Magical Thinking 1:
On why we need some magic in our lives, what I'm working on lately, cozy books, and more!
Hello, friends!
If we were friends who saw each other person, probably over coffee or sandwiches, after we went our separate ways again, I’d most definitely send you a string of follow-up texts or emails about the things we talked about.
Yep. I’m that friend.
The one excitedly texting: Here’s that recipe! Here’s that TikTok I tried to explain over coffee and bumbled the punchline on! Here’s that book I couldn’t remember the title too! Have a resource about the very obscure thing we talked about for like 2 minutes but I can’t stop thinking about!
Since so many of my friends are online friends, however, I thought I might finally (finally, finally) start a newsletter. Just to tell you about cool things happening in my part of the book world or books I’d love to talk to you about or what we’re watching in my house or some publishing advice that might help you along in your writing life too.
Why Magical Thinking?
The title for this newsletter came to me a while ago, but I sat on it, because magical thinking is often seen to be a bad thing. It has a whole clinical history behind it, which has a time and place, perhaps. But that’s not what I’m interested in. For me, magical thinking is tied up in the work I do as a storyteller and the ways I conjure whole worlds, people, magical systems, and stories out of the ether. It’s also got something to do with how stories I create can influence lives, people, and outcomes in ways I never would’ve expected. Magical thinking also means to me that there might be more to the world than we can know, see, or validate.
And that seems like a fairly lovely thing, doesn’t it?
In Joan Didion’s book, The Year of Magical Thinking, which is beautiful and heartbreaking, she talks about grief and how it changes you and the magical thinking you need in a broken time to stay afloat. As many of you know, this last year has brought great personal loss to me and my family, and grief is a heavy shadow in our house.
But, even with those shadows, I say, let us have magic. Let us build worlds that run on whimsy. Let us tell stories where children run through fields of music. Let us make magical shops where there are perfume markets that hold the scent of everyone who has ever lived or where there are music boxes with the songs from every age, as there are in The Vermilion Emporium,
Let us dream, believe, and hope, as writers and humans. Let us make space for a little magical thinking.
Writing updates
There’s a lot going on in my writing world! My next book, The Absinthe Underground, comes out in Winter 2024, and that means I’m currently hard at work on revisions and talking with my editor and publishing team about covers and such. I love this wild, lush, romantic, sweeping sapphic book so much, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it. Here’s the official The Absinthe Underground announcement and some green fairy art by Linda Ravenscroft:
I also have an un-announced co-written YA contemporary coming out in 2024, which I’m hoping to tell you all about soon. It’s sapphic as well and was inspired by one of my very favorite over-the-top movie franchises. I’ll tell you more about it the minute I can.
And, lastly, I’m wrapping up in-person events for The Vermilion Emporium this month! Thank you all for the support for my magical book!
(Picture of me signing lots of copies of The Vermilion Emporium event at Room of One’s Own bookstore in Madison,WI)
So much has happened for The Vermilion Emporium— starred reviews, special editions, placement in two book boxes, foreign sales, in-person events, and much more. I’m so grateful for all the support and the ways this book has connected with readers all over the world. Here’s a peek at one of those special edition covers— isn’t it stunning?
Craft Tips & Publishing Thoughts
On Writing:
One conversation I seem to keep having with author friends is how hard writing feels right now. We’re all anxious for people to like our new books. We’re all distracted when it comes time to sit at our desks and just do the work. We’re all worried we won’t sell anything else ever again. And on and on and on…
As it turns out, writing doesn’t gets easier, no matter how many books you publish. Sigh.
But, what we keep coming back to is that we really do love writing and telling stories. It’s just hard work.
With all that in mind, my biggest writing tip this month, is to work in small chunks and be consistent. You can do great things over time, by doing small things every day. For me, despite the fact that I get totally overwhelmed when I sit down to write one of the six books I have planned for this year, this means I write in 15-30 minute chunks, three times a day. And slowly— very slowly, indeed—the first book of 2023 is getting done. One sentence, one writing session, one day at a time.
On Publishing:
Let me know what publishing questions you have! I answer a lot of these every week on my TikTok too, but I’d love to answer specific publishing or querying questions here.
A poem or quote I love
Over breakfast every morning, I read poems. I’m currently making my way through Mary Oliver’s Devotions, which invariably makes me cry into my coffee. Her language is so spare, so wise, so connected with nature, and so achingly beautiful all at once. I just read this snippet of one of her poems on the Instagram for Poetry is Not a Luxury and I can’t get it out of my head.
The witchery of living
is my whole conversation
with you, my darlings.
All I can tell you is what I know.
Look, and look again.
This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes.
It's more than bones.
It's more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse.
It's more than the beating of the single heart.
It's praising.
It's giving until the giving feels like receiving. You have a life-just imagine that!
You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe
still another.
from the poem
”To Begin With, The Sweet Grass”
From Evidence
What I’m reading
(Really, if we were having coffee, this would be a long, winding, wonderful discussion about books! Such a treat!)
In addition to reading poems every morning, I’m devouring cozy books right now!
What is a cozy book? I think it’s one that feel like “a soft place to land,” as I wrote about in a recent essay for School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox. The world is a lot these days, and books that feel joyful or magical are proving exactly what I need in this long, gray winter here in Wisconsin.
Some of my cozy book favorites this month are:
The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
The Wisteria Society for Lady Scoundrals by India Holton
And I’ve got these two on my list for later this month:
A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross (I LOVED the first book in this series)
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
What I’m watching
Lately, I really liked “Kaleidoscope” on Netflix, “Slow Horses” on Apple, and “Willow” on Disney+. (Which, if you’ve read The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly, you know I love LOTR, but you may not know, I’m a Willow superfan, which is why there’s a character named Sorsha in The Vermilion Emporium! I rambled at bit on TikTok about Willow and my books here!)
Check out this TikTok account
And lastly, sending TikToks is a language of love in my house, so let me recommend one of my favorite accounts. Check out Meg’s Tea Room on TikTok for a lovely, welcoming space to talk about all things cozy books and more!
Stay warm and talk to you soon!
xx,
Jamie
Email me questions about all things books, writing, publishing here: jamiepacton@outlook.com
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter @jamiepacton