My Debut is a Year Away But I'm Here Now

Welcome to the chaos. And make no mistake, it IS chaos, just in a delightful, Elmo-in-front-of-fire way, but with more words.

Hi, friends!

It’s May 2025, which puts us one year out from my debut literary fantasy novel, THE KEEPERS, being published with Quills and Cosmos Press.

It’s been a long journey to get to this point, but there’s still a full calendar year to go before the physical (or e) book is in my grubby little hands—and, hopefully, yours.

[One of several moody mood boards I created while pitching/submitting THE KEEPERS, to offer a glimpse into the world and story.]

First Peek Behind the Curtain

I have stories to tell you as we go behind the scenes in bringing a matriarchal world of witchery and politics into readers’ worlds. Oh, do I have stories.

But first, hi.

I’m Sarah, the wordsmith behind this particular brand of chaotic hope.

As a soon-to-be debut author, I’ve already walked a long road of writing, revising, critiques, queries, rejections, and then that glorious One Right Yes. And before all that, I’ve been an author for well over a decade already—primarily in technical spaces. My bread and butter for the last eleven years has been in the 3D printing industry, which is its own sort of magic.

But the story of this story started with my being laid off; don’t so many Great American Novels?

We’ll talk about that later. Life is a journey, and so is writing. And, conveniently, so are newsletters.

As a human person, I wear a lot of figurative hats. I’m a writer, yes, and also a wife, momma, cat/dog momma, friend, sister, daughter, aunt, godmother, ally, journalist, editor, consultant, actor, prize jury member, former Board member… What do the kids say these days? Get you a woman who can do it all? (I absolutely cannot do it all, but that will never stop me from trying to do too much.)

We Celebrate Identities Here

I have a lot of identities, and celebrate them; it would be a weird thing to do to not celebrate everyone’s identities.

A vital part of my career and community journey has included extensive training and work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)—this has absolutely informed my personal growth and the themes I explore in my fictional worlds. Those themes have only become more necessary and more overt in my writing as time has gone on. I’m looking at you, dumpster fire that is the United States in 2025.

I guess this is a good time to note that I will be talking about politics in this Substack; if that’s not your cup of tea, off you pop and I wish you well.

This is an inclusive space where Black lives matter, where women’s rights are human rights, where LGBTQ+ (very much including every one of those letters and the +) identities are celebrated, where abortion is healthcare, where allyship is outspoken, and where DEI is the baseline. No AI. No fascism. Free Palestine.

Also, by “talking about politics” here, I mostly mean things like:

• I write matriarchal worlds

• Witchery in the world of THE KEEPERS is a thinly-veiled allegory for the LGBTQ+ community in ours

• I dive into and explore the depths of identity and one’s place in society and family structures

• My casts of characters will always be diverse in their identities and representation

If you want actual political news in this the real world, this isn’t the place.

Onward to the Words

Because of my careers and the way the world is, because of right and wrong life choices I’ve made over the last almost-four decades, because of nature and nurture, because of absurd cat memes… I am who I am. And because of who I am, we’re getting some new stories coming into the world.

Because now I’m inventing seriously cool worlds.

And I can’t wait for you to read them.

And So, Hello and Welcome

Welcome to my Substack, friend.

We’re going to have some adventures with words here.

Stay tuned for soon-to-come updates on The Query Letter That Didn’t Get Me an Agent (But Did Get Me a Book Deal); Lessons from Theatre and Rejection; and discussions on transferrable skills from technical to fiction writing, why at least one female-presenting character in everything I write will be tall, and how pantsing can get one through writing a book and through life. We’re all making it up as we go, really.

Hold on tight, spider monkeys, and get in, losers, we’re going to the mall. What, like it’s hard?

-Sarah

PS — Substack would love for me to encourage you to sign up for the paid version. For now, I’m offering all 2025 subscribers a 180-day trial for the paid version. Because! As we go, and as my works are published, I’ll be offering a lot more in the full subscription here.

Stay tuned for bonus content, deleted scenes, expanded scenes, alternative endings, and generally more content from soon-to-be beloved characters and worlds. (Once they’re out in our world.)