First Drafts and Fall

Two things on my horizon. Also, I'm teaching again!

Aug 29, 2024

Forward momentum

Dear Readers,

I am FIRST-DRAFTING right now, which is sometimes my favorite part of writing a book and sometimes my least favorite. It can actually be very hard to come up with things out of thin air, and it’s kind of funny when I whine and panic about it being difficult, like, OF COURSE IT IS!

My process has changed over the years, and to some degree I know it will just keep changing forever. That said, the first time I sold a book with the first 50 pages and a synopsis changed things for me; simply put, it was a lot easier writing a first draft when I had a general idea of where it was going. This may sound obvious but I’d eschewed outlining up until this point. (If you’re keeping track, this was my fourth book. Fourth PUBLISHED book, because I wrote constantly since I was a very young person.)

I was always VERY AFRAID of outlining. I thought if I put down a whole book’s worth of ideas into some paper, the fun would all be gone, there’d be no discovery left, and it would be like coming home after class and transcribing your lecture notes or something. But the truth is that I found it to be NOTHING LIKE THIS AT ALL; I still have tons of discovery as I’m writing. I leave plenty still to in-the-moment decisions and spontaneous moves. Everyone’s methods are of course different but if you don’t outline I do always at least lightly suggest to give it a try at least once (or once more if you tried and hated it but it’s been awhile), with the lightest of expectations. For me even the lightest of guardrails have given me an enormous sense of safety as I write, but like the kind of safety where you feel taken care of enough to still find the risks and stretch the limits. I also really like treating my outline as something that’s constantly moving; I work on it as I go so it reflects not just the novel I set out to write but the novel I AM ACTUALLY WRITING.

Anyway, the new book is too new to tell you anything about it because I am a highly superstitious person despite being a real killjoy of a Scully, but of course as it all unfolds you’ll hear way more about it. I’m curious what I will discover about my process for this book; in some ways I am still unknotting the lessons from writing On Her Terms! I can tell you that I really leaned into other people for On Her Terms; I followed the ideas and suggestions from my editor, from friends, and tried to take them further, tried to take things I already liked and heighten them further. I wrote the funniest jokes I could think of and then I asked advice on how I could make them sharper and LOL-ier.

Considering that I’m literally always trying to make my work as strong as possible, it’s hard to describe why this felt different and new, but maybe it’s just that sometimes you really can feel that leveling up you’re ideally doing as a writer throughout the course of your career. Also I think the more I do this, the more excited I am about even small moments of collaboration; my books are my books, of course, but a joke punch-up from a trusted friend who is funnier than I am or a backstory question from my wise editor has stopped making me feel like I had written something lacking and more like I did something good enough to inspire ooh-also-what-about-ing from others.

Semi-relatedly, I am teaching romance writing again! If you’re in the LA area and are either working on a romance novel or are hoping to or just want to sit in a room full of people discussing writing romance novels, this class is for you! There are only a couple slots left, so if you are considering this… do it! I genuinely LOVE teaching this class, and I am so excited to be getting into it again!

For those of you NOT in Los Angeles, I’ve received many requests to teach this class virtually. If you’re interested in a virtual version of this class, would you do me a favor and respond to this email and let me know? I’d love to gauge interest and also see what days/times might be appealing? It would be via Zoom, but everything else would be identical to the class as listed above!

Next week I’ll be in Milwaukee, for an event at Boswell Books on September 5, as well as Romance Con on September 6 and 7!

If you’re around, I would LOVE to meet you!

xoxoAmy

Consumption

Staying Drier

It’s that time of year again (swampy) so let me recommend Megababe’s Bust Dust. I use this as a general body powder for two reasons: it’s talc free (I am NOT a person super concerned with chemicals probably to my detriment but talc freaks me out) AND it has a spray pump so you can shoot powder all over yourself super easily. My favorite body powder I’ve ever used!

Snacking/Small Lunching

I got these honey-smoked salmon stackers from Costco (actually from a friend with a Costco card) and they are SO tasty and really good for that somewhere-between-a-small-snack-and-a-meal feeling that I usually fill with cheese.

Reading

I ADORED Laura Hankin’s One Star Romance. It is so thoughtful, funny, heartbreaking, and relatable—especially but not limited to people who’ve ever obsessed over their Goodreads reviews.

Subscribing

Musical theatre lyricist/composer AS WELL AS MY PERSONAL FRIEND Christie Baugher’s Substack Rent-Free is fantastic, especially if you are a pop culture weirdo. Sorry for how janky the logo looks above but that’s what it did.

On Her Terms

Fresh off breaking up with her boyfriend and swerving away from the conventional, TikTok-ready married life she never wanted, Clementine is ready to explore the alternatives. Not that she wants to be single forever, much less die alone. But at thirty-six, it’s time for her to experience new things—including in her love life. And though an invitation to a fake relationship to appease family sounds like a recipe for disaster, Clem finds herself agreeing to the ruse with smart, spirited dog groomer Chloe Lee anyway . . .

Chloe is long past her own baby gay era, but even before they’ve tackled Clem’s parents’ anniversary party and Chloe’s friends’ wedding, the two of them end up spending a lot of time together. As the attraction between them grows stronger, it all begins to feel very real to Clem. Chloe, however, is fine as just friends—plus she’s convinced Clem is just eager for “someone” to take her off the singles list. How to persuade her otherwise? After all, Clem is starting to realize her life is wonderfully full and being “alone” doesn’t scare her a bit. Still, being without the tiny powerhouse that is Chloe, specifically is a whole other story . . .

Wise, witty, and full of heart, this is an uplifting love story about being true to yourself and your desires, even if it means plunging into uncharted territory.

Preorder On Her Terms

“On Her Terms is a delightfully funny and tender ode to second chances, all the romantic feels, and finding—and loving—yourself at every stage in life. A bright jewel of a romance.”—Ashley Herring Blake, bestselling author of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care

“Nobody look at me while I'm reading an Amy Spalding book because I'm worried I have the cheesiest grin on my face the whole time! On Her Terms is so funny but also disconcertingly relatable if you happen to be a queer person still figuring out your own queerness later in life. I loved watching Chloe and Clementine banter and flirt and eventually admit to themselves that what they were pretending was fake was actually very, very real.”—Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of With Love, from Cold World