Events, a book release, + I learned from my own book
If my romance heroines can let things go, so can I.
I finally took my own advice today. It only took me 15 years.
I always say that a book’s hook is what draws people in, but the “ooh shiny” thing is what they say they love and remember about it afterward. In All Fired Up, the hook may be “firestarter (for science!) and firefighter fall in love,” but the shiny heart of the book, the thing I was chasing and motivated to write about, is the theme of letting go—specifically of old versions of yourself, or old visions of what you thought your life would be like that no longer fit.
I was a musician once. It’s kind of hard to put it like that, considering music used to be everything to me. I was a classically trained clarinetist who became an experimental composer. I even did two years in a PhD program for experimental computer music composition. I left after two years with a master’s degree instead because it was a horrible fit for me; in fact, it was the worst mental health black hole of my life. I haven’t written a note of music since, and I’ve barely touched my clarinet. And yet, I’ve held on to everything I’ve ever owned that’s music-related: old electronic music equipment and software. Textbooks and other required reading. Microphones, mic stands, studio monitors, so much stuff, and I couldn’t let it go, because if I did then it meant I wasn’t that person anymore. I was a person who was a musician once, but no longer. It felt like giving up on something I truly hoped would be part of my life again one day.
But hey, it’s true: I don’t write or play music anymore. I’ve found other things, and that’s not only okay, it’s great. Also, I really need the space in my house back. So, goodbye, musical things. Goodbye, outdated equipment that uses cables no computer has ports for anymore. That chapter of my life is closed, but I appreciate everything you meant to past-me. So long and thanks for all the fish.
One week to go!
This is How We Roll is a collection of short stories by queer authors all about our shared love, tabletop RPGs (Dungeons & Dragons and the like). My story, “Captain’s Log,” is a classic high school band nerd queer awakening via the RPG Starfinder, and you can read it when it hits shelves on September 16th.
To get a free shiny sticker and signed bookplate with your preorder, make sure you get it from Always Here. You can also grab it without the stickers from Bookshop via my affiliate link or from any other retailer of your choosing.
Thanks for supporting this amazing anthology full of authors I adore!
Let’s Meet!
I’ve got some in-person events coming up and they’re probably my last of 2025, so take a quick peek and see if I’ll be near you!
Bookmarks Festival
Panel: Come Away With Me: Love in Other Worlds with Rebecca Thorne and Kimbery Lemming
Saturday, September 27 at 12:30 PM
Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
Love is a grand adventure in these romances from Kimberly Lemming (That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon) and Rebecca Thorne (Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea). Lemming’s PhD student falls for her new compatriots (yes, plural) while exploring an alien planet in I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com. In Alchemy and a Cup of Tea, Thorne’s lesbian bookshop owners battle rogue alchemists and a sudden influx of tourists in their small town. Find your next light-hearted escape in this romance panel, moderated by M. K. England, author of All Fired Up.
M.K. England in conversation with Natalie Naudus
Friday, October 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Birch Tree Books & Plants in Leesburg, VA
Join us for an author talk with MK England, discussing their debut adult novel All Fired Up and their new YA Romance Roll for Love on October 3rd from 6:30PM to 8PM. They’ll be in conversation with Natalie Naudus, a fellow author and an acclaimed audiobook narrator featured in Roll for Love, for a lively discussion about the book!
James River Writers Conference
Saturday and Sunday, October 3–5
Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, VA
I’m on all of the following panels:
– Someone Else’s Sandbox: Writing Intellectual Property
– One Writer, Many Hats: Building a Career in Multiple Genres
– Putting the Com in RomCom: Techniques for Writing Humor
– Staying the Course: Nurturing Your Creative Spark
—And to plan ahead for 2026—
Reading & Conversation at Revelation Vineyards
Friday, February 6 at 6:00pm
Revelation Vineyards in Madison County, VA
Reading, signing, meet & greet
Love Y’all Bookfest
February 13–15, 2026
Atlanta, GA
Details to come, but tickets are now available to purchase!
‘Tis the season to let the gardens go wild and instead turn focus to keeping up with the harvest. I’ve been canning my face off, making fig jam and pickles (both cucumbers and hot peppers), freezing tomatoes, and more. It’s a ton of work now, but it’s worth it to have stores of food from our own gardens throughout the dark of winter. It’s almost pumpkin season, y’all!
That’s all for this summer. Hope to see you again soon with something gorgeous and cover-shaped for my upcoming cozy fantasy, Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous, in the fall!
Be kind, do good, and fight like hell. ♥
Just came across your Substack — really great content.. Are you trying to grow it into something bigger?