I Dominated Pretend Family Feud

Plus secrets of my love affair with Ann Patchett

Hi all!

Yesterday was a wild one. I got to 30 Rock at 7am, was tossed a Read With Jenna long-sleeved t-shirt, and proceeded to hang out in the freezing cold with a glittering gaggle of my fellow Read With Jenna authors: Jean Kwok, Courtney Sullivan, Etaf Rum, Megha Majumdar, Megan Abbott, Cara Wall, Ethan Joella, Jessamine Chan, Lauren Fox, Mateo Askaripour, Naima Coster, and Qian Julie Wang. Mateo and I are long-time co-stars, as you know if you’ve been reading this newsletter since my scorching 24hr love affair with Reese Witherspoon. What smart, fun humans! The Today Show producers looked upon our wintery faces, so pale and pathetic, and decided to have us participate in a Family Feud. Click here to watch the whole thing, but please know that it was as much of a surprise to me as it will be to you that I very much wanted to win, and did. Here I am being a little over zealous.

I don’t remember hugging Hoda, but I must have, because Megan Abbot sent this photographic proof. Did you know that both Jenna and Hoda are earthbound goddesses, kind and friendly and fun? They really are. It was also fun (okay, I’m starting to hear how pathetic this all sounds, a Mom Gone Wild moment after years of pandemic loneliness) to be in midtown! Look at the empty ice skating rink! Look at the Batmobile!

Ok, I see how this could read as apocalyptic instead of thrilling.

This too. Hmm.

But no matter! Then I left one gaggle of geniuses for another, and tracked Ann Patchett down to a hotel room nearby, because I have a built in honing device that allows me to always locate my biggest heroes. She gave me very good advice and let me hug her, because that’s what Ann Patchett does. Quick story! Do you know how I met Ann? It was 1000 years ago at a party for the very excellent One Story magazine and I was too afraid to say hello and so then my publisher took pity on me and marched me right up to Ann and introduced me, and I sent her a letter the next day, telling her how much it meant to meet her, and then SHE WROTE BACK. In the actual mail! And I have been her loyal servant ever since.

But you know what’s even better than one bonus superstar? Two! Ann and I went a few doors down to have lunch with her good friend and fellow Nashvillian Margaret Renkl, who had won the PEN Non-fiction award the night before. Dang! I am the sort of nerd who really misses the overwhelming overstimulation of BEA and Winter Institute and I loved getting to talk to so many writers in one day instead of just being surrounded by their beautiful books.

Next week, I am posting some very, very exciting pre-order news, so stay tuned!

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What I’m Watching

Love Is Blind Japan. Here is my boyfriend. Do you need another reason?

What I’m Reading

Turning, the YA debut by my former Girls Write Now mentee Joy Smith! Join us at Books Are Magic on March 9 to celebrate!