My Next Book: AN ACADEMY FOR LIARS
Hi Reader,
I once heard someone1 say that being an author is living outside of the present. You’re actively promoting what you wrote two years before while writing books you won’t be able to talk about for another two years. And then there’s all of those stories in gestation—half-formed and still figuring themselves out. The majority of my creative life and work occurs in secret. So I feel like I live for the moments when I can throw open the doors of my metaphorical shop and say, “Here’s that thing I’ve been obsessing over for what feels like forever! I can finally let you in and show it to you!”
This is one of those moments.
I’m so excited to share that my next adult novel, An Academy For Liars, will be published on September 17th, 2024.
An Academy For Liars follows our main character, Lennon, to Drayton—a magical school for thoroughly dysfunctional adults like herself. At Drayton, she learns to wield a magic called persuasion that allows practitioners to bend minds (and, in rare cases, matter) with the power of their will. The story delves into madness, magic, thorny characters, secret affairs, the things we will (or won’t) do for love, ambition, power, and the dark places we go when we attempt to attain it.
Writing An Academy for Liars was a weird experience for many different reasons. I broke many of the self-imposed writing rules I swore that I never would, and in the most literal sense, felt like I was losing my mind in the process. I think this sense of disorientation can be attributed, in large part, to Lennon, who is one of the most catastrophically messy main characters I’ve ever created. For some time, she’s been a thorn in my side and an object of fascination. I love her to bits, which probably means a lot of other people will hate her, and I think for that precise reason, I love her even more. I came of age on Tumblr’s internet and have always had a soft spot for the characters who were widely hated—the manic pixie dream girls, the Mary Sues, the depressive damsels in distress, and all the canon love interests who came between whoever the fandoms shipped (and thus became the object of their ire).
In a way, Lennon is a love letter to all of them.
An Academy For Liars feels a lot like a new beginning. It’ll be my first published full-length work that takes place in our world instead of one of my making. I’ve set the story in Savannah, the city of my heart and childhood. It’s the longest book I’ve ever written. I finished writing it at a weird and (mostly) terrible time in my life, and because of that, sometimes it feels less like a book and more like a well-loved storm shelter. An Academy for Liars is also a bit of a departure because I wouldn’t necessarily call this book a horror novel. It is dark (I think my books always will be), but it unpacks that darkness in a way that doesn’t feel like horror to me. But I’m curious to see if you all feel the same way.
I once heard someone2 say that literary fiction was a designation you can’t give to your own work, that someone else had to give it to you. I don’t know if that’s true (I don’t write literary fiction. . .or at least I think I don’t? ha ha) but I think genre3 is often something that readers give to the books they read. When I first published The Year of the Witching4, it was dubbed a dark fantasy novel by my publisher, not horror. But now when I think about The Year of the Witching, I realize that of course it’s horror5. And how weird is that? I wrote a horror novel without even realizing it and had to wait for my readers to clue me in. Sometimes, I’m convinced you all know more about my work than I do. Or maybe I’m just so close to it that I miss things you see clearly.
If you do pick up An Academy For Liars (and of course, I hope you will!) I’m interested to see what you’ll make of it. Where will it sit on the shelves? Which characters will you love (or love to hate)? Which elements of the story will work for you, and which ones won’t? Like many other authors, I make a point not to read reviews of my own work—but the feedback has a way of finding me despite my best efforts to avoid it. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intensely curious—and more than a little afraid—of your response to it. But I think that’s healthy. It keeps me on my toes.
If you’d like to pre-order An Academy for Liars, or add it on Goodreads or Storygraph, I’d be immensely grateful. I think in publishing, there’s this idea that the monetary support is the stuff that really moves the needle. And to some extent, I know that’s true. Being an author is a job, and I need sales to pay my bills, so I won’t pretend those markers of success don’t matter to me. But honestly, I’m just grateful for the people who make a mental note to read my books (or this newsletter), who add them to the TBRs in their Notes app, who mention them in passing to a friend or place a hold on them at a local library. The quiet support counts too, and I want you to know that I appreciate it so much.
I’ll have more to share with you soon, not just about An Academy For Liars, but other projects too. I’ve been keeping quite a few secrets, and I look forward to the day I can share them all.
Until then,
Alexis
Sorry I can’t remember who! If you know, comment below and I’ll give them credit!
Writing this newsletter makes me realize that I have the worst memory. I don’t remember who said this and I can’t find the quote! If you know, leave a comment and I’ll credit them.
There’s a lot of discourse about YA being a label that’s wrongly attached to adult novels, particularly those written by women. I want to make it clear that that’s an important discussion and one I’m not referring to here. Namely, because YA isn’t a genre at all, it’s an age category, which is something entirely different.
Because I know people will ask: still no news on the sequel. I have a few ideas simmering on the back burner, but they’re just that. Back burner ideas. I’m not trying to be coy or cryptic. I’ve just learned the dangers of overpromising and underdelivering, and I don’t want to set the wrong expectations and disappoint anyone.
But it’s also still kind of a dark fantasy? I don’t know. Genres are weird and pliable and I guess I like writing between them (or across them?).
Very, very excited for your new novel. You have, of course, been My favorite author since you dropped TYOTW.
So, so, so excited for this!!