it's georgie week 💛

and i want you to go out there and be a mess

Dear readers,

As I write this, I can hardly believe that we are just a couple days away from the release of Georgie, All Along. When you write a book, there are so many stages to the thing—the first bloom of the idea, the development of it, the drafting of it, the polishing of it, and the many preparations it takes to send it out into the world—that there’s almost a sense of disbelief when you come to actual release day. So many times over the last few days, I’ve thought, Heck! It’s actually here! People are going to meet my friend Georgie!

I feel a little sheepish sending a newsletter today, since the other thing about releasing a book is that you do start to get the sense that you’re everywhere, and that everyone might be sick of you, but I hope you’ll indulge me for a few reminders and a special message I wanted to send to all of you.

First, the reminders: if you haven’t pre-ordered Georgie yet and would like a signed copy, there’s still time for that: check out the campaigns at Fountain Bookstore and East City Books. Obviously, Georgie is available at other brick-and-mortar stores and at all major book retailers, and I hope at your local library, so fingers crossed there will be lots of ways for you to read (including on audio, which is coming very soon!).

And if you’re curious about where to see me talk about Georgie in the coming days, check out the events page on my website, which should give you a good roundup. I’m also thrilled that I got to record a couple of great interviews over the last few days that you’ll get to hear during release week. On Wednesday, January 25th, you can hear me on Fated Mates (our chosen trope for this one was so fun!) and on the Happy to Meet Cute podcast (here, we talked a lot about balancing writing with a day job, if that’s of interest to you!). I have been so lucky to have so many great opportunities to talk about this book I love so much.

So, that brings me to my message for you, which is about what Georgie gave to me, and what I hope she’ll give to all of you.

For my whole life, a great and persistent fear of mine has been—to put it simply—mess. Mess in the spaces I live in, mess in my relationships, mess in my work. Mess even in my hobbies, and the things I do for fun. I like plans, I like tidiness, I like to get a gold star. I like to write it exactly right the first time.

I like it so everyone, always, thinks I have it together.

When I sat down to write Georgie—because a little part of me is always pushing myself to write what I fear—I knew I wanted to write mess, literal and metaphorical. I saw in my head a woman with wrinkled clothes and no idea what she’s doing next; I saw a woman who misplaces her wallet and who does things on a whim. I saw a woman who makes mistakes in public, a woman who notices the sideways looks she gets sometimes.

I didn’t want to fix her. I wanted to fall in love with her, because I wanted to fall in love with all the big and small messes I carry around with me, no matter how much I fear them. I wanted to surround Georgie not just with her own mess but with all the mess she’s able to see in others, and I wanted her to know that life isn’t really about constantly cleaning those messes up.

It’s about leaving some of them alone. Learning to live with them. Learning to love them so much that they don’t even seem like messes anymore at all.

Writing Georgie, All Along felt like signing a permission slip to myself. Today, Kate is allowed to leave the dishes. Today, Kate can shrug off that she forgot to send that thank you note. Today, it’s fine that Kate still cannot get a rudimentary grasp on how retirement accounts really work.

So, as we head into release week, think of me signing a permission slip for you. Be a mess if you need to be. Wear the wrinkled clothes, don’t get mad at yourself if you misplace something, smile back at any sideways look you get. You’re a mess but the good news is that everyone else is, too, and we find a way to love each other anyway.

I hope you love Georgie and Levi…and Hank and Bel and Harry and everyone else in the pages of this book. I thank every single one of you for every kind word and show of support you’ve given to me and my work, and hope I’ll get to see some of you soon.

xoxo, and happy reading,

kate 🖤