The highlights of Highlights
March 2025
Hi friends,
Hello, from Highlights!
If you don’t know what Highlights is, it’s a retreat center for writers, where you can go with a specific workshop to discuss and improve craft, or you can do an informal retreat, where you’re not part of a program… and you (and friends) just try to get as much work done as possible in a place with basically no cell reception and with all your meals and snacks taken care of by a real chef!
Right now, I’m here with friends, and we get to hype each other up about our projects, share industry battle scars, and inspire confidence in each other (for creative or business endeavors ahead).
Usually I am extraordinarily productive here… probably because I don’t have to worry about the food prep, cooking, cleaning, real life chores. I’m literally sequestered from the world; my only job is to focus on my work. It’s really the only time I get to live the idyllic fantasy version of what I thought author life would be like. No obligations, no marketing/promo, no social media…
Just writing. Me and the words.
Or… me and the blank page, this time around.
Because, yes, the three books I’ve been actively working on for the last few years are all in someone else’s hands at the moment. So I’m back to the beginning, starting from scratch.
Um… How do you bake a book from scratch again?
Well, right now, I’m shopping for ingredients. I’m not sure what the final product is going to taste like yet—whether it will be savory or sweet or salty. But I’m asking myself a lot of “what if” questions, and reminding myself of the things I love/loathe/experience/observe. I mean, that’s how I got my other books. To name a few:
The Incorruptibles— what if sorcerers let their power go to their heads and used their magic to oppress people without magic? (kind of how people in our world use power/influence/authority to their advantage to punch down?)
Case Closed— how do I make a book series that feels like a video game? highly interactive with loads of puzzles?
The Mythics— what if there were a team of five girls (with mythical beast animal companions), who have to save the world? how do I display the different, non-typical ways that inner strength can manifest?
Trauma Project— time to face something tough that happened to me. what does it mean for adults to “protect the children” when they’re willing to throw certain children to the wolves to do so?
Right now, I don’t have a fully-formed idea yet. Just tidbits.
The blank page is overwhelming. Not knowing exactly where the plot is going, or who populates the book, or what themes and philosophical ideas we’re going to tackle yet is a little intimidating. But also… Isn’t that kind of the fun of writing? The exploring, the discovery, the revelation, the aha! moments.
Somehow, I’ve discovered that I’m one of those people that really really enjoys the mess. (Absolutely no surprise there, says every Magaziner reading this right now.)
But what I mean is: trying to tease out a new book idea can feel cluttering or disorganized, but I find joy in all the promise of all the places a story could go (vs understanding where it actually goes). It can unfold this way! No, it can happen that way! Maybe the premise is like this. No like that! There are so many ideas to work with. And I don’t even have to crystalize my thoughts—not yet.
The early days of a new book are filled with fragments of potential and a fluttery eagerness to figure it out. It’s exciting when the work is stimulating your own imagination. Even if it doesn’t feel “productive,” thinking is half the battle of writing! At this point, it’s not like I’m putting together a puzzle with pieces that are sitting in front of me... and instead more like I’m creating the very shape of each jigsaw piece before I have to put it all together.
Who knows what this will become? What shape, what flavor, what melody? I’ll keep you posted as something starts to form!
Good news and updates
I’m adding this section to my newsletter for now, in the hopes that it will manifest some good news rolling in for the upcoming release of The Incorruptibles (June 10th).
And look! It works! FANTASTIC news: The Incorruptibles received its first trade review, and it’s a star from Kirkus!!!
You can read the whole starred review here! This magnificent review is such an honor. I’m really verklempt about it! It’s not easy to get a starred review, and I will be forever grinning about this! Especially since this book means the world to me.
What I’m Writing
THE INCORRUPTIBLES series (June 10, 2025): The Incorruptibles 2 is off with my editor. The Incorruptibles 1 advance reader copies are making their way into industry + reviewer hands!!!! If you have an early copy, please read it early! I need your help to build buzz and electrifying energy! (If you want an early digital review copy, you can request it here on NetGalley.)
⭐️ Trust the Kirkus star, and bolt into this lightning blast of a futuristic fantasy! ⭐️
Ten weeks until this book releases to everyone!!!! You can order your copy now, so it arrives the moment it drops:
THE MYTHICS series (available now): Perfect for 6-10 year olds who love their books with lots of illustrations, action-packed chapters, sweet friendships, and adorable mythical beast monsters.
CASE CLOSED series (available now): Perfect for 8-12 year olds who love video games, escape rooms, puzzles, and choosing their way through the book.
What I’m reading
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: No spoilers here, I promise! This is what I wrote to my publicists, and I stand by it: I'm pretty sure my heart was ripped out of my body, trampled on, and left out on the asphalt like road kill. I'm just so depressed right now. But... 10 out of 10. I loved it so much. Am already reading it again. Gosh, Suzanne Collins is in a league of her own... I'm in absolute awe!! Especially her ability to create works that are so politically relevant, with the sharpest of commentary. Her pen is truly a sword.
Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz: And speaking of books that absolutely gutted me… Man. Adam Gidwitz went THERE. To Nazi Germany. Like Sunrise on the Reaping, this book also says so much about propaganda, the way the narrative gets defined, how stories get told (and whose), and how people can justify terrible things. This book had me gasping, crying, and staying up way past lights out to read. (To appreciate this one, you have to read the first book in the duology first, called Max in the House of Spies.)
Saying Goodbye
Because it’s timely, I want to introduce you to the Rainfall Ball!!! In The Incorruptibles, the Rainfall Ball is a big gala that happens in April on the first rainy day of the month, whichever date that might be.
So as we roll into April, be sure to let me know when YOUR Rainfall Ball would be (if Inc Academy was in your town). And try to dance outside in the rain on your Rainfall Ball day… No umbrellas allowed!
April showers bring dance hours,
Lauren