This was supposed to be a post all about new book releases you should check out this month but then I got sidetracked because I’M GOING TO BE ON THE TODAY SHOW.
At first I thought this was a practical joke because I’m never asked to be on things like this but turns out it is real and I will be on next Saturday morning (the 28th) to talk about my new book. This is especially puzzling since there is a story in the book about how I was the first person to ever say the phrase “lady garden” live on CNN but I have promised to be on my best behavior. I am currently baffled though about what to wear and have winnowed it down to a pair of fancy overalls made of couch upholstery embroidered with kittens, a silky dress that I loved until I realized that everyone will see my knees on tv, a kaftan that I thought would be very sophisticated because it’s just black but now that I look closer looks a lot like a witches costume with floor-length cape, a vest made of actual ice cubes that I wear when I’m panicking because anxiety makes me sweaty. Pretty sure none of these work. I do have one dress that might work but when I showed it Hailey they were like, “It’s a little….vaginal?” and then I looked at all of the giant pink paisleys again and now all I can see is vagina. I wore it to the bookstore yesterday and was like, “Can you see the vaginas in this dress?” and they were like, “Oh. Well not before, but yeah, now that I’m looking for it I can see vaginas” and so now the best dress I have is one where I worry that I will show everyone my vaginas. This is where I would share a picture of it but if I do then I have either doomed myself to have you all see my vaginas on live tv or everyone will be like, “HOW DO YOU SEE VAGINAS IN THAT, YOU WEIRDOS?” and it feels like there’s not a win there either way.
Slightly related, copies of HOW TO BE OKAY WHEN NOTHING IS OKAY have arrived at the Nowhere Bookshop warehouse and I’ve begun signing them! You can also get signed copies from Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and lots of indie bookshops everywhere. And I’ll be signing books (and whatever else you want) on book tour in PA, NH, CA, OR and TX. Please come.
And now…some other lovely March books you should be checking out:
This month I picked Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell for the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club. It’s a dark, gothic Welsh mythology reimagined to explore love, power and consent.
And if you’re a member of Nightmares from Nowhere Book club you’re getting Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran. The untimely death of a student at a girls’ boarding school turns out to be the first in a haunting series of escalating supernatural events. A thrilling debut novel about teenage repression, queer desire, and the everyday horror of coming of age.
They are both hauntingly good and I highly recommend them.
And if you need more books to get you through the month, here are a few more new releases I loved:
The Lost Daughter of Sparta by Felicia Day and Rowan MacColl– A fabulous sapphic graphic novel retelling the lost fourth daughter cursed by Aphrodite.
The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann– We all know what happened to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But what if she woke up the day after her execution and took it upon herself to seek justice?
Statues by Junji Ito– I’m a sucker for any of Ito’s horror graphic novels. So very weird.
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall – Moby Dick. In space. With lesbians. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Happy reading!
I say go with the caftan- you can wear the ice vest underneath and no one will f#$k with you because they’ll be like “why is that hot witch wearing body armor?”
Omg!! This is amazing Jenny!! Im.so proud of you! I know what you must he going through, but as your long distance friend i will be watching, smiling and send you ALL THE GOOD JUJU!!!! 🥰🥰🥰
So excited to recieve both of my copies (book and audio) Well done madame!! Well done!!😃👏👏👏❤️❤️
I am delighted to know you will be on “Today,” but distressed to learn it is the day of the No Kings Rally. Since I owe it to Womankind to be at the rally, I am presuming your appearance will be available On Demand when I get home. Assuming I haven’t been jailed or shot in the face, both of which are waaaaaaaaaay more likely than I am happy about. But go, you!
(Completely fair. Kick ass, friend! ~ Jenny)
The world needs more vaginas so I say wear it proudly….
Maybe it’s time to take Hailey shopping with you? They have good fashion sense and can help you pick out an outfit?
But just think, this will be after the Raptor on the 22nd! Perhaps all the Velociraptors will be operating the cameras!
🤭
I get this daily news update thing from Katie Couric and she mentioned you today! Wheee! She wrote about speaking with you and it was very, very cool. Best wishes on all your publicity stuff. All your little gremlins are thrilled for you. Make sure you wear undies in case you slip and fall. You will not.
(Day made! ~ Jenny)
Did you know that the Today airs at the same time as today????
Wear the kitty overalls. 😽
OMG! This is soooo exciting! I can’t wait.
Whatever you wear it’ll be perfect.
You ALWAYS shine, even when you think you might not be.
my role-model
I’m confused; is the show live on Saturdays? My cable says there’s just a repeat on at 4 am (PDT)… I don’t want to miss it! Thanks and kick ass Jenny! Wear whatever feels most comfortable to to heck with what anyone else thinks!
(It’s live on Saturday in the morning. 🙂 ~ Jenny)
Katie Couric recommended your new book in her newsletter today 😁
(WHAT. ~ Jenny)
I’m so excited for you! Hopefully I’ll remember to watch. I forget things A LOT. Either way, please post a picture of the vagina dress online and wear the kitty overalls on TV.
Congratulations!! I’m going to watch it.
Whatever you decide to wear will be perfect.
How about all those clothes at the same time, hmm?
Love, the people who care won’t even notice what you are wearing.
BUT. I just started reading The Starling House, like Just Started, and it is so…fresh and unexpected. Footnotes?!? I loooove footnotes in general, but in fiction? Ooo, that’s like breaking the third wall. Or fourth? Like, when actors acknowledge the audience.
Awesome, Jenny! 🎉🎉🎉 You’ll be great no matter what you wear. 😍
Obviously, you must wear the overalls. Duh…
YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO WEAR THE VAGINA DRESS!!!
Honestly, once you start looking there are vulvas everywhere, and it’s a joy!
I’ll be at a No Kings Protest, but will dvr your appearance on The Today Show and watch when I get home. Wear what you feel good in!
I vote for the overalls (because kittens!) or the witchy kaftan. However now I’m intrigued about the vagina dress. Not that I want to see your vagina. But obviously everyone wants to see your vagina. Dress. Hmmm…
Ppppllllleeeaaasssssee pretty please show us the vagina dress??
I’m in my car laughing so much (I’m stopped) right now. This is too funny, thank you I needed this. I never thought of vaginas before when looking at paisley patterns, but now I will.
As for what to wear on the show, the dress you are wearing in the instagram pics with all your books is really pretty. I’d go with that, no vaginas there. 🥰
Wear whatever you feel is most comfortable for you when you’re feeling overwhelmed. That way you’re not feeling uncomfortable in your clothes as well as in the situation. Although now we of course want to see the outfits you mentioned.
If the Saturday today show is on a tv cable station, I’ll be able to watch it or DVR it, but if it’s on a streaming service, I don’t pay for streaming services on top of my cable bill.
I hope you have a wonderful time in your interview experience!
Congratulations! You’ve got this. You will kill it.
I vote cat overalls—-especially if they have big pockets so you can haul along a variety of emergency coping tools such as your favorite taxidermied cuddlebuddy & a sketchbook.
So exciting!!! And if you never say “lady garden” you may be able to get away with wearing vaginas…
So stoked for you that you’re going to be on The Today Show! You are absolutely going to kill it, so much so that I think it’s very possible they will invite you to come back. Don’t mean to give you more anxiety with that last bit-that’s just how awesome you are!
They will learn what your weirdo fans already know-that you are a delight! As for your outfit, I think you’ve got some great options. Overalls I would not do though, only because if it were me I would accidentally drop the overall straps in a toilet bowl if I used the restroom, although I am a dufus and you are not so it maybe just fine!
The black kaftan sounds like a perfect little black dress situation-with LBDs you can dress it up or down with accessories! You could go glamorous resort wear/1960s vibes with a colorful chunky necklace and perhaps a few bangles and a metallic sandal (or simple neutral ballet flats my favorite go to). You could also do a Stevie Nicks vibe and wear a couple boho necklaces (layering is fun) and a couple of boho rings.
You have so got this girl! Will be watching it for sure! 😊
OMG, that’s amazing news about the Today Show! Seriously, that’s huge! Speaking of puzzles and unexpected twists, have you ever tried A roguelike twist on 2048? It’s surprisingly addictive and a fun way to kill time before your big debut!
Really love your content, this is exactly the kind of stuff I keep coming back for, thank you. On a related note, I’ve been dealing with a frustrating image editing problem lately. Kept needing to swap backgrounds and remove objects from photos, but every time it meant opening Photoshop and spending way too long on something simple. Eventually found an ai image editor that just takes a text description and does the edit for you. No skills needed, results in a few minutes. Sharing in case anyone here has the same headache.
Photo makes me think “New Book Smell” would be an excellent merch addition to your book family
As someone who wore a great dress on stage and sat in a chair the whole time I urge you to wear pants!
I’m really sorry to have to write this _as_a_man_, but I’m pretty certain you’re not talking about vaginas but most certainly about vulvae.
In nearly all cases when people talk about vaginae they actually mean vulvae, as the vagina usually isn’t visible at all.
One would usually have to use a speculum or something else to spread your lady parts apart to even take a look _INTO_ one’s vagina, the “tube”- or “hose”-thing connecting your outer lady garden, correctly named as vulva, to your uterurs.
=> The vulva and not the vagina is the outer visible part of your lady garden. Sorry, it really annoys me as _a_man_ to have to mansplain this to a woman. But still all the best and good luck to you and keep it up, Jenny! 🙂
Wear the silk dress with a pair of knee-highs 😀
If you don’t wear the vaginas, are you even JENNY?
SO FLIPPING EXCITED FOR YOU!!!! (also so flipping excited for the new book omg omg counting down the days!) (also-also, how are you going to tell us about a vagina dress and then *not* wear it??)
Love your content, always look forward to your posts! I went through the same frustration a while ago — spent hours trying to generate decent images and kept getting results that looked nothing like what I had in mind. Almost gave up entirely. Then I came across Mai Image 2 and it completely changed my experience. The prompts actually translate into what you imagined, lighting feels real, and it’s completely free. Game changer for me.
https://maiimage2.net/