Jaclyn Paul's Blog, page 2
May 31, 2023
Bonjour tout le monde !
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May 19, 2023
How to prepare for a bookstore author event
Today I’m going to share some of the ways I prepare for an author event. Specifically, a bookstore appearance where you read your work and participate in a discussion with the audience.
After the She’s Not Home launch event I got some feedback that I was really prepared and easy to work with. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this after an appearance. I always find it a little baffling because…me? Really? I don’t consider myself particularly easy or comfortable in the spotlight.
Neverth...
May 5, 2023
Book review: Through the Groves by Anne Hull (memoir)
Entirely by chance, I read a whole stack of engrossing memoirs in April: Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott, Mary Louise Kelly’s It. Goes. So. Fast., and Anne Hull’s Through the Groves (affiliate links).
I want to share them all with you, and I will. First up I’ll review Through the Groves.
Through the Groves focuses on author Anne Hull’s early life growing up surrounded by orange groves in central Florida. The book opens with Hull, then around six years old, riding along with her fath...
March 31, 2023
Book review: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (memoir)
Note: versions of this review are also shared on Goodreads and Instagram.
Crying in H Mart is a heartfelt memoir by Michelle Zauner, a Korean-American musician best known for her indie pop project Japanese Breakfast. Most of the book centers on Zauner’s grappling with the loss of her mother to cancer when Zauner is twenty-five, and the impact this has on her identity. She invites readers into a very vulnerable place as she learns to embrace her heritage and process her grief through family an...
March 15, 2023
Book Review: Fly with Me by Andie Burke (romance)
Note: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, and I also know the author personally, but all assessments here are my own.
Andie Burke’s debut sapphic romance Fly with Me (affiliate link) is a captivating read in its own right. It also opens the door to representation I haven’t yet seen in the romance genre. In other words, it succeeds in two very different goals: being deeply important, and being straight-up fun to read.
Fly with Me opens with flying-phobic Olive talking he...
March 8, 2023
Just a writer with a painting degree, learning how to doodle (in German)
Confession: I have a four-year degree in visual arts. But I’m really a language person. I always have been.
Hence the whole author thing. Makes sense, right? And yet I graduated from a rigorous studio art program.
Look — I’m suggestible, I love working with my hands, and I have a deeply ingrained work ethic (strong Protestant/German roots, perfectionism in family of origin, etc. etc. etc.). I could’ve ended up in any college degree program (ADHD), but I was drawn to the intense discipline,...
February 23, 2023
SHE’S NOT HOME: A NOVEL Coming April 25, 2023
Hey everyone! Between now and the release date, I’m going to keep this post pinned to my blog and update it with info about all things She’s Not Home. That includes preorder links, launch party info, and more details about how you can help spread the word about the book! Questions? Please ask away in the comments and I’ll do my best to track down the answers 
Please save the date for our launch event on April 25, 2023 at The Ivy Bookshop...
February 22, 2023
How to support authors you love
I get a lot of questions from my social circle about how to support my work. (Thank you, friends!) As a primary measuring stick of authorial success, book sales get a lot of attention. However, I consider them only a small piece of the puzzle. There are so many things you can do beyond purchasing a single book. You can even support your favorite authors without spending any money at all!
I’m going to round up my favorites here. Feel free to leave your suggestions or questions in the comments!...
February 21, 2023
On editing Roald Dahl, and what I’d want for my own books decades from now
I scrolled into an interesting article/headline the other day: Big-Five publisher Puffin is implementing “extensive changes” across legendary author Roald Dahl’s catalog of children’s books. Some strike me more as modernization — replacing masculine plural nouns with gender-neutral ones — while others explicitly aim to remove offensive language.
This is a thought-provoking issue for me as an author. It’s also one I expect to be seized upon by both political poles. Regardless of where you stan...
January 22, 2023
The magic of fifty words a day
I used to be really into New Year’s resolutions. Also, lofty goals and all manner of similar endeavors that look good on paper but inspire disappointment and self-criticism in real life. It felt good to tell myself — and the people around me, let’s be real — I was an ambitious person. The sort to set impressive goals and achieve them.
To offer an update several months later, not so much.
And that’s the rub with ambitious goal-setting. Maybe it works for some people, but it’s never really w...
