👻 one week and counting!

RULES FOR GHOSTING comes out a week from today!

August 13, 2024

Y’ALL. It feels absolutely impossible to be saying this, but somehow, unbelievably, we are just a week away from the launch of Rules for Ghosting!

YARN | Everybody behave naturally. | Pride & Prejudice (2005) | Video gifs by quotes | 3bde915b | 紗

I started writing the first real draft of Rules for Ghosting back in 2021. At the time, it was very much a “for me” project — something that was a way for me to manage the grief I was feeling about my grandmother’s death, and the pandemic, and my changing identity, and my complicated emotions around parenting, etc etc etc. I never really expected it to go anywhere, and it wasn’t really until a few friends shifted from “I love this story” to “actually, I think many people would love this story???” that I even considered querying it.

But then I did. And then, there we were:

And then, there we were:

And now, here we are.

I told a friend today that I’m actually kind of glad that the book launch is coming on the heels of an inter-state move and some truly wild freelance client weeks, because it it means that I haven’t had the time to get totally overwhelmed or anxious about the book. But now that it’s just around the corner, I’m finding that I am overwhelmed — with so much gratitude for the people who have come together to make this book what it is, with excitement for the people who have told me they’re looking forward to their copy to finally get to read it, and with more love for this story and its anxious, messy, beautiful characters than I ever expected.

We’re officially in the home stretch. Here’s what’s coming up!

launch week events!

I am hugely stoked to be doing not one, but two launch events — one in-person, and one online! (Yay, accessibility!)

  • On 8/20 at 7pm ET, I'll be at Bluestockings Bookstore in NYC with Haley Jakobson, author of Old Enough, chatting all things gay and ghostly, intergenerational queer stories, writing comedies about grief, and the power of found family and queer community. Grab your ticket here!

  • On 8/21 at 8pm ET, I'll be doing an IG live with Ella Dawson, author of But How Are You Really, talking about writing chaotic bisexuals with anxiety, dream love interests, and why it's so goshdarn hard to let yourself be loved.

Hope to see you at one — or both!

#ICYMI: rules for ghosting in the media!

It’s shameless self-promotion time for Shelly! I’m delighted to share some of the places Rules for Ghosting has been spotted around the web so far:

Web:

Podcast + Radio:

Sally Field You Like Me GIFs | Tenor

help me out this week!

With a week to go before pub day, we’re still pushing hard for preorders, Goodreads shelf adds, early reviews, and of course launch event tickets! If you want to become my very favorite person in the world, here are a few ways you can start getting your gay ghostly fix:

  • Preorder a signed copy from The Bookloft (my local indie!)

  • Enter to win a finish copy from Goodreads (giveaway runs until tomorrow, 8/14 —we’re so close to 10k entries!)

  • RSVP to the book launch on 8/20 at 7pm ET at Bluestockings in NYC — the price of your ticket can go toward a signed copy of the book at the event!

  • Mark your calendar for my IG live on 8/21 at 8pm ET with Ella Dawson!

  • Add Rules for Ghosting to your TBR shelf on Goodreads (we just broke 15k! 😍)

  • If you’ve read an advanced copy, leave a review on Goodreads — or anywhere else, I’m not picky!

  • And of course, share Rules for Ghosting with any of your friends who like gays, ghosts, gay ghosts, and family-dramas-turned-found-family-love-stories.

I can’t wait for you all to meet Ezra, his friends and family, and — of course — his ghosts. The clock is ticking, and I could not be more excited. We did it, babes! We’re almost there! Let’s make it happen!