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I’m so close to finishing my draft ⌨️

As I’m writing this, on a rainy Saturday early afternoon, I’m about to break 54,000 words on my WIP! This book has been a trip to draft, I’ll tell you that much. There have been surprises along the way — like the point, about 48,000 words in, when the main character’s actual emotional arc finally clicked and I realized…oh, this book is about my own issues with ambition and success. Lol. Great!

And before I dive into the rest of the newsletter: it’s my roommate’s birthday today! Jené, if you’re reading this, happy birthday! You’re one of my favorite people. Everyone, say “happy birthday Jené!”

From the heart 💗

On Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign

Somehow, instead of things getting better, they’ve gotten worse. As Israel continues to bomb Gaza, it’s also started a devastating bombing campaign in Lebanon. The pictures and videos coming out of Beirut, of whole residential blocks being leveled, are horrifying.

And the US has sent an additional $8 billion to Israel for their “defense.”

I’d say “what a joke,” but none of this is funny. This is real. This is horrifying, and real lives are being lost, all because a few power-hungry, racist assholes have been given more power than any one person should hold. Because that’s what this boils down to, isn’t it? It’s racism.

It’s not about safety and self-defense. It never was, really, but now, nearly a year after October 7th, there is no way to believe that this is anything other than an attempt to do ethnic cleansing. And it’s — god, it makes me sick. Sick that we are sending money off to let Israel continue this campaign of death and destruction. Sick that all this is happening in the face of, like, 12 crises on US soil, not least of which is Hurricane Helene, which has devastated so many areas of the South. Sick in the knowledge that we have what we need to fix so many of the crises at home but we’re prioritizing killing people.

But this is a country founded on blood and built with blood and racism runs through its very veins. And we’ve never been content to just be racist at home, which, to be clear, we should really stop doing.

I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here, and I probably am, because by now if you’re reading this newsletter and are surprised to find me condemning Israel and the US’s actions, well, you haven’t been paying attention.

So I know I’m not telling you anything new. But this section is “from the heart,” and this is what’s on my heart today: agony, and sorrow, and heartbreak. I am overcome with it. I will never be the same.

I hope, and pray, and believe, that this will not be how the story ends. That the racist empires will be toppled, and freedom — true freedom, not the American Dream crap freedom — will be reality for everyone, everywhere.

That’s all I have for today. Sorrow, and hope. Mourning, and determination.

From the camera roll 📸

From the New York Renaissance Faire!

From the page ✍️

On book banning

So I’m a day late when it comes to Banned Books Week, which ended yesterday, but that doesn’t really matter because this is something we should be talking about the scourge of book bans all year-round.

In the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America counted more than 10,000 instances of book bans and challenges. From January 1 through August 31 of this year, the ALA counted that 1,128 unique titles were challenged. Those are staggering numbers. They chill me; they should chill us all.

Books have been being banned probably as long as they’ve been written. That’s why we have things like Banned Books Week, and have for years: because this isn’t a new issue, a new attack.

But we’re definitely in an intense period of it. It’s hitting people who are involved with books in any form — from authors, whose school visits are being canceled and whose books are being removed from shelves; to librarians, who are facing down new laws and on the receiving end of hate; to teachers, and editors, and readers.

I’ve written before about how book bans affect teens and authors, so I’m not here to rehash those thoughts today.

Instead, I just want to resurface this topic, to put it back in front of you, to remind you that book bans and challenges are connected to things like anti-trans legislature, to racism on an individual and systematic level, and to issues like bullying. Because the fact is, it’s books by and about BIPOC and queer and disabled folks and other marginalized people that are challenged the most.

But I know — or at least I believe, and hope — that those of us who are champions of diversity and acceptance are more plentiful than those who hate. They are organized and they have been working toward this moment in time for years, but they are not — they cannot be — the majority of Americans.

It will take all of us speaking up and championing books to turn the tide. To fight back against not just book bans but against all legislation that seeks to harm marginalized people. To create a world we’d like to pass on to our children.

Let’s go.

From the shelf 📚

Raiders of the Lost Heart, by Jo Segura

This week, I finished this delightful archaeology adventure romance, Raiders of the Lost Heart1! I’ve been dying to read this book since I first heard about it, and it did not disappoint. The main characters, Corrie Mejía and Ford Matthews, are two archaeologists, rivals with a sexually tense history, lol.

The chemistry was doing its thing, and this book is so satisfying as we watch Corrie and Ford tear down each other’s walls and get to know each other. But there’s a thief afoot on their dig, and that puts everything at-risk…including their relationship and also their very lives!

If you’ve loved The Lost City, were an Indiana Jones girlie, or just want to read about a badass woman fighting back agaisnt the misogyny and racism she’s faced her entire career, this book is for you!

Alla prossima 👋

Well, that’s everything I had for you this week.

— Karis xoxo