Art is not made in a vacuum
November 2024
Hi friends,
Still crawling my way out of the pit of despair post-election, and I’ve been thinking a lot about who I was between 2016 (that other election) and 2021 (when he was kicked to the curb. For good, I’d once thought. Silly, naive me).
Back then, I tried to keep a diary of that era, but—like with all my other diaries—the attempt failed. I should have known because in my childhood I’d had a hundred diaries, all with the same first entry:
Dear Diary,
I swear I’m going to write in you this time. I promise—I’m really, really going to keep this up.
I’d finish that one entry. And then, it was followed by a hundred blank pages. (Talk about promises unfulfilled!)
So alas, no diary from the first dump administration. Then I realized that the closest things I have to a record of my thoughts and feelings during those years are… my books! The things I experience and the way I feel about those experiences (whether on the global stage or more close to home) end up in my work. Because—as my girl Kamala says—“you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
Writing is the way I process emotions and make sense of nonsensical things. I mean, clearly not diary writing—but through fiction, I can explore tough, complicated thoughts I’m chewing over. For example: why it seems like all the worst people in the world seek power, end up with it, and then use their influence for self-serving purposes (at best) or acts of cruelty (at worst).
My next series, The Incorruptibles (coming out on June 10th), is all about power. It’s about the morals people will compromise—and the lengths they’ll go—to get power over others, whether for money, for supremacy, or for the sadism of taking pleasure in others’ pain. It’s about a world in which magical powers belong to the ones greedy enough to seize them and wicked enough to use them. Baked into the very premise of The Incorruptibles is the concept that sorcerers use magic to enhance their own well-being, at the expense of others.
Sound familiar?
That’s because this book was conceived in 2017-2018ish. I had a few false starts of trying to put pen to paper with this concept in 2019. And then in 2020, the story all came knitting together—finally! And because it takes a long time to write a book when other deadlines are hurtling toward you, I sent the first draft of The Incorruptibles to my agent in 2022. It went on sub in 2023. And it will be coming out in 2025… FULL CIRCLE (in the most nightmarish way) back to the corrupt administration that had inspired the concept in the first place.
I wish I could be the kind of person that makes totally hypothetical fantasy worlds, but I’ve never been that kind of writer. I’m not sure anyone is that kind of writer. Fiction is rooted in authenticity, and art is not made in a vacuum. To write is to have thoughts and feelings—to be trying to say something.
Not a moral, not a lesson. More like: a dilemma. Or a debate. All authors come to the table with a point of view. And to treat books like “it’s just a made-up story” is to trivialize the effect of writing. The whole purpose is that art is the string that connects imagination to reality.
I think that’s why Republicans are trying so hard to ban books. They don’t want kids exposed to any ideas that could oppose the patriarchal, heteronormative, christocentric, and—frankly—restrictive worldview these politicians want kids to have. Curiosity and empathy lead to questions, and questions lead to challenging the status quo. And so many of their proposed policies demand that you don’t challenge the status quo.
Art not received in a vacuum either. This is the greatest struggle I’m having right now…
All I wanted was to release this book at a time—and in a political climate—that felt more stable. When I critique the way that “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” I wanted it to be a past warning or a distant warning. Not something we will be seeing unfold with our very own eyes in live time. There were two different worlds that The Incorruptibles could have released in, and here we are on the worse timeline. In a worse world.
I do feel like we’re headed into the winds of a hurricane. Or maybe we’ve never left; perhaps the Biden years were simply the eye of the storm, and now we’re back to feeling that same hurricane’s fury again.
And yes, the gusts will rattle us around. But one day there will be calm enough to survey the damage, right?
I think books will help us find some shelter in the tough times and rebuild in the calmer times. So long as kids have access to them.
Friends, The Mythics 4 comes out in 2 weeks, and it’s the final book in a warm, loving, feminist, teamwork-focused series. If The Mythics has felt extraordinarily happy, sweet, or refreshing (one reader once told me it was the book equivalent of a lemon sorbet palate cleanser), you should know the idea for this story was born in 2018 and first drafted in 2019. Yes—surprisingly, this series is another idea born of the first dump administration era.
What was I responding to then?
1) Love and kindness in a time of nonstop nastiness.
2) Strength in the era of the world’s weakest strongman.
I’d asked myself plenty: what does it mean to be strong? Nothing to do with false bravado, machismo, or violence. No, strength—as I still see it—is quieter than that, and I used five girls to demonstrate my understanding that strength is intelligence (Marina), bravery (Hailey), humor (Kit), optimism (Ember), and compassion (Pippa).
I think we could all use a little of the Mythics’ strengths right now. In this final volume, Ember and Pippa really take the forefront, as the fight against Golden Jumpsuit reaches a fever pitch. I hope Ember’s confidence and Pippa’s kindness can give you strength too.
There’s no sugarcoating it. We’re in dark times, and everything feels like ashes right now. But—as you’ll see in The Mythics 4—the phoenix has a fire that lights the way, and she is strongest in the dark. Soon, I hope that we too will shine again, brighter than ever.
What I’m Writing
THE MYTHICS series (3/4ths available now): The Mythics 4 drops in TWO WEEKS. And I received my author copies!!!!!!
Now is a perfect time to get your preorders in. For two reasons: 1) because I wouldn’t want you to be spoiled by all the juicy reveals that are coming out this book. And 2) because I have a great giveaway planned for the first ten people who review the book on Amazon.
Please please please make sure to tag me in any pictures you take with your copy! It would make my day to see Mythics joy!!
Marina and the Kraken, Hailey and the Dragon, and Kit and the Nine-Tailed Fox = out now!
Ember and the Phoenix = available for preorder, releasing December 3rd.
THE INCORRUPTIBLES series (June 10, 2025): Don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads shelf! ARCs (aka early copies for review purposes only) have arrived at my publisher’s office, though I haven’t seen them myself yet. But I will… SO SOON!!! And I’ve received some truly magnificent blurbs! One even had me tearing up in an airport! More soon on those!!
If you want a book that acknowledges your frustration regarding power-hungry miscreants taking the helm AND ALSO at the same time feels like a warm, inclusive hug, then this is your book, and you belong on an Inc Academy squad. Please preorder the book today:
CASE CLOSED series (out now): This is a pick-your-own-path interactive mystery series with puzzles to solve, choices to make, and dead ends to hit. But don’t worry—each book has four good endings too! For anyone who has ever wanted to be Nancy Drew or a Hardy Boy:
Trauma Project (work in progress): I finished another revision on it, and oooof, it’s hitting me hard, right in the feels. I sent it off to a friend for feedback. And after that, it’ll go back to my agent again. Let’s go Trauma!
What I’m reading
The Queen of Ocean Parkway by Sarvenaz Tash: This book released recently, and I ADORED IT. It’s very Only Murders in the Building meets When You Reach Me, for ages 8-12.
In fact… I enjoyed this book so much that I blurbed it!!! “A clever feat of physics and fun. Sarvenaz Tash is an expert at writing bold concepts with masterful nuance and tenderness. I love this mystery!” —Me
Where to Find Me
Thursday November 21st: “Shake Up Your Shelves” NCTE roundtable discussion (1 pm), Boston
Thursday November 21st through Sunday November 24th: The first advance reader copies of The Incorruptibles will be distributed in the Simon & Schuster booth at NCTE. All you have to do is ask them for a copy! Don’t wait too long, though; first come, first serve.
At your school, whenever you choose: I’m planning lots of school visits for months of May and June to celebrate The Incorruptibles. I travel, near and far! Here’s the information about what I do. If your school (or your child’s school) would like to participate in an author visit this spring, please let me know!
Saying Goodbye
When all the tears are shed, it’s time to get to work. We’ve got a lot of minds to change and hearts to open. But I believe in us. I believe in decency, empathy, community, and hope. It is not foolish to hope.
Most importantly, we’re in this together. No one is alone. Outnumbered, beaten down, and crestfallen though we may be, we can and will bounce back. If writing about a resistance group in The Incorruptibles has taught me anything, it’s that resilience makes the movement.
Chin up, Buttercup,
Lauren