The Latest from Devoney (mid-November 2022)
Launching Sister Novelists and the Return of the Koozies
Dear Jane-friends:
I’m so deeply grateful to you for being part of the launch of Sister Novelists, helping to shine a light on the long-neglected Porter sisters. As I put it in my LitHub essay on the pains and pleasures of writing this book, “the writer’s form of marathoning involves a race that very few of us will get to run twice.” Thanks for being there at this once-in-a-lifetime finish line, with this decades-long-in-the-making biography.
It’s been a joy to experience with you the publication of an excerpt in the Smithsonian and reviews in the Wall Street Journal, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Washington Post. (And please watch out for the Washington Post’s books section on the Sunday after Thanksgiving for some new work!)
What a whirlwind month it’s been, too, on the book tour. I’ve enjoyed seeing some of you in fabulous bookstores in three cities near and dear to my heart—Phoenix’s Changing Hands, Columbia’s Skylark, and Tulsa’s Magic City.
I’ve loved talking about Jane and Maria Porter’s fascinating lives and careers during online events at Melbourne’s AustenCon, Spartanburg’s Hub City Bookstore, and UNC’s Jane Austen & Co. (The video for it should be posted here soon; in the meantime, check out the fab talks on the site.) More book tour events are yet to come, in Scottsdale, AZ and Minneapolis, MN (details below) and, in the spring, on the East Coast. I’ll keep you posted.
Something I’m looking forward to doing, after the semester ends and as the holidays approach, is getting back to pleasure reading. One book high on my TBR list came out this week, Nikki Payne’s Pride and Protest, a rewriting of P&P. Here’s my new copy next to another holiday present I bought myself—Jennyvi’s Jane Austen Couture purse. Just looking at this photo makes me happy.
Of course, I hope some of you might think of putting Sister Novelists on your holiday gift lists and wish lists. I’d be happy to mail you a signed book plate for any copy you plan to buy for yourself or as a gift for someone; please email me to let me know? (dlooser at asu.edu). I’ll get a book plate in the mail to you in time for the holidays.
And here’s another fun little extra—koozies for Sister Novelists are here! If you’re buying 2+ copies of the book, you are my hero, and I’ll send the first ten people who write to say they’ve done so a koozie as a token of thanks. (I’ll also have a few of them with me at the Modern Language Association Convention in San Francisco in January.)
The koozie quotation from Anna Maria Porter is one of my favorites. She had precocity for a lot of things, including being able to spot mainsplainers jealous of her talents. Her words make me grateful for women willing to call b.s. when they see it and who raise their voices to speak their truths, then and now.
Your dutiful and obedient humble servant,
Devoney
P. S. HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT Sister Novelists?
Order the book in print or electronic format. Or check out the audiobook!
Suggest that your local library add Sister Novelists to its collection (ISBN: 163557529X).
Add the book to your Want to Read on Goodreads and return later to review it.
Forward this newsletter to a friend.
Consider reading the book with your book group. (Sister Novelists has an online reader’s guide.)
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UPCOMING EVENTS WITH DEVONEY: SISTER NOVELISTS BOOK TOUR
Scottsdale, AZ: Poisoned Pen (Tues., Dec. 6th, 7 p.m.), with novelist Francine Matthews aka Stephanie Barron
Minneapolis, MN: Magers & Quinn (Thurs., Feb. 16th)
. . . and more to come soon!