A Sneak Preview of DEAR MISS KOPP!

A Sneak Preview of DEAR MISS KOPP

Hey, guess what? The next Kopp novel officially has a title, and we're pretty close to having a cover, too. It won't be out until next September, but I can tell you this:

Norma's passion for pigeons is finally going to pay off. Pigeons, as you might know, really were used for wartime communication during World War I. Just look at the photo of this fabulous little pigeon transport vehicle. How'd you like to tool around France in one of those? (maybe in peacetime, however.)

Anyway, I am splitting the Kopp sisters up during the war. I don't know what they were doing in real life at that time, but I'm giving them each something to do that's quite similar to what women actually did during WWI.

Because I'm splitting them up, the entire novel will be told through letters between the sisters (thus the title DEAR MISS KOPP). I've always loved epistolary novels, and I always wanted to write one myself. (lesson learned: it's harder than it seems)

More about the new book in the new year, but until then, some recommended reading...

I keep a list on Goodreads of books I consult for research, and right now you'll see a lot of collections of women's wartime letters and diaries at the top.

If you love epistolary novels like Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society or 84 Charing Cross Road (OK, not a novel, but a wonderful true story told in letters), then have you read Daddy Long Legs or its sequel, Dear Enemy? Published in 1912 and 1915, respectively, these are old-fashioned novels telling an old-fashioned story...and I loved them. Both are easy to find as cheap or free ebooks because they are in the public domain. Go read them!

Asked and Answered: Refueling

Ask me a question and win the book of your choice! This month's winner is Colleen from Arcata, CA

Colleen asks: Do you have any methods or exercises that you stop and do in the middle of working to either refuel your creative juices, or help your body/mind relax and get back into the groove?

Yes! This is such a good question, and such an important topic. I don't know who invented the 8-hour workday, but you cannot write a book like that.

I know two little brain science-y things that I apply to my work: One is that just as your brain goes through cycles at night while you sleep, it goes through cycles during the day. After some amount of sustained, intense, brainy work, your brain wants a rest.

The other is that doing complicated, intellectually taxing work actually drains your brain of glucose, and without that glucose, you don't make such great decisions.

What does that mean? Naps and snacks!

I'm not a napper, sadly, but things I do when I need a break include:

Painting (I just wrote about that on my blog)

Going for a walk, or just getting outdoors

A quick little Headspace meditation (which is kind of like a nap)

Reading some great book that inspires the book I'm working on

Some little household chore like taking out the trash

One of the many exercises that, over the years, various physical therapists have told me to do to address various aches and pains

Playing some music and dancing around the room (Hilarious old dance instruction videos like this one are perfect for this. Yes, I really do this)

Snack-related activities, which on a good day includes making tea and eating some fruit, and on a not-so-good day includes going to a bakery down the street for a latte and a cookie.

What I try very hard not to do is to check my email or scroll mindlessly through the Internet! It'll only upset and distract me.

Ask a Question &
Win a Book!

 Please go here to ask me a question and pick your prize. Even if you've entered before, please feel free to enter again and ask the same question or a different one. 

Here Are a Few 2020 Tour Dates

I'm done traveling for the year, but here's a sneak preview of 2020! If you're part of a literary series, a library event, or some other bookish gathering, please feel free to reach out to publicity@amystewart.com to see about setting up an event.

Details & links to come! These are just preliminary details so you can save the date.

Portland, OR: Jan 23 Ledding Library
Lakewood, WA: March 28 Pierce County Library
Newport Beach, CA: April 4 Literary Orange
Ellsworth, ME: May 2 Ellsworth Public Library
Portland, ME: May 3 Sherman's
Wyckoff, NJ: May 6 Oasis fundraiser
Redding, CA: May 29 Wicked Plants exhibit

Some of these are ticketed events. More tour dates are on my website. Please confirm details with the venue.

December Giveaway

We're giving away paperbacks of Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions on Goodreads. This'll be the last Goodreads giveaway for a while, so now's your chance! Even if you have a copy, please head over there to enter! Give it to a friend!

Would You Like a Signed Book?

Signed copies of most of my books are available at Eureka Books, the bookstore my husband and I own. 

What Are You Reading?

What a fantastic novel! The Witch Elm is nothing like Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad novels (although I love those, too). It's a family saga, really, that does have a crime buried in there somewhere, but it's a looong, slow boil. Imagine if Meg Wolitzer wrote a crime novel--it's that multilayered and complex and intergenerational and--this is going to sound weird--warm and wonderful. I mean, it's creepy, too. It's the perfect curl-up-in-front-of-the-fireplace novel.

What are you reading? Tell me about it on Goodreads or Litsy.