I've launched eight books. Here's what I wish I'd known at book one.
Plus My Novel Year applications are open, summer skincare, some Williamsburg recs
Hello, my dudes! The sun is out, the beer is cold, — come over?☀️
May has given me my first real reprieve since the year started. I’m in a calm-before-the-storm moment: June is absolutely stacked — book launch, My Novel Year cohort opening and closing, a close friend’s wedding at the Greenwich Hotel, end of school year — so I’m savoring this window while I have it. We hit the Domino Park splash pad for the first time this season and I had a lunch date with my wife in the backyard of Misi Pasta working through their insanely good grilled artichoke sandwich. Oh, and I had a real blast hanging in the green room at Joe’s Pub before at our last Gen Women show. Life is good right now.
Also: I cut my hair. Short and blonde for the summer! Feelin’ groovy, feelin’ free.
What’s going on for you? Tell me in the comments. 💬
My Novel Year applications are open!🚀
Is this the year you finally finish your novel?
You’ve been thinking about this book for a while now. Maybe you have a draft that’s been sitting in a drawer. Maybe you’re still trying to write the first chapter. Either way — you know the story is in there. You just need the right structure, support, and someone in your corner who’s done this before.
That’s My Novel Year.
A year-long novel-writing mentorship working directly with me — published author of eight novels, book coach, and editor. Think of it as an MFA without the price tag, but more practical, more personal, and entirely focused on getting your specific book finished and ready for the world.
Two tracks:
📝The Draft: For writers working on a first or new novel. You’ll finish a complete first draft, get a full developmental edit, then pitch a top literary agent and editor.
✏️The Revision: For writers with a completed manuscript ready to be transformed. You’ll get a full developmental edit, complete your revision, then pitch a top literary agent and editor.
Both tracks are small cohorts, high-touch, and include monthly 1:1 coaching with me, group sessions, craft lectures, and year-round Slack support.
One year. Your novel, finished.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT “THE DRAFT” AND APPLY 📝
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT “THE REVISION” AND APPLY✏️
And if you know a writer who deserves to be published, please share this with them!
ps. Not ready to apply yet? Start with my two free guides — one on writing addictive, page-turning fiction, and one on approaching revision without losing your mind.
🎭Play It Again drops June 16th — but I’m not feeling how I usually do…
I’ve never been in a more positive headspace about a book launch 😌
Early in my career, the weeks before publication were a hyper state of anxiety, expectation, and desperate hope. A book launch can change your life. For a lucky few, there’s a snowball effect — the industry term is “catching fire” — and everything shifts. You go on tour! You hit the list! Hello, hello, Netflix is calling! But for most writers, a launch is not a life-defining moment. There are events, a flurry of interest, and then things settle. Eight books in, I feel clear-eyed about what a launch is, what it’s likely to be, and what it’s probably not.
What it’s likely to be: a fun night celebrating a book I loved writing, with people I adore. The launch is folded into a Generation Women show at Joe’s Pub — a stage that now feels like home to me, which is wild, because it is one of NYC’s best venues.
And then life will move on — swiftly, and happily — into a Connecticut summer and My Novel Year’s summer cohorts.
The panic that used to tip into despair around launch time? Completely gone. So much of that shift is about lowering expectations, rethinking magical thinking, and having lived through enough launches to know what they actually are. Everyone will tell you there’s never been a harder time to sell books, and that’s probably true. But I keep coming back to the same truth I always do: the pleasure for me was never really about the selling. It’s about the creation. The privilege of building a world I want to live in — one where queer joy and queer romance are effusive, sophisticated, and real.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me across this long writing life. As I step more intentionally into the role of mentor, editor, and guide, I do so in the footsteps of the teachers, editors, and believers who made me feel capable of all of it.
In the meantime, if you want to spend some time in a very fun world I'm incredibly proud of, here she is:
BUY TICKETS TO PLAY IT AGAIN BOOK LAUNCH SHOW AT JOE’S PUB🥂
🤤Current Obsessions 👀
This month’s curated list of faves, finds, and future buys…
💧I refuse to gatekeeper my go-to moisturizer! Oak Essentials’ Moisture Rich Balm is VERY sticky but VERY hydrating. It’s best for nighttime as it does take a while to sink in but I really feel nothing hydrates my always-a-bit-dehydrated face better. I actually like the stickiness — sort of a Stockholm Syndrome between me and this balm I guess?!
✨While you’re at it, grab my go-to foundation! I take skincare pretty seriously but Kosas Revealer is truly the secret to flawless skin. It’s clean beauty, with a little SPF (I usually wear sunscreen underneath but on the days I forget, it’s a nice addition). It blends so well, leaves skin smooth and even, and features hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, peptides, squalane and more! I use shade 180, but just pop into a Credo or Sephora to get color-matched.
🧢Speaking of good skin, as I explained to my daughter last week, “we’re a hat family” — 86 that sun damage, baby! My go-to hat is the Winona (in Ivory) from Wyeth — comfortable, chic, with an adjustable headband to fit your noggin. The neutral off-white means it goes with pretty much every outfit — I have it hanging by the door and grab it on the way out. At $59, it’s a steal.
📚I absolutely flew through Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. It’s the one you’ve probably already heard about, where a trad-wife influencer wakes up in the 1800s and is forced to live the grim reality of the lifestyle she cheerily promotes online. It’s a fantastically paced and plotted satire that sinks its teeth into the paradoxes and performance inherent in womanhood, religion and what it means to be good. The ending is bananas! I loved it. (Psst: I heard there was blowback online about this book? I’d advise writers never go on the record dissing other writers…)
🍷🍔Because I had some extra breathing room this month, I hit up a few of my fave Williamsburg spots, all of which I VERY HIGHLY recommend! My pal Jill and I popped by Rude Mouth, a gorgeous wine bar with great snacks (get the baguette, the camembert, the olives, and the comte ribbons); I met my friend, the artist Frances Yeoland, to collect an artwork I bought from her over a Negroni and their daily breads with butter at Good Days (ramp butter for the win!); and I’m thinking of opening up my marriage for the Impossible Meat cheeseburger and the Impossible Chicken sammie at Moonburger. The love is real.
Some links are affiliate, meaning I get a wee kickback if you buy. I only recommend things I use and love!
⭐️That’s it from me!⭐️
Can’t wait to hear from you in the comments — keep writing, keep reading, and thanks for following along!
Georgia x
I can't wait for Play It Again!!!
Georgia!!! It’s so great to see another essay from you. Congrats on Play It Again’s upcoming release! 🩷 I’m gearing up for a Connecticut summer of writing and enjoying the sunshine ☀️