Hello, 2026

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays have been everything you needed, whether that’s quiet and restorative or busy and full of parties. I mostly spent it working—which is fine, which is just what I like. The second round of revisions to INCARNATE were due by the end of the year and were a bit more involved than anticipated. Now that that’s wrapped, I’ll jump back onto a rewrite of HAVANA SYNDROME, my new spy thriller for Amazon Publishing. I’ll talk more about HAVANA SYNDROME in the coming months, but know that it’s not expected to publish before spring 2027. As for other writing plans for 2026, I’m hoping to write more short stories at the recommendation of a friend who happens to be a long-time editor in the horror community, and I expect to get started on another novel (or two) as ideas percolate.

An interesting thing about INCARNATE is that the story changed quite a bit between inception and completion. I suppose that’s not unexpected with any creative endeavor. The tagline is, “The Picture of Dorian Gray for the 21st century”, and it’s still appropriate, but it ended up being less close to the Oscar Wilde story than originally intended. INCARNATE has to do with technology and the unintended effects on us humans. One thing I learned as a technology futurist is that change comes fast—and the publishing business is slow. And sure enough, a fairly major technological advancement took place while I was writing the book, which necessitated a change to the story. I plan a lengthy afterword explaining the original intentions for the book and how it ended up where it did. You can also expect more tech-themed newsletters in the coming year as I lay the ground work for the ideas that went into INCARNATE.

Funny to think that FIEND has been out for three months. It’s hanging in there, with more reviews slowly coming in (the new normal for publishing, as media attention becomes harder to come by). I am grateful to the book clubs that are now discovering it. I’ve been told there will be a paperback edition but no date set, yet. Consider picking up the hardcover with one of those gift cards you got for the holidays, maybe?

Soho Press is reissuing master spy novelist Robert Littell’s books. Last year, they reissued The Once and Future Spy, The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, and The Amateur. Among this year’s reissues is Mother Russia, for which I wrote the introduction. It is a genius satire of what the Soviet Union was like in the day and, considering you don’t see the role of the intelligence services until practically the very last page, a prodigious feat of storytelling. It comes out in April but you can pre-order at the link above.

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More good things

I have a feeling that a good percentage of you are in my demographic—older women—and so I’m passing along a link to Laura Lippman’s most recent column in Oldster. I love Laura’s novels but also appreciate her essays that make sense of life as an older woman. She’s candid about her past, her privilege (she was married for a long time to TV producer/writer David Simon of The Wire fame), and life as an older single mother. Because life at this age can sometimes feel like it’s starting to wobble, I appreciate her clear-headed take on things.

Recommendation: Chris Pavone’s The Doorman got a lot of attention last year and for good reason. It got me through a recent reading slump, when every book I tried disappointed. It’s the story of the highest levels of wealth on New York’s Upper West Side and what makes it fascinating (to me, anyway) is that this is Pavone ‘s world. He’s married to a woman who was the CEO of Penguin Random House for 13 years. A writer I know runs in Pavone’s circles and so over the years I heard tidbits of the life he led rubbing elbows with the very rich. The detailed view he provides into that world in The Doorman feels pretty accurate. The novel is well written, with well developed, realistic-feeling characters. There’s a twist at the end that you’ll probably see coming but it’s still satisfying.

For your viewing pleasure, consider the Netflix documentary Cover-Up, a conversation with investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, the man who broke the My Lai story. Hard to watch at times but, especially considering the very recent events in Venezuela, very much worth it.

Granny hobbies: If you read my last newsletter, you know that I intended to start a new craft hobby: making potholders. Yes, it’s the same craft that you might’ve done at summer camp or maybe your little one is learning in kindergarten but apparently it’s a hip new thing for oldsters (or that’s what I like to tell myself). Anyway, though I’d resolved not to make one until after I sent in revisions on book #1, something happened (ahem) that necessitated clearing my mind and so I broke out the new toys… Here’s my first attempt at a potholder:

It is pleasantly tactile, hefty. It’ll make a good trivet. I recommend this hobby for anyone who likes to work with their hands but needs something fairly mindless and quick. The only drawback is that there are only a few makers of potholder loops and so a limited range of colors to choose from. If you’re into potholders, please leave a comment below, particularly if you know of sources for bespoke loops.