You've found me! I'm Lauren, and I write speculative novels for teens and adults, along with the occasional freelance pop culture article (my bylines include TheWrap, Parade, and Vulture, among other major entertainment industry publications). Here you will find book and event updates, exclusive sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes trivia (and even the occasional giveaway!), writing advice, pop culture recommendations, and general musings about whatever is currently occupying my brain. Welcome!
The 2024 wrap-up post
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Happy holidays to all, no matter what you're observing (including "surviving 2024," which is a valid thing to celebrate)! So it's nearly the end of the year, which really sneaked up on me despite me being present and conscious on all the days leading here. If anything, I'd say I was overly conscious! There were plenty of days I would love to have skipped entirely, yet I remained persistently awake and aware. Rude, honestly. I'm sending this newsletter out on both my current platform and on Substack, because although I migrated my mailing list over to Kit many months ago, I've since picked up a number of new subscribers on Substack and would like those folks to have the option to subscribe to a platform I'm actually using rather than one that's mostly just gathering dust. So if you receive it twice, apologies. And if you're receiving this only on Substack, I'd love if you'd go sign up for my active newsletter. I send out newsletters fairly sporadically, but this is still the best way to stay on top of upcoming events and announcements! Today, though, we're looking back at 2024. It's been... quite a year. Let's get into it. Books published: 1Of course, one of the biggest highlights of 2024 for me was the publication of my second book, You Shouldn't Be Here, which was picked as an Amazon First Reads selection for the month of July before officially hitting shelves at the beginning of August. Parnassus Books hosted the launch party, and I had so much fun celebrating with friends, family, and other excited readers. In the few months that have passed since release, things seem to be going well. Maybe a little quieter than with I'll Stop the World, which was to be expected since this one didn't have the novelty of a debut or the pizzazz of a celebrity endorsement, but I've still gotten some lovely reader messages, the book has sold well at events, and my publisher appears to be happy. In the publishing world, that's pretty darn good. Thank you so much to everyone who has already helped support this book by buying, requesting, reading, reviewing, and talking about it online or in person. Every single one of those actions helps, and I appreciate all of you so much. Book festivals and conferences attended: 8
Of the nine conventions/festivals/conferences I attended this year, the only ones I wouldn't do again (unless it was free for me to attend) are ApollyCon and Bouchercon. Both were held in extremely expensive venues, and while plenty of authors wind up in the red when traveling for book events (some are fortunate enough to have their publisher cover their travel, but most of us pay our own way most of the time), the combination of high cost plus low sales for both events made for fun one-time experiences that I shan't be repeating. Why low sales? Basically, my books just weren't a great fit for either event. ApollyCon readers lean heavily toward fantasy romance, and Bouchercon attendees seem to prefer more straightforward mysteries and thrillers, and while my standalone speculative mysteries were kinda adjacent to both, they still required attendees to venture a little outside their comfort zones. And most just weren't there for that. Which is totally fine! I knew going in that these were going to be uphill battles in terms of sales, but they seemed like fun learning experiences, and they were. And both led to making new friends I wouldn't otherwise have met, so I'm very glad I went! Otherwise, I very much enjoyed all of the book festivals I attended, and was especially grateful to get to meet new author friends and discover new books. Some specific highlights of the year included getting to be in conversation with one of my favorite sci-fi authors, Blake Crouch, at the inaugural Back to Back Books, taking a birthday river cruise at Bouchercon, getting named the 2025 author ambassador for the Nashville Public Library's Next Chapter Society, and getting to briefly cross paths with TN State Representative Justin Jones, one of the Tennessee Three, at the Southern Festival of Books. Next year will be a pretty sparse event year for me, since I don't have a book coming out, but I'll still have a smattering of appearances. First up will be in Bowling Green, KY this coming Sunday, where I'll be in conversation with Meredith R. Lyons at the Bob Kirby branch of the Warren County Public Library as part of their Author Series. Free tickets are available here. Other events will be announced soon! Teen Writing Workshops: 2
Because I'll Stop the World straddles the line between YA and Adult fiction, I got the opportunity to participate in two different teen writing conferences, both of which were absolutely amazing. At both events, I was able to talk to groups of talented teenagers about writing from different points of view, and it was wonderful getting to talk with them about their stories and try to answer their questions. I really love any opportunity to work with young writers, and hope I get more in the future. Bookstore signings: 6
For the launch of my second book You Shouldn't Be Here, I took myself on a small tour of some lovely independent bookstores in my region. It was so fun to visit these amazing bookstores, each with their own vibrant personalities and passionate booksellers. I'd particularly like to mention Firestorm Co-Op in Asheville, which was fortunately left mostly unharmed by the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, but other parts of Asheville were not so lucky. Firestorm functioned as a distribution hub in the immediate aftermath of the storm, and is still helping support their local rebuilding efforts. If you would like to contribute to the ongoing response to Hurricane Helene, BeLoved Asheville is a fantastic local organization doing great work in the community. While on tour, I asked some author friends to be in conversation with me, some whom I'd never met previously in person, and it was so lovely to get to exchange hugs and talk about books together. Thank you to Court Stevens, David Arnold, Becky Albertalli, and Beth Revis for being such wonderful conversation partners, and to my bestie Sarah Brown for stepping in at the last minute when Gwenda Bond unfortunately had to bow out due to illness. I also did a fun bookstore event early in the year with fellow Nashville authors R.J. Jacobs and Meredith R. Lyons, with whom I always enjoy spending time and chatting about books! And I participated in a Paths to Publishing panel at Parnassus Books organized by The Porch, an amazing writer-centered nonprofit here in Nashville, where I discussed the business end of various forms of publishing with other local pros. Book launches attended: 4One of the greatest things about living in a bookish city and having other writers as friends is that there is always something to celebrate. This year, two of my dearest friends released books. For Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, it was her parrot-centric middle grade mystery, Fowl Play, which we celebrated with a launch party at the Nashville Zoo! And then for my agent-mate Erica Ivy Rodgers, it was her debut YA fantasy, Lady of Steel and Straw, the first in a duology that reimagines the story of The Three Musketeers with a delightful magical twist. We launched that book from Yazoo Brewery in Nashville, complete with a special brew inspired by I love both of these ladies and their writing so much, and I could not be more thrilled for them. I need to give a special high-five to Erica, who signed with our agent in 2015, about a year after I did, and has been diligently pursuing her publication dreams for even longer than that. I'm so excited that she can finally claim the title "published author," and that the world will finally get a chance to appreciate her brilliant work. I also was fortunate enough to attend the launch of fellow Tennessee author Matthew Hubbard's debut YA coming-of-age tale The Last Boyfriends Rules For Revenge, and one of Gwenda Bond's tour stops for the release of her magical heist The Frame-Up. In past years I've been able to attend a few more events than this (scheduling this year was hard!), but I'm so glad that I was able to be there to cheer for at least these four fantastic books as they made their entrance into the world. There are honestly few things more encouraging to me as a writer than to witness and be part of writers showing up to support one another's successes. Networking has a place in most professions, including publishing, but I'm a firm believer in prioritizing genuine connection when possible, and doing things not because of how I might benefit, but just because this career path is hard and a little encouragement can go a long way. I know it always has for me. Books sold: 0Okay so look, this section is not flashy because some years are not sell-a-book years. MOST years are actually not sell-a-book years, as a matter of fact. And honestly, writing You Shouldn't Be Here was so difficult that I promised myself that I'd take my time after I finished that one before committing to more tight deadlines and devoted hustle. So I didn't finish any books this year, but I did make good progress on three different ideas, all of which I'm super excited about. All three are different genres: one is another contemporary speculative mystery, one is post-apocalyptic horror, and one is a YA contemporary historical reimagining (Is that a genre? It's gonna be.) I have had so much fun bouncing between each of them, and hope to find homes for them all eventually, but that was not in the cards for 2024, meaning I will not have a book releasing in 2025. And that's just fine with me. Hopefully next year will be one of finishing at least one of these, and maybe even making a sale or two. That would be dandy. Books read: 40After having a couple years of drastically overestimating how many books I could read, I cut my goal for 2024 down to a reasonable 40, and am pleased to report that I actually hit it with a couple days to spare. It's impossible for me to pick a single favorite, since I only read books I think I will enjoy (and am correct the vast majority of the time), and I also read across a wide variety of genres, which can make comparison difficult. But I will give a shout-out to my top ten, in alphabetical order by title because ranking is not a thing I want to do.
And then here are the other 28 books I read (since I stuck all three books of The Three-Body Problem in my top 10), all of which I enjoyed at least in part, in the order I read them.
Award nominations: 2This is a very exciting category, since it marks a first for me: I'll Stop the World was a finalist for two awards this year. The first was the inaugural Tennessee Book Award, where I was one of two finalists. And then I was also named as a finalist in two categories for the RSJ Emma Awards for diversity in publishing, for "Best Paranormal/Sci-fi Romance" for I'll Stop the World and then also for "Debut Author of the Year." The Emmas haven't announced their winners yet (that actually happens later today!) but truly, even though it's a cliche, it was an honor just to be nominated. Dogs fostered: 3Once again, we spent 2024 volunteering as a foster family for a local rescue here in middle Tennessee, but didn't host that many pups this year since our first foster was with us for over six months. But Bonnie did eventually find her forever family, and after she left, we were able to temporarily house little Mouse while her regular foster was away, and then closed out the year with five-year-old gentle giant Nino, who was adopted right before Christmas. We're so thrilled to be able to foster these sweet pups, and get excited every time one of our fosters gets matched with their perfect forever home. And just a reminder if you've ever adopted a pet from a rescue that utilizes fosters, the foster families never get tired of receiving pictures and updates on our precious former foster pets! Even if it's been years, I encourage you to get in touch with your furbaby's foster family and just send over a few recent pictures or videos. It truly means the world to us every time we see one of them doing well. Well that's it for 2024! It's been a year of many ups and downs for sure, but overall a good one. I'll surely be back in 2025 with more, but until then, consider this your reminder to be always be kind, compassionate, and generous, and always remember to hydrate. |
Lauren Thoman
You've found me! I'm Lauren, and I write speculative novels for teens and adults, along with the occasional freelance pop culture article (my bylines include TheWrap, Parade, and Vulture, among other major entertainment industry publications). Here you will find book and event updates, exclusive sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes trivia (and even the occasional giveaway!), writing advice, pop culture recommendations, and general musings about whatever is currently occupying my brain. Welcome!
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