It’s been a while since I popped in to update you all on various writing efforts I’ve got underway. No time like the present, right? I had a bit of a streak (couple of weeks) where I was in-between projects, but by and large I’ve been in full writing mode for the past long while.
In November 2025, I pitched several different books to Sourcebooks. Basic plots that I was interested in writing, but which I hadn’t done much work with yet. After some back and forth, they gave the green light to one, and I dove into the project. It was announced last month in Publisher’s Weekly:
Gabbi Calabrese at Sourcebooks Fire has acquired What We Kill For by Bryce Moore, in which 17-year-old Vee arrives at an isolated island for a competition only to wake up beside a dead body, and in his investigation to clear his name he begins to suspect everyone, even himself. Publication is planned for summer 2027; Eddie Schneider at JABberwocky Literary Agency sold world English rights.
You’ll note that this book is not an historical serial killer book. It does take place in the 90s, so it’s “historical” for today’s YA audience, and I’ve rooted it in some different historical elements, but the plot is all me. My hope with this one is to appeal to a wider audience, hopefully appealing to some of the people who worried my earlier books might be too bloody or dark. This one is a straight up murder mystery, so while I can’t guarantee it’s not bloody (the murder weapon’s a knife, people), it’s hopefully nothing too over the top for people. (Though I am notorious for being bad at evaluating what “over the top” is.)
I worked the next six months or so on the first draft, and then got my editorial letter in August. I just finished the revision at the beginning of this week, and it looks like things are a go for it. That’s great news, mainly because writing on a deadline is one of my least favorite things about writing, and writing on a deadline at the beginning of the academic year at my job is even worse, especially with Denisa starting her first full year as an elementary school teacher. It was a pretty frantic start to the month. I imagine I’ll get copy edits in a month or three and will have to spend some more time on those, but that book is largely finished at this point. Yay!
So what will I work on next? Well, that depends. The Sourcebook deal was for two books, so I’m back in the “what project would you like me to work on” stage of things. I’ve got four different ideas that appeal to me at the moment, but we’ll see what my editor thinks about them. I anticipate that will involve some back and forth, just as it did before. I actually don’t mind this part of the process. Each book feels a lot like a puzzle for me. I enjoy puzzles, and I don’t propose books I wouldn’t want to write. The biggest problem I have is when I get too far into the planning of a particular book and it doesn’t pan out, so I try to make a point not to get too attached at this part of the process.
While I wait for that all to work itself out, I’ll be (hopefully) revisiting the East German escape book I wrote last year. I’ll be getting notes back from my agent on it, and in an ideal world, we’d send it out on submission in the not too distant future, but it might go on the back burner again, if I get a thumbs up on one of my new book ideas. (Books that have currently been sold to publishers take precedence over books that might sell to publishers.)
Reflecting on my writing as a whole, I’ve certainly shifted a great deal from where I was a decade ago. Six professionally published books out now, with two more in the wings, puts me in a different spot as a writer. That said, I also always feel like I’m one contract away from being back to a “what should I try to write now” spot. Still, it does feel nice to be able to approach writing with confidence that I can finish a book on pretty much any one paragraph overview. I’ve now finished 23 novels.
Looking forward to sharing the latest with you all next year!