Finding North: November 2023

Plays, playing, a new story and a book rec 📚

Note: The recording above is a reading of this newsletter — there’s no different content, and it’s not produced, so you’ll hear the occasional stumble, or sounds of daily life in the background. If you’re someone who needs or prefers to hear their news, then I hope it’s helpful.

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Hi there! I’m Amie Kaufman, NYT and internationally bestselling author of The Isles of the Gods, Illuminae, Aurora Rising, These Broken Stars, and many more books besides. This newsletter is the place to learn about my latest releases or events, and to follow along behind the scenes as I find my way through writing, and through life.

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Hi, my friends.

It’s so good to be back with you! We missed a month there, and I genuinely missed writing to you! I really enjoy the chance to sit down and form my thoughts when I write my letter each month, and having heard from so many of you at events, I love imagining you reading it. My aim is for this monthly letter to be a sort of friendly, newsy, restful letter from a friend, that puts a couple of interesting new ideas in your head, and leaves you feeling like you’ve had a chat.

Alas, I had a couple of migraines in a row just when I was due to write the last issue, and screens are not a good idea when that’s happening. I spend so much time talking about the importance of balance, so as I recovered, I didn’t push myself to get a newsletter out just because it was a particular date on the calendar.

Now we’re back in the saddle, let’s jump in — this month I’m talking about refilling my well with different kinds of art, ardently recommending a new book, and sharing news about a short story and more.

The view from the end of my street. My neurologist is treating my new (and definitely not improved!) migraines with various medications, but also has me walking every morning, and increasing my daily meditation practice. I feel like this view is good medicine for anyone.

What I’ve Been Up To

Since last I wrote, I’ve been spending a lot of time refilling my well. For me, this isn’t just something to do when I start to feel tired, or worn out, or like my creative muscles are strained. It’s something I try to do in all aspects of my life, and that I try to do all year around — it’s a preventative, not just a cure. I did hand in my final revision of The Heart of the World, though (a title I still haven’t revealed publicly, but we’re all friends here) so I’ve been thinking a lot about refilling the tank.

One of my favourite ways to rest in every sense is camping — so our family took off with some friends, and we hiked (gently), toasted marshmallows, admired the Milky Way, talked and daydreamed and ate some excellent fish and chips.

The inside of perhaps my favourite place in the world — our beautiful campervan, home to many adventures.

Another way I love to fill myself up with inspiration is by spending time with art that isn't what I do. When I read a book, a part of me will often be noting the clever thing the author just did, or pondering how I'd have tackled that twist. I’ll think about why I saw a particular moment coming, or didn’t — and this isn’t to say that I can’t lose myself in a book, because I absolutely can, but I’m still reading it as an insider.

When I'm watching a play, though, or gazing at a painting, I'm entirely in the space of an admirer. I have no idea how they do what they do, so the pressure's off to figure it out. I can just soak it up, and daydream, and let myself play. There’s a sense of being ‘off duty’ that comes with no expectations.

Last month I went to see an incredible show in Melbourne called LOVE LUST LOST, with my friend Kate J. Armstrong — I have no idea how, but somehow I scored an invite to the fancy opening night, and off we trotted. It was an incredible, immersive theatre experience inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Little Mermaid. It was dark and weird and sexy, and at one point I legit nearly got a tattoo.

What I loved most about it was the lightness of there being no expectations of me at all. I wandered the abandoned hotel it was set in, I explored new rooms, I watched performers come and go, I marvelled at the scenery, and everyday life fell away completely. There was nothing I was meant to be doing, except experiencing it.

There’s far too little chance for adults to play in their everyday life — this is something I think about a lot. Those of you who read about the Barbie Bus Incident already know this. And the longer I think about it, the more important it feels to chase down chances to play at every opportunity. Anything could happen tomorrow — sure, you need to do the laundry sometimes, but are you going to look back and wish you’d folded it more neatly, or that you’d soaked up something that inspired you?

If you have a favourite kind of art for this practice, I’d love to hear it — I’m always adding to my list. Next up I’m going to try embroidery for the first time, so stand by for that joyful disaster!

What I’m Writing

I’m launching myself into copy edits for The Heart of the World this week — I know I promised you a cover reveal, and it’s coming as soon as possible! It’ll be worth the wait! Copy edits, for the uninitiated, are when a detail-minded soul who deserves a sainthood goes through the whole manuscript, pulling out grammatical errors, factual inconsistencies (“Her eyes were brown, earlier”) and looking for repetitious language or any other quirks the author might not have noticed.

It is absolutely vital to making sure a book’s as good as it can be, and it is my least favourite thing to do in the world. You name the personality test — Myers Briggs, Enneagram, Clifton Strengths — every one of them agrees that I hate really detail-oriented tasks. I want to be on to the next big idea! Now, I do my copy edits, and I do them perfectly, because I care so much about making sure my books are as good as I know how to make them. But gosh, I do not enjoy it one bit.

Here are some flowers from one of my morning walks, to cleanse our palates after talk of semicolons. Which I still don’t know how to use.

What I’ve Loved Lately

This! This is what I’ve loved lately. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty. My goodness, this book bowled me over. I listened to it on audio, and the two narrators were so good that I emailed my own audio producer (with whom I have become friends, after so many years and books and adventures together) to make sure he had them on his radar, because they elevate a genuinely fantastic book to even greater heights.

If you’re interested in the tale of a female pirate captain who’s past forty and has a bad knee and is definitely retired… but finds herself offered one last adventure (and if not, why not?) then this one is for you. The book also muses beautifully on everything from being a working parent, to the way friendships can slide in adult life, to living alongside other faiths and how we tell stories about ourselves.

I don’t want to call it early, because there are still two months left in the year, but I think this book is going to sit alongside A Psalm for the Wild-Born by Becky Chambers (which I discussed in my August letter) with the two of them tied for my favourite book of 2023.

News and Events

Since last I wrote, I’ve had a short story out in a new anthology — Meg Spooner and I had a blast retelling the story of Rapunzel in Let Down Your H.A.I.R., our contribution to Everything Under the Moon, a collection of queer fairytale retellings. For those of you who loved These Broken Stars, I can whisper that this story is secretly set in the same universe, after the conclusion of Their Fractured Light — but no knowledge (or memory, if you’re like me) of the series is required to enjoy it.

Five delighted nerds autographing a book they wrote!

I was also absolutely delighted to discover that The Isles of the Gods made the Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2023 list — this kind of independent recognition really means the world, and I’m still smiling a week after I found out!

That’s it for this month! I’ll be back in December, writing to you from Japan, as it happens — I’m already looking forward to sharing one of my favourite places with you. Until then, take care, and happy reading!

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