned in. I’m enjoying having a bit of time off, I suppose, as there was a bit of deadline pressure there at the end of August. Which isn’t a bad thing - I find I work better with deadlines! Otherwise, my brain supplies its own deadline, which is “yesterday, why are you so behind?!?”, and that’s not a very healthy way to work.

But for now, I can focus on traveling to events and maybe take the opportunity to do some work around the house. For those keeping track from my prior newsletters… no, the garage is still not organized.

Listen.

The weather in Ohio has been garbage for months now.

I’ll eventually get to it.