Merry Christmas from Pens and Poison
And some exciting updates about my work!
Though it’s just another Thursday here in Jew land, I’d love to take this moment to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hope your day is filled with loved ones, presents, great food, joy, and lots of books. I know my Christmas will be filled with great food—great Chinese food, that is.
If you’d like to get me a Christmas present, you can put a smile on my face by snagging that paid subscription below.
Your contribution means the world to me—and it also means that I’ll continue to push out those spicy essays as we head into 2026!
As we head into the New Year, I also wanted to share an exciting update about my work.
As of late last night, I have completed the first draft of my latest novel, Blue Snow. I’ve already started incorporating feedback from my alpha readers—those of you who have been reading the first draft from the very beginning—and I can’t wait to open up a call for beta readers in the early spring.
Here’s a little bit about the book:
Mia Rozen is a successful yet emotionally unstable indie-pop star—but commercial success hasn’t exactly brought her the fulfillment she was hoping for, and now she’s stuck in therapy because she can’t stop thinking about a man named Teddy. The problem, she tells her therapist, is simple: without Teddy as her muse, she can no longer write music. But Teddy’s gone—though he was never really hers in the first place—and now she’s married to a loyal attorney who doesn’t really understand her creative soul.
Through a series of confessional therapy sessions, Mia reconstructs her past with Teddy and the events that led to the splintering of her career, unearthing a tangle of memory, shame, and longing as she reckons with an uncomfortable truth: her unhealthy obsession with Teddy may be the very engine that has always powered her music. As she comes to terms with her mistakes and sins, Mia must decide whether she is willing to continue mining the chaos of her past for the sake of art—or whether choosing peace and adulthood will require surrendering the version of herself that made her an artist in the first place.
Sound intriguing? Beta reads will only be open to paid subscribers, so don’t forget to reserve you beta reader slot by becoming a paid subscriber below.
Merry Christmas once again and thank you again to all of you who have been reading Pens and Poison over the past year. Wishing you all a fruitful and relaxing rest of your holiday season. See you in 2026!
Love,
