In Four Months, It'll Be Warm

And Making Friends Can Be Murder Will Be Out in the World

My school got canceled because of windchills forty degrees below zero. A reprieve like this is always a boon, especially now that my children are so old they don’t need me.

Thus, instead of reading with seventh graders today, I’m thinking about my book launch party for Making Friends Can Be Murder. On June 10th, it’ll be maybe seventy or eighty degrees warmer than it is right now. We’ll be enjoying a big soiree at a Minneapolis brewery with lots of drink tickets and tons of revelry. You should come! I’m going to send out (free) registration details next month. It’ll be extra sweet…because there were so many times I knew I would never finish this book, which is now magically finished.

The story of Making Friends’ almost-failure goes back to March 16, 2021, when I launched my second book on Zoom with Nora McInerny in conversation. Omg, that was a dream. I told Nora I wanted to write a murder mystery, which was news to everyone, but they all said, great! Go for it! I’d already turned in my 2022 novel, Home or Away. I was ready to tackle something new.

Then, two weeks or so later, my brother died. He was only 40, and none of us knew he might die right then. It was terrible, and it turned out I couldn’t write for months. When I finally started again, I came up with incredibly dark ideas that my publisher rejected in the most gentle way they could. My favorite of those ideas was Nun Murder Fire Book, in which a cloistered contemplative saved the blood of schoolgirls in rosary beads.

I mean, no. (Except maybe? Someday?)

Finally, after months of plunking away at the keyboard, the cheerful Sarah Joneses started to emerge. I forced chapter by chapter of the story onto paper by sheer force of, I don’t even know what. I transferred the nun from the fire concept, but made her older, wiser, wittier, and a former small-town police detective. The schoolgirl stayed, too, but she didn’t open any veins. All of the main characters in Making Friends Can Be Murder carry grief in different ways. The villain’s brother dies, just like mine had, but it turns out, I coped in a healthier way. For instance, I didn’t kill a single person or steal anyone’s money.

I added a sweet main character to the novel who becomes the informant of a very handsome FBI recruit. The book started to get funny. There was a little romance, a little banter. I started to be charmed by it, even as I slogged through most days. And then, because of miracles and the best editorial team in the universe, the mystery came together, too. I finished the novel with the desire to revisit these characters someday! And my editor described an early complete version as, “Quirky, optimistic, and fun.” I had those words printed on a t-shirt, as you know. I wore it to the gym, and made a couple of new friends. “We’re like you!” they said.

And now, we’re just four months from publication! I’m going to pop into your inbox twice per month in the lead-up because why not? There’s stuff to share! There are some backlogged questions — questions about writing with vs. without a contract and how long it takes to write and revise when I have another full-time job. There are reminders about giveaways and promotions. I’ll suggest read-alikes and offer freebies. Who knows what else?

In the meantime, please preorder. It helps me so, so much. More than you can imagine. Let me know if you decide preorder, and I’ll send you a booklet with the first few chapters and also a sticker.

Stay warm! Dream of a super big party in June! :)