I’ve been keeping this secret for nearly THREE MONTHS!!!
And I can finally let the "cat" out of the bag.
I think this will be public knowledge next week (so please keep this just between us until then?), but what is the point in subscribing to this newsletter if I don’t dish the good stuff to you all first?????
BOOK 3 IS OFFICIALLY HAPPENING, YA’LL
I am thrilled to introduce the newest member of the Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships Family, arriving (God willing) in Spring 2023…
LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL is about a free-spirited singer-songwriter with ADHD who finds herself stranded in Ireland and teams up with a charming tattooed local who has OCD to reinvent the pub he inherited from his father.
How it happened…
We submitted my option materials (the outline and sample chapter a publisher uses to decide whether or not to buy an author’s next book after their previous contract is complete) on January 4th. I did a pretty good job of being patient while my editor and the team at Berkley read it over, and I was pretty sure Berkley would offer to buy it, but you never know!
My agent had already “soft-pitched” the idea to my editor (this is when an agent runs an idea past the editor to get the editor’s thoughts/feedback before officially submitting ). I even received some (great) feedback on the first chapter from my editor so I could take full advantage of my time off of teaching during Winter break.
Anyway, I was feeling pretty impatient on Friday, January 14th even though it had only been 10 days since submitting and my editor had said it would take about 2 weeks for everyone to read (more than just the editor have to like a book for it to get picked up). I’d even posted on my Instagram stories that day about hoping for a phone call. Well, I must have manifested one, because my agent asked me if I was around for a phone call right before the faculty meeting I had that day. Here is my Instagram story from right after.
ANYWAY, if you follow me on social media, this secret probably doesn’t surprise you. If you know me IRL, it definitely doesn’t surprise you. But I am so glad it is OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL and I can talk about it. (Here, anyway. I’m waiting for the Publisher’s Marketplace announcement before I make it *social media public.*)
Here’s the deal…
LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL isn’t a boat book, but it is set in the world of LOVE, LISTS, AND FANCY SHIPS and LUCK AND LAST RESORTS.
There are some familiar faces in this book! (Our charming pub owner is Jack Dunne, Ollie’s younger brother.) Raine Hart, our messy musician, is a brand new character who has been in my head for at least a year and a half! She was actually inspired by a meet-cute prompt on Reddit. I had planned her for a totally different book, and I NEVER planned on Jack getting a book or setting one in Ireland (in fact, I’d been toying with an idea for Britt and RJ), but Jack completely stole the single scene he was in for LUCK AND LAST RESORTS. I was smitten with him right away and knew I wanted to spend a bit more time with him. (Or a lot, I guess.)
The day I finished the third draft of LUCK AND LAST RESORTS, I told Beta Reader Dani that I wanted to write a book about Jack, but I had no idea what that story would be, only that he was so fun to write. Originally, Raine was an aspiring singer with ADHD who worked at a karaoke restaurant. I told Beta Reader Dani I didn’t know what to do, and she was like “lol just combine them.”
As soon as she said it, the whole book was there. Not the plot or anything, but the ~vibe. And thus, LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL—yes, that was the first title I had for it, too. I played with one other, just THE LOCAL, but we landed on the original title instead—was born!
If LOVE, LISTS, AND FANCY SHIPS is my sunrise book, and LUCK AND LAST RESORTS is my sunset book, then LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL is my sunshine book. It is soft, and funny, and gentle. The book isn’t done, of course, *insert nervous writer on a deadline face* but my goal from the beginning has been to write a romance that will feel like slipping into your cozy socks and snuggling under your favorite blanket.
Here's my moodboard for LCL:
That’s not to say LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL doesn’t deal with serious themes like my first two books. This will definitely be my most personal book to date. Raine isn’t a self-insert, but her ADHD is very much a reflection of my experience as a person with ADHD. Both she and Jack are good-hearted people who feel out of place in their lives and are searching for a sense of belonging. While their neurodivergence is a big part of how they experience the world, I didn’t want ADHD and OCD to be plot points or obstacles in the way of their romance. Instead, I wanted to explore neurodivergent love from various angles—learning to love oneself, learning to love another person, allowing someone to love you and see you for exactly who you are, as well as how some things we *think* are opposites (like ADHD and OCD) actually have a lot more in common than stereotypes suggest.
Something fun about this book? It is written in dual POV! I didn’t expect to write from Jack’s perspective when I started this, but I quickly learned that it is just as much his story as it is Raine’s. I know you will absolutely adore my little sunshine babies, so here’s a little bit about them.
27 years old (this is my youngest pairing to date!)
Owns a pub called The Local
Former tattoo-artist
Cat dad
Reads anything and everything
Has OCD
Loves bagels
26 years old
Is a traveling musician (street performer)
Has ADHD
From Boston (where I went to college)
Has a degree in neuroscience
Will her socks ever match? Probably not.
Has played guitar on a lot of bridges
AND A BONUS CHARACTER
Sebastian (aka Floofy Boy and/or Princess Ugly)
Jack’s cat
My nephew, Sebastian, said I should name a character after him, so I did.
He is a big boi™ (Sebastian the cat, not my nephew.)
Very grumpy
Very floofy
Destroyer of phone chargers
He doesn’t care what you call him
Loves to troll Raine
(I don’t have any sketches of Sebastian/Floofy Boy/Princess Ugly, sorry.)
The Setting: Cobh, Ireland
ANYWAY, here is a collection of tweets and reels related to LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL
The ~vibes.
Making some character art.
This whole book is just a roast of myself.
This guy has total Jack energy.
That’s all for now! Thanks for tuning in! I’d love to hear any predictions you have for LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL! (Or, ya know, any random things I should add into my draft as a challenge prompt.)
XO,
Sarah
Congrats!! Book 3 sounds like a total delight! 😍