One month since All That Life Can Afford entered the world (and since Reese Witherspoon said my actual name in an actual video!). Gratitude too small a word.
Okay, The New York Times and Modern Love deserves a grid post! This one took a lot of work and many, many hard drafts. A publication I’ve been dreaming about for over a decade! Link in bio will let you read without a subscription.
Had such a great time talking about the publication process (soup to nuts!) with @proseprospod , @talishammas & @laurenjpkhan , two agents who know all about it! Also totally forgot I shared some fun news 🍾 and teased some news I can’t actually share yet… 🤫
🎉 GIVEAWAY: Win a copy of SISTER CREATURES 🎉
by @lauragreen517
recommended by @ednahi
TO ENTER:
1️⃣ Like this post 💙
2️⃣ Tag a friend (each tag = 1 entry)
3️⃣ Join the newsletter if you haven’t already (link in bio or comment NEWSLETTER to get link sent to you)
✅ Must be following @sendmeabook
✅ Only need to join the newsletter once (simply like & tag to enter any future giveaways)!
Giveaway ends 05/11/2026 at 11:59pm PT. Winners will be announced every Monday in our newsletter ✉️. No purchase necessary. U.S. only. See official rules in our link in bio.
📚 SISTER CREATURES - Goodreads Synopsis 📚
In the muggy, insect-ridden town of Pinecreek, Louisiana, college dropout Tess Lavigne is watching two bickering siblings while their parents are away. Her listless day drinking is interrupted when someone emerges from the woods behind the house. Filthy and feral, the daughter of religious fundamentalists, the girl known in town as Sister Gail convinces Tess to take her in for the night. The strange events of that evening will set the course for Tess’s future, and Sister Gail’s ultimate fate.
Meanwhile, other residents of Pinecreek try to cobble together a future from what little they have, their lives intersecting in small and not-so-small ways. Sisters fight to define independence for themselves (and from each other), while two young women on a bicycling trip wonder what their relationship promises, or threatens. Throughout, a deeply unsettling presence connects the characters to the buried secrets of the ominous Thea, a malevolent shape-shifting entity whose rage and despair stems from a tragic history of misogyny, maternal loss, and stolen ambitions.
As time marches forward, so does Tess, creating a new path for herself while accepting what can never be entirely left behind. At times atmospheric and eerie, and at others all too real, Sister Creatures is about manufacturing resilience from nothing but the bonds that tie us together.
(Horror, Southern Gothic)
#bookgiveaway #horrorlit #southerngothic #weirdfiction #giveaway
Baby’s first longlist! So, so happy to see ATLCA on the Mass Book Awards longlist with these incredible novels. (And grateful for all the amazing behind the scenes work this org does for books and writers in Mass!)
Emily Everett is an editor and writer from western Massachusetts. Her debut novel All That Life Can Afford is the Reese’s Book Club pick for April 2025, out now from Putnam Books. She is managing editor at The Common literary magazine, and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellow in Fiction.
Emily studied English and music at Smith College, and studied abroad for a year at University College London. After graduating, she returned to London to do an MA in literature at Queen Mary University of London. She lived and worked in the UK from 2009 to 2013.
Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, the Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, Tin House, and Mississippi Review. Her short story “Solitária” was selected as a runner-up for the Kenyon Review’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest. Her work has been selected for Best Small Fictions 2020, and supported by the Vermont Studio Center.
Last week, thanks to an invite from writer @natalemle , I got to experience the Boston Public Library’s Literary Lights Gala. Was the best part sitting with chatty Michael Cunningham? Petting the hotel dog? Bringing my friend and BPL superfan Amanda? Who can say. But we had quite a night!
Kicked off 2025 by getting the call that changed my life. Naturally, there’s no slide show for all the years of work that went into it, but here’s to a good one. #reesesbookclub #allthatlifecanafford #amwri̇ti̇ng
This week I’m joined by debut American novelist Emily Everett to talk about her novel All That Life Can Afford, a love story to London.
We talk about writing across class lines, ambition, friendship, and what it really takes to finish a first novel while balancing a demanding day job. Emily also shares how Pride and Prejudice influenced her story. She reads from the opening chapter, and reflects on the long road to publication.
A thoughtful, honest conversation about becoming, belonging, and trusting your creative instincts.
Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
#ElenaMeetsTheAuthor #EmilyEverett #AllThatLifeCanAfford #AuthorInterview #DebutNovel #BookPodcast #WritersOfInstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #LiteraryPodcast #WritingLife #BookLovers #PodcastRecommendation
In no order, the books I enjoyed this year! Truly amazing to have so many great author friends writing great books. The only downside is I am failing at reading them all! Here’s to catching up on the TBR in 2026.
