Friends,
Pardon me for hopping in your digital living room an extra time this month, but I can finally announce something exciting Iāve been sitting on for a while.
I am so excited to let yāknow that my next novel for adults, LIKE A MOTHER, releases fall 2025.
I have so much to say about this story, but let me start with this.
After Funeral Ladies, I submitted an idea to my editor for my next book. HarperCollins owns my āoptionsā, meaning that they get a first look at any books I want to publish. (QuillTree, William Morrow, and Avon, all of which Iām published under, are all under the umbrella of HarperCollins.) So I excitedly sent an idea over to my adult editor andā¦
ā¦got the ole de-ny.
It stung. But hereās the thing: it didnāt sting that badly. In fact, pretty quickly I was like, eh, Iām kind of glad I donāt have to go write that book. That was a FLAMING RED HOT FLAG that I shouldnāt take the idea out to other editors but instead, hop on the phone with my previous editor (who I adore) to find out what she liked vs. didnāt like about the idea. During that phone call, we somehow got off on a tangent about our mutual love for Netflix documentaries on cults. We also started talking about how weād both obsessively followed the case of Ruby Franke, the momfluencer whoās now in prison for abuse. From there, we started going off about parenting pressure from in-laws, tradwives, gentle parenting, helicopter parentingā¦and on, and on, and on.
āIf you change your mind and suddenly want to pitch me a book tomorrow about lobsters, no pressure,ā she said. āButā¦this sounds really interesting to me. Something in here is a book.ā
And from thereā¦Cass Simon appeared in my head, sitting out on a dock with her pregnant sister-in-law, wondering how the hell she wound up back in Port Holcomb, Wisconsin.
I canāt wait to share more with you about this book. Thank you so much for being along for the journey. You want the cold, hard truth about why I was able to get a deal for Like a Mother? Because so many of you bought The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County in Meijer. You are a *ginormous* reason Iām here, and I do not forget that.
Happy reading this summer. May your margaritas be spicy and your hammock be swingy. More soon. ā¤ļø
Best,
Claire
PS: If youāre local, I have some library events coming upāincluding one Thursday! Iāll be at Pauline Haass Library in Sussex, WI at 6:30. The event is free but theyāre asking people to register. Copies of The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County will be available for sale; Iām also happy to sign any that you bring.
As a lover of cult memoirs who really enjoyed Funeral Ladies, I am so excited to read this!!
Congratulations!