Eavesdrop with Me
Join me and some stellar writer friends at The Eavesdrop! Also some book and workshop news...
• The Eavesdrop, a new quarterly craft conversation with four fellow authors & friends
• A glowing review from Locus Magazine
• The Washington Post and Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2025
• Join me for a novel-writing retreat at Highlights in June
A new group newsletter:
You have to be in a certain kind of mood to send out a solo author newsletter. You need to be upbeat enough to want to communicate with other humans about something you made. You need to want to talk about yourself. You need to be willing to be perceived. Maybe this explains my bouts of silence lately.
But sometimes a friend (or four) nudges you out from your hiding place. Which brings me to some actual news and an invitation for you...
I've joined with four author friends to create a new quarterly newsletter about writing process and craft called The Eavesdrop. Each season, Anna-Marie McLemore, Emily X.R. Pan, Anica Mrose Rissi, Sara Ryan, and I are having a craft conversation and inviting you to eavesdrop... I'll tell you, it's a joy to do something book-related that's not on me and me alone. We post each solstice or equinox on a different topic... and we give away books to subscribers too.
Our next conversation is on something near and dear to my writerly heart: VOICE. We're sending out our new issue on Monday morning, so subscribe right now (for free) to get it in your inbox!
Book news:
The wonderful Locus Magazine had some thrilling things to say about Wake the Wild Creatures!
I have to share this amazing gem of a quote: "Everything, everything, everything that Nova Ren Suma promises for Wake the Wild Creatures is found in this riveting narrative that grabs readers in the first pages and never – not once – lets go. It’s seeing the monsters for who they truly are, and whispers softly overheard and truths long denied. It’s a host of human failures countered by supernatural forces that answer calls for sanctuary and another reminder of how talented this writer is, and what a gift she continues to be to teen readers. Don’t. Miss. This. Book."
Colleen Mondor
Wake the Wild Creatures was named a Washington Post Best Book of the Year and a Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year!
I was especially excited and surprised to see Wake the Wild Creatures on the WaPo's list of the "10 Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Novels" of 2025... As far as I could tell, it was the only YA novel on the list, and these titles were chosen by none other than Charlie Jane Anders! This is paywalled but you can read what she said here.
Workshop news:
This is an invitation to my fellow novelists: Look ahead to June 2026... Will you be writing the middle of your novel in June? Or, might it be motivating to have the goal of reaching the middle of your novel by June?
Emily X.R. Pan and I are hosting a generative retreat at the Highlights Foundation called Spotlight on the Middle of Your Novel, June 11–14, 2026.
This is for published and pre-published writers of all genres. All are welcome. The murky middle of a novel draft is a place where many writers—myself very much included—have found ourselves lost and confused, in first draft or in revision. Our focus for this retreat will be to illuminate the way through it and offer techniques you can bring home with you to ultimately help you reach the end. If this resonates with you, and if you’d love some retreat time in a beautiful and caring place, come join us for writing prompts and craft conversations and ample time to write!
There are some spots left so grab one before they disappear! Register here.
I'd love to share The Eavesdrop with you and hope you enjoy our conversation on Monday! I hope, too, that you find some creative moments as we near the end of the year. Thank you so much for supporting my work and for reading this newsletter. ✨
