Breaking In: March/April 2024

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Yeji Y. Ham

The Invisible Hotel

Amazon; Bookshop

(Literary horror, March, Zando)

“In the aftermath of the Korean War, a young woman dreams of an abandoned hotel with infinite keys to infinite rooms, waking up to the unsettling truth about her nation’s collective heritage.”

Writes from: Korea

Pre-Hotel: Before writing this book, I had just graduated from my master’s and was wrapping up a short story collection. Despite it being finished, I felt it was incomplete, and there was nothing more I could do, so I decided to set it aside and work on something else. While searching for something new, I found a note from my master’s class, discovering a scatter of random sentences and images—a bathtub of bones, an old man carrying a window and a door on his back, an abandoned hotel, and many more. At first sight, I knew they would come together to create one whole story.

Photo credit Kim Ji Hye

Time frame: The novel took five years to write. It took a year for me to begin understanding how all those random images were coming together to speak about the inescapable, collective space of fear of war in Korea. This realization resonated deeply with me, as I was reminded of my grandfather’s story. He was a North Korean who endured torture and had to escape the North during the war, leaving behind his family whom he never saw again. From then on, it took another four years to write and revise. Only when I finally and fully grasped the story, I was able to finish the book.

Enter the agent: I met my wonderful agent, Danya Kukafka, through AWP’s Writer to Agent program.

Biggest surprise: Writing is revision. The biggest surprise was the numerous edits that the book went through. It involved a continuous back-and-forth with the manuscript, reaching a point where I felt I had done everything I could. I am grateful to have met an agent and three editors who guided me, were open to discussions, and believed in my writing.

What I did right: Being patient—patient to myself and patient to the work—helped me break in. I feel it is important to have faith that time does not pass meaninglessly on the pages. It helps to wait, allowing the right words and sentences to reveal themselves in their own time.

What I would have done differently: The past five years have been a period of growth for me, not just as a writer but also as a person. Looking back, I don’t think I would have done anything differently.

Platform: I did not have a platform in place, and this is an area I hope to learn and work on.

Advice for writers: I would say, don’t throw out any of your writings, no matter how small or hastily scribbled—even those on napkins or receipts. At times, one can become so immersed in their creation that they cannot see the big picture or forget the original spark. Returning to those early writings, no matter how small, can serve as a guiding thread to lead you out of the labyrinth of your own creation.

Next up: I have returned to my short story collection while also brainstorming ideas for my next novel.

Website: YejiHam.com

Gwenna Laithland

Momma Cusses: A Field Guide to Responsive Parenting & Trying Not to Be the Reason Your Kid Needs Therapy

Amazon; Bookshop

(Nonfiction/parenting, March, St. Martin’s Press)

“The book is a field guide to learning what responsive parenting is, how to raise emotionally aware humans, and trying not to be the reason your kids need therapy.”

Writes from: Noble, Okla.

Pre-Cusses: I started Momma Cusses in 2019 as a publication on the e-zine and essay publication site, Medium. I set out to create the resource that I wish I’d had while navigating parenting in the 21st century. Instagram, The Mommy Bloggers, and social media on the whole tend to lend an expectation of perfection and I needed advice and resources rooted in reality. Momma Cusses the E-zine morphed into a social media presence of over 6 million followers. From there, it became clear that a smattering of ’60s videos was not enough of the resource I wanted to provide my growing followership. So, a book became the next project: a field guide detailing my “in the trenches” parenting experience.

Time frame: Knowing absolutely nothing about the publishing world, I started a very early draft of the manuscript in the summer of 2021. Shortly after that, my lovely agent, Wendy, reached out to see if I was interested in turning my content into a book. She walked me through how to write a proposal and, thankfully, it was received very well. I opted to work with Eileen and the fantastic editorial and marketing teams at St. Martin’s Press Essential. I dove into the manuscript and it was completed by Christmas of the same year. We were able to make use of 2023 to really refine the idea and put together the resource I’d been craving.

Enter the agent: Wendy found me and reached out. Her assistant, Callie, had been following me on social media and while Callie herself was not a parent, she found that my content appealed to her as she navigated some of the gaps in her own emotional processing. When Callie showed my online work to Wendy, Wendy instantly agreed there was a book in there.

Biggest surprise: Because the process of drafting, editing, polishing, and creating a book takes quite a while, there were large gaps of time wherein I didn’t interact with my own writing for a while. I submitted the first draft around Christmas of 2022 and didn’t see it again for several months while Eileen, my editor, worked her magic and helped refine the work. When she sent it back with changes and improvements to make, I had managed to forget much of the minutiae of what I’d written. Reading it back through the editorial process I more than once forgot that it was my work. I’d read a sentence and think to myself, Oh, that’s good. Who came up with that? And it was me. I came up with that. I found a way to explain that concept in that creative, engaging way. It was sort of surreal. Re-reading my own work felt almost like an out-of-body experience.

What I did right: Honestly, I spent more time than I care to admit fighting back my own imposter syndrome. Finding the right area between ego and pride really enabled me to focus on the meat of the book. This isn’t for attention or fame. This is a resource and my voice is an important addition to the conversation surrounding parenting, child-rearing, and emotional maturity. When I look at other big names in the parenting writer and creator spheres, I want to roll myself back into that imposter syndrome blanket. Finally getting myself OK with the idea that my voice was valid, my views important, and the method by which I communicated those ideas was needed revolutionized how I approached the work itself. When I no longer had to consistently remind myself that there is room for my book right alongside Carla Naumberg, Michaeleen Doucleff, Emily Oster, and the hundreds of other resources that came before, it made everything flow just a little better.

What I would have done differently: One day, I will find a cure for procrastination. I had approximately six months to do the bulk of the manuscript building. I did maybe a third of the work in the first month when the opportunity and process was new and fresh and giving out all the dopamine. Then all those good, fuzzy, warm “I’m gonna be an author” feelings faded, and I didn’t really do more until four–six weeks out from the deadline with this big massive push right up to the wire. I wrote most of the book in about a month of the six months I’d been granted. I’m 100 percent sure Eileen could tell too. There were more notes on the chapters I wrote later in the process than on the earliest bits of writing I’d completed. There was more of a rush as I felt that deadline looming so there were more errors. We worked through those but time management is an absolute beastly part of writing a book.

Platform: I did have a platform in place. Now the biggest challenge I face is showing my book without it looking like a money grab. Any time you’re asking people to place monetary trust in you, it’s a challenge. You can almost hear the murmur of the digital crowd asking, “Is she just chasing more clout or is this book the game-changer I’ve been looking for as a parent?” Of course, I view my work as a resource. Getting it out there isn’t a chance to see my name in lights. It’s a chance to start good conversations about how we, collectively, are raising the next generations to be emotionally cognizant, compassionate, contributing adults. But that’s such a nuanced thing to communicate in 60 seconds or less. Yes, I want you to buy my book, dear followers. But not because I want to be rich and famous. It’s a very nebulous arena to navigate.

Advice for writers: I came up in the world of writing celebrating things like National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo). The process of writing a book proved to me one important aspect. You cannot write a good work without a plan. In the NaNoWriMo spheres, there are planners (meticulous outlines, background research, world-building in the case of fictional works) and pansters (throw all caution to the wind and write what comes to you in the moment. No plans, just flying by the seat of your pants … hence … pantser.) I planted my writer’s flag on the pantser hill and vowed that outlines and planning were just not for me. This process taught me that NaNoWriMo lied to me. You might be able to get some good ideas out, but for a good work, an efficiently crafted work, a complete concept, you need to plan. Finding the right mode of planning for you, individually, is vital but planning is a must, I now think.

Next up: I have a solid concept, plan, and outline for a second book in the same genre. This one is fashioned as a field guide again but this time a little more focused on a specific stage and age of parenting. (Don’t tell Eileen or she’s going to expect sample chapters. We’ve already discussed my penchant for procrastination.)

Website: MommaCusses.com

Myah Ariel

When I Think of You

Amazon; Bookshop

(Contemporary romance, April, Berkley)

“The unexpected spark of two former flames may force them to choose between their movie-making dreams and each other.”

Writes from: I’m based in Los Angeles

Pre-Think: With degrees in film studies and arts journalism, I’ve written about creatives and culture for a while. But writing my own fiction didn’t come about until the pandemic. I spent a lot of time escaping into romance novels during lockdown and was inspired to write a book that felt like the Black romances I fell in love with in movies and TV shows from the ’90s and early aughts.

Photo credit Berkley Romance (TR) 2023

Time frame: I wrote my first draft over the course of six months in the latter half of 2021 and promptly went to prematurely query it in early 2022!

Enter the agent: My agent, Kim Lionetti, represents some of my favorite romance authors. So I knew from the outset that she was at the top of my aspirational query list. I queried her in early January of 2022 and got a full request within a few days! By March that full turned into a rejection—but one that came with brief yet helpful feedback. I then decided to risk it all and ask her if she’d take a second look after I revised. Luckily, she agreed to! Then, I got to work. I applied to a few mentorship programs and was accepted to [now defunct] DV Mentor, which paired me with an author, Sami Ellis, who was farther along in the “journey” than I was. Sami worked with me on revisions and by August, I re-queried Kim and she very quickly offered representation on the new and improved version of the manuscript. We sold the book at auction a few months later.

Biggest surprise: First, it’s vital to get other eyes on your work before you begin to query. This can be fellow writer friends or even just avid readers in your family. But having that quality check from another person is essential. And secondly, since this is a journey that comes with a lot of feedback built in, it’s important to protect yourself. In doing so, I’ve learned to not take criticism too harshly from anyone you wouldn’t seek out for advice in the first place.

What I did right: I did deep dives into the business and processes of publishing. I did so mainly because I’m a nerd and tend to over-research anything I want to pursue. But also, I wanted to know what I should expect before the proverbial cliff dive. So I’ve ingested scores of YouTube videos, Masterclasses, craft books, and X (Twitter) threads pertaining to publishing and all its many idiosyncrasies.

What I would have done differently: I would have started writing creatively years ago!

Platform: The only platform I had built was an X account that served mainly to live tweet “The Bachelor” and tout the lyrical supremacy of Mariah Carey. So, I’ve had to pivot in recent months to book promo and even learn how to use TikTok with a purpose. But in all seriousness, social media has been a vital tool for connecting with other authors, fellow debuts and established ones, from all over the world who are on this wild and wonderful journey I now find myself on too. I’ve also loved seeing readers respond positively to the book as they’ve finished arcs. I think organically supporting other authors and engaging with readers is the best way to grow a platform.

Advice for writers: Read your writing aloud as you draft. I had a grad school writing professor, Tim Page, who instilled this in me. If something sounds off to the ear that’s likely because it wasn’t executed well on the page.

Next up: I’m writing my second book and working on some exciting things for book one, which I can’t quite talk about yet.

Website: MyahAriel.com