2015 definitely will go down in (my) history as one of the most awesome years ever! For sure the biggest part of the year was the release of my novel LOST BOI in April. Everything about the release has really been a dream come true as an author.
Arsenal Pulp Press was an incredible to work with through the entire publication process, and it was so thrilling to not only be able to hold what became a physically beautiful book in my hands, but share it with all of you! This year I released Lost Boi here in NYC, and then the amazing opportunity tour with Lost Boi to: San Francisco , Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Toronto!!! My year was definitely made by the incredible connections I had with bookshops, booksellers, and especially you, readers!
There have been fantastic reviews of the novel including in Canada’s biggest paper the Globe and Mail where Lost Boi has also been included in their roundup of favorite books of the year. It’s thrilling and overwhelming to see the community response to Lost Boi. When I started working on this book, I wanted to write a fairy tale for leather queer outlaws not knowing how much interest there would be in a book like this. To have the community be so responsive to it has absolutely been a dream come true.
After finishing my US/Canada tour with Lost Boi in the early summer, I gave myself permission to just relax and take a break! Let me tell you, this is much harder than it sounds! There is so much pressure in queer literary community to continually be producing new book-length work, but I know my future books and all my writing benefit from me allowing myself that time for self care. My partner and I and our dogs got to spent a week out in Provincetown. While playing with them on the beach I started to spend time thinking about future writing projects and then got the chance to talk with the folks at USA Today about how how my dogs influence my creative process.
In other updates from 2015 and looking ahead into 2016, I’m still writing two regular columns for Curve Magazine – one is a lesbian news roundup that appears in every print issue, and the other is a monthly pet column! I’ve also returned to writing for Dogster.com where you can catch my take on canine trends and news, along with training and behavior commentary! You’ll be able to continue finding my writing in these places next year.
Christmas (my most favorite season) is drawing to a close and the new year is just days away. My little family had a wonderful holiday here at our home in Brooklyn, and I hope all of you did too! It’s hard to believe the year is almost over, but I’m looking forward to ringing in 2016 the same way that I have for the past 6 years, by jumping into the ocean at Coney Island as part of the annual polar swim! In 2016 I hope to slowly get to work on some larger writing and creative projects. I’m also looking forward to going back down to New Orleans to take part in the Saints & Sinners Queer Literary Festival in April!
Thank you all of your incredible support of me and my books over the past year! I can’t wait to share more stories and more adventures with you in 2016!!!
xoxo
Sassafras