Pre-Order a Signed and Personalized Copy of WAKE THE WILD CREATURES!

Want a Signed Copy?

As I write these words the moon is a blood-red lunar eclipse. How do you do anything in a state of perpetual, intensifying panic? I don't know. I guess we just keep doing. So here I am on a ferocious full moon to tell you that there's now a way to pre-order signed & personalized copies of Wake the Wild Creatures from my local independent bookstore, Head House Books here in Philadelphia. This book is a story of survival. It's for YA readers of all ages. Courtney Summers called it “an urgent, important, and timely outing that must not be missed and Nova Ren Suma’s particular brand of magic has earned a place alongside—and is perfect for fans of—the works of Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, and Kelly Link.” Oof. That quote makes me feel electric. I'd love it if you considered pre-ordering Wake the Wild Creatures in any way that makes sense to you—from your own local bookstore to online.

(Pre-orders make such a difference for authors... I love this 2022 post from author Emily Lloyd-Jones on why pre-orders matter.)

So if you'd like to pre-order, thank you thank you! And if you're itching for that signed and personalized copy, my local bookstore will ship to you (U.S. only). I've made Wake the Wild Creatures bookmarks, and I'll slip one inside every book I sign. The book comes out May 6, and it sounds like I'll be going in to sign pre-orders on Sunday, May 4 before I start traveling to book events, so place your order before then!

If you're not able to make any of my in-person events in May, ordering through Head House is a way to get a signed copy and also support a wonderful gem of a bookstore in Philadelphia. I've made many a new book discovery on their beautifully curated shelves, and they kept me afloat through the pandemic. Sometimes when I'm sad I go there just to breathe in the shelves of enticing books and get myself a present. If you're ever in this city, I highly recommend a visit. They have a fantastic selection of children's picture books, too.

But maybe instead you'd like to get a book signed in person and meet me too?

Here is where I tell you something truly wild.

I am going on a little BOOK TOUR. I'm excited and fizzy with nerves and hoping people will come.

For a sneak peek at the cities where I'll be, check out the Book News section below.

Collecting Memories of Book Events

Just last week I had my very first in-person book travel event for Wake the Wild Creatures. I was invited to be a featured author at the 2025 SIBA March Madness Booksellers Series, hosted by the Southern Independent Bookstore Alliance. Our author luncheon was at a stunning bookstore called Plenty Downtown Bookshop in Cookeville, Tennessee, about an hour outside Nashville. They recently opened in a new space, which is gorgeous, and I met such a wonderful group of indie booksellers from their store and others, and also connected with some fellow authors as we presented on our books and hoped to get these independent booksellers interested in sharing our books with their customers.

This was also my first time being an author out in the wild in YEARS.

Traveling to this event during a high time of flight anxiety had me in a state of coiled panic in the days leading up to leaving, but everything went smoothly.

I decided that, this time, for this book, I want to be sure I remember every possible experience out in the world connected to its publication. Seven years ago when my last book came out, I had a whirlwind of travel and book festivals, and when I look back on it I remember bits and pieces... but it's mostly a blur of faces, names, wondering what I said in front of people, airports, hotel rooms, and immense and surreal bouts of gratitude. I wish I remembered more of it. I've been having memory issues the past few years, which is a whole side conversation I won't go into here, but the flightiness and soft, frantic focus of my head has made me want to make note of what I experience this time and remember. I want to hold on to good moments in my author life, to allow myself to savor and not forget, and I also want to remember the mistakes so I can learn from them for next time.

So with this event I began what I hope will become a habit and started a book travel journal. I'll carry this notebook to every event. This time, I wrote in it on the plane ride home, to keep as much as I could intact before I lost details.

Here are five things I scribbled down in my Wake the Wild Creatures Travel Journal, to keep a hold of for always:

1. A woman driver in a sleek black suit met me at the Nashville Airport with a sign with my name on it and drove me an hour to the hotel in a giant black SUV, probably the fanciest book travel experience I've had. I was in my grungy travel clothes and felt deeply out of place, but as the car glided down the sparsely trafficked highway, the sun set and night set in. As I gazed out the window at the quiet landscape I thought about the presentation I would give the next day. I rehearsed it in my mind and a glorious sense of calm spread through me. The fields out the windows went from golden to blue to a deep dusky purple. You'll do all right, I told myself. You'll do fine.
2. Lesson learned: It's best to avoid the hotel restaurant on BINGO night. Also, the best choice for vegan food in the Deep South may often be an Asian restaurant. Thank you, Fil-Thai in Cookeville, for feeding me.
3. No hot water in the shower in my hotel room the morning of the event would usually send me into a tailspin, especially because I couldn't wash my hair as planned. But I tamed the frizz as best I could and had a good day anyway. This is a note to self to remember to wash my hair the night before an event ALWAYS, just in case.
4. There were three ladybugs in my hotel room. One hovered on the ceiling all night and watched me sleep. I noticed the third right as I was leaving. I felt sure this gave me good luck.
5. When I gave my presentation, I stood on a small stage and spoke about Wake the Wild Creatures before a gathering of indie booksellers. I had a final note at the end of my presentation about how my book is about community, and about rebuilding when things are broken but are worth saving, and when I spoke these words a bookseller in the front row started to get emotional. We met eyes and I watched her tear up, and I knew she understood and that we had connected. Afterward she leaned back to me and whispered, "You did a good job."

Speaking of book travel, here is a peek at where I'll be...

TLA in Dallas

I'm attending my first book conference this year—TLA in Dallas next month. If you're there I'd love to see you! I'll bring bookmarks to my signing!

Here's my schedule:

Texas Library Association 2025 conference — Dallas, TX

• Wed., April 2, 10:00am: Texas Tea Author Event Meet & Greet (ticketed event)
• Thurs., April 3, 8:00am: TAYSHAS Reading List Author Panel
• Thurs., April 3, 10:30am: Wake the Wild Creatures ARC Signing

Bookstore Events in May

My publisher is arranging a little book tour for me during the week the book comes out. It's six stops in six days... back-to-back. This is my seventh book out in the world, and my sixth novel, and I've been in this industry for what feels a long time. But I've never done this before. Especially to those who know me, can you imagine how I'm feeling right now?

I can't share details yet, but in case you'd like to avoid pre-ordering when you can see me in person instead, here are the places I'll be having bookstore events during release week starting May 4...

There will be some amazing authors joining me for conversations at each of these events. I can't wait to share their names with you. I'm so grateful they'll be at my side in some fantastic bookstores.

Here is where I'm headed:

⭐️ Philadelphia

⭐️ Washington DC area

⭐️ Boston/Cambridge area

⭐️ New York City

⭐️ Austin

⭐️ Houston

So if you think you can attend one of those book events, please save buying the book from the bookstore there!

I hope if you're in one of those places that I can entice you to attend. Or if you can't be there in person, you can order a book from that store and I'll personalize it to you when I'm there. I'll send a new issue of this newsletter with tour details soon... I am not exaggerating to say that it will make my life if people come to these events.

p.s. to the Hudson Valley: I'm a little heartbroken to not have a local Hudson Valley event at one of my most beloved bookstores as I have for every other book. It's strange to not be visiting home for a book release. Please know we tried.

Coming Next

I've been working on a post about the setting of Wake the Wild Creatures and about my fascination with hidden places... I hope to share that here soon. I'll also be sharing book news as it comes, as we're now less than two months away from the release. And if you want to get an inside look into my current writing obsessions and goals and struggles, and other things I'd rather not share so publicly, you can join me here.