it's about to be ✨book time✨

a sneaky peek of the other side of disappearing

Dear readers,

Well! After what felt like the very longest January in history (why! why was it so long?!), February is absolutely zooming by, which means I can hardly believe that next month is the release of The Other Side of Disappearing. I know I keep saying it, but ohhhh my goodness, I’m excited for this book to be out in the world—I’m so very proud of it, and feel so tender toward it. Now that we’re heading into heavy promo season, I’m thrilled I’ll get to talk about it more and more (fingers crossed the world [you] doesn’t get sick of me!).

I thought my newsletter subscribers might appreciate a roundup of some key pieces of news, along with a little sneak peek of this book I love so much. So, let’s get to it!

First, if you’d love to have a signed, personalized preorder of The Other Side of Disappearing, you’ve got TWO options: you can visit this link from East City Bookshop in Washington, DC, or this one from my local indie, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. They’ll both be shipping signed copies during release week.

Second, if you’d like to see me in the coming months, here are a couple of mark-your-calendar events:

• Saturday, March 23rd, 7 pm: Fated Mates Live at the William Vale Hotel in Brooklyn (copies of The Other Side of Disappearing will be sold at this event, courtesy of The Ripped Bodice!). The guests for this event have just been announced, and I am SO EXCITED, my god.

• Thursday, March 28th, 7 pm: East City Bookshop Release Week Event (in-store and online!). DC/VA/MD friends especially, I can’t wait to hug you in store!

• Saturday, April 20th: Panelist, Keynote Speaker, and Signing at Chicago Spring Fling Writers’ Conference. THE OTHER KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR THIS IS MS. BEVERLY JENKINS; I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF

Unfortunately, I can’t travel too much or too far during this particular time of year, but I will absolutely cherish these opportunities to see readers and to chat all things romance at these events. I hope so much I’ll see some of you in the next couple of months!

I’ve been so honored by the early responses to The Other Side of Disappearing: a starred review from Kirkus, a Library Reads pick for March, and so many precious blurbs from authors I admire so much, including this new one from an author I absolutely adore, Kate Canterbary (fun fact, Kate and I often get mistagged as each other on Instagram and golly I am never even a little bothered by anyone getting us confused):

“Kate Clayborn's writing is an immersive journey through honest, gasping emotion. The Other Side of Disappearing is a masterpiece of heart, hope, and the quest for home." —Kate Canterbary, bestselling author of In a Jam

If you haven’t read Kate’s work, can I recommend you start with the absolutely de-f*cking-lightful In a Jam? She also sends out a delicious newsletter regularly, which always has bonus content featuring fave couples from her books!

Shall we get to a little preview now?

I always find it a little challenging to select passages from my books without context, but at the same time, I absolutely love that we’re at a point where I can: where the book is almost out, where the passages I share will soon get linked to the wholeness of the story. I thought that today it made most sense to share with you a moment from very early in The Other Side of Disappearing, when our heroine, Jess, first sees our hero, Adam:

I know deep down that whatever is waiting for me on the other side of that door will somehow have something to do with that laptop, that backpack, that open suitcase on the bed.

I just don’t expect it to be a giant.

I gape at the man who seems to take up the entirety of my front porch, my stewy brain slow to process the sheer size of him, broad and muscular. Maybe that’s why I take in his face, first: sandy-blond stubbled and unsmiling, his jaw sharp-edged and his brow lowered in confusion. His green eyes narrow as they take me in.

He has to be at least six-five. He looks like he throws truck tires for recreation. Like maybe he throws the trucks themselves. I have never seen a man this built in real life.

Here’s what I love about this moment: it captures so much of what is key about this book and these two characters. Jess’s constant sense of that other side, a key and evolving theme of the book, and Adam’s absolute, overwhelming hugeness, a fact about him that turns out to be—despite what everyone sees about him first—far more than physical. (I can’t quite believe I happened to write a ding dang ex-football player hero at this particular pop culture moment, lol. Well! I hope everyone loves him very much!)

A couple last notes: in case you missed it, remember that both Beginner’s Luck and Luck of the Draw, the first two books in my very first romance series, are now widely available in trade paperback. If you see them out in the wild, snap a photo and tag me on insta—I’d love to see them!

And speaking of insta—it’s where I’ll be sharing lots more quotes and behind-the-scenes info about The Other Side of Disappearing in the coming weeks, so be sure you’re following me there!

As always: love y’all so much, and thanks for being a part of all this with me.

xoxo

kate 🖤