Auld Acquaintance
On the Los Angeles wildfires, a new Regency romance series and query letters
A timeline of events—
Last Tuesday morning, I had a doctor’s appointment in Beverly Hills. The Santa Ana winds were so strong, they were blowing fronds off palm trees. I felt like I was fighting for my life driving across town, dodging debris and praying nothing fell from the sky onto my car.
By the time I got home that afternoon, the fire in the Palisades had started to spread – according to coworkers, the smoke was visible from my office in Koreatown.
On Tuesday evening, I braved the wind to walk to dinner with a friend before seeing Wicked at the Pantages. Another friend meeting us at the show considered staying home – her childhood friends helped evacuate their parents from the Palisades, her high school was on fire. We all thought the show would be a good distraction — and it was, but a second fire had broken out in Altadena and as we emerged back onto Hollywood Blvd., the winds were stronger.
Wednesday morning I woke up to a grey sky. I watched the news all day, scrolled through photos and videos of the destruction on social media. I downloaded the Watch Duty app and checked it obsessively to track the progress of the fires. All of Los Angeles was under a red flag warning – we’ve had no rain and the winds were still blowing so hard the palm trees never stopped swaying. I texted my friends all day long about how sad, crazy, overwhelming, scary, insane it was that our beloved city was on fire to the west and the east.
In the evening, the winds had started to slow. The red flag warning across Los Angeles was lifted. I finally turned off the news. I finally took a shower. Afterwards I sat on the couch in my robe looking for something that would require little to no brain power to watch.
At 5:42 pm, the Watch Duty app sent a push notification — a vegetation fire had started near Runyon Canyon, less than a mile from my apartment.
I discussed it in a group chat, I could hear helicopters and sirens heading my way.
At 5:46 pm, a coworker who lives nearby texted me asking about the fire, asking what we should do.
At 5:48 pm, my cousin in Los Feliz sent me a photo of the fire as seen from her apartment window.
Also at 5:48pm, a friend who can see the mountain from the front steps of her apartment building in West Hollywood called to say she was evacuating.
I started packing a bag.
Ten minutes later, my building manager sent a text–
Then I got an emergency alert–
I called my emergency contact to tell her I was evacuating, to ask if I could stay with her on the west side. The call lasted 9 seconds.
At 6:04pm I pulled out of my building with shaking hands, my heart pounding, my car silent except for my own panicked, deep breathing. I didn’t start crying until I saw it – the flames engulfing a mountain I climb regularly, looking more like a volcano in the darkness, as a series of texts and phone calls came from friends and family and coworkers and the LAFD–
The time between learning of the fire blocks away from me, to the time I was in my car with a bag packed, was under twenty minutes.
A drive that usually takes me a half hour took an hour and a half as I crawled down and away from the mountain with the rest of Hollywood, watching cops direct traffic, fire trucks charge up toward the flames, pedestrians on the sidewalk wheeling suitcases. I turned from La Brea onto Sunset Blvd., smelled smoke in my sealed car, turned my head and saw a dog with its nose pressed up against the window, couldn’t stop myself from looking beyond at the orange glow. I maneuvered onto a side street full of beautiful houses and saw neighbors confer in their yards, parents packing kids into SUVs – how the fuck does anyone do this as a parent? As a pet owner?
When I made it to my emergency contact’s apartment I felt like collapsing. She held me in a hug and then I dropped to the couch. I couldn’t inhale a full breath. I laid down and pulled her weighted blanket over my chest like my aunt, who had been through a fire evacuation a few years ago in Northern California, suggested. My emergency contact heated me up some leftovers from her dinner. Her husband made me vanilla, peppermint tea. We watched Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and one of their cats curled up on top of me like she knew I was in distress. Somehow, I slept.
The fire was fully contained within 24 hours. Hollywood is intact. We benefited from easing winds which meant we were given immediate air support, and we had the nearby Hollywood reservoir for timed water drops.
I was lucky. I'm safe, but I'm not okay. My case was the best of a worst case scenario, but I still literally had to flee for my life. I’ve never been so terrified, so full of adrenaline. When I returned to my apartment Thursday evening, I re-packed and organized my “go bag,” adding some essentials I had missed. It’s sitting accessibly by my nightstand and will remain there until the rest of the fires are under control.
In the Palisades and Altadena, entire communities have been wiped off the map. It's going to take years to rebuild. There aren't words to encompass everything that has been lost or the fear that I now have for the future. Our environments are revolting against us across the country, and there is nothing worse than watching it unfold on the local news helplessly from the couch knowing there is nothing immediate you can do about it.
My heart is so full from the love and support of my friends, family and especially my LA community, but my heart is also so broken for this city that I love so much.
The whiplash between how joyful and hopeful I felt the first week of January, confident that 2025 was going to be my year, to the sadness and anxiety plaguing me now, feels a lot like Izzie Stevens sobbing on Denny Duquette’s chest in the season 2 finale of Grey’s Anatomy—
An hour ago he was proposing. And now… now he’s going to the morgue. Isn’t that ridiculous? Isn’t that the most ridiculous piece of crap you’ve ever heard?
A few hours after I had arrived safely back in my own apartment, I got this text from my uncle and promptly bursted into tears–
I’m so grateful to the first responders, to the local news reporters on the ground. I’m donating what I can, I’m trying to be actively engaged and supportive, but there’s a part of me that feels guilty that I didn’t lose anything. That my life hasn’t completely changed.
Even though it kind of has.
Things I grabbed while evacuating–
a handful of socks and underwear
my work laptop, kindle and chargers
deodorant and moisturizer
hand lotion and a face mist
zyrtec and b12 vitamins
eeyore (a stuffed animal i've had since birth)
my journal
a silky pair of bcbg pajamas (a marshalls find)
3 or 4 t-shirts and 2 or 3 joggers
a pair of jeans
a long sleeve top i got over christmas break hanging in my closet
an oversize sweatshirt that i wore out the door
my purse with my ID and credit cards
laneige lip mask (on my nightstand)
a scrapbook my friend made me for my birthday
For one second I looked at a stack of books piled on my kitchen bar and considered sweeping them into another bag, but then I thought... don't be ridiculous, just leave.
What I’m Reading
It’s so hard to concentrate right now. My neuro pathways are overrun by anxiety. It’s not a good time for a lot of books, but it’s the perfect time for specific books. Does that logic make sense? I told you… fried. What I mean to say, I don’t think I can handle Amor Towles’s The Lincoln Highway, but I can absolutely handle romance and genre fiction, books with formulas I’m familiar with, comforting in their predictability. Books where I know the main character is gonna be okay, you know?
Auld Acquaintance by Sofia Slater - When Millie gets a mysterious invitation to a posh New Year’s party from a former coworker, she doesn’t ask a lot of questions. She’s been unemployed so she could use a good party, plus she’s always had a crush on the guy who invited her. Though once she’s on the ferry headed to the venue on a remote Scottish island, she begins to get the feeling that perhaps this invitation is not all it seems…
I picked this up in a bookstore in Notting Hill where every other book I touched sounded exactly the same and I was desperate for something different… This was not exactly what I was expecting, like I thought there would be a debauched New Year’s Party (lol), but it was kind of cozy for a thriller – lots of tea drinking and seeking warmth from the damp Scottish air in the decrepit house.
(related, i love harry’s bit about the meaning of auld lang syne at the end of When Harry Met Sally… when sally says, “anyway, it’s about old friends.” !!!!)
Ne’er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti - It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one Regency romance series ends, another must spring up to take its place. Peter Kent is a newly inherited duke and outspoken abolitionist from New Orleans who hopes to gain custody of his half-siblings but fears his radical reputation will prevent the courts from granting his request, so he turns to the most clever woman of the ton, Selina Ravenscroft, well known for fixing other people’s problems, for help.
Selina schemes to make him less objectionable by finding him a bride with an irreproachable reputation. The only problem is, she and Peter are crushing on each other, but she can’t let anything happen between them because she secretly runs an erotic library for women and if word were to get out, it would ruin her reputation and that of everyone around her…
Whatever will they do??!!
This sexy romp was a balm for my acute natural disaster anxiety, and mercifully, the second book in the series drops next week.
Upcoming new releases that I put on hold:
The Favorites by Layne Fargo - Remember Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir? This book is about a romance between two Olympic ice dancers, and is also a retelling of Wuthering Heights with a Daisy Jones and the Six interview format twist?? Idk, but I gotta find out what’s up here!!
Sweet Fury Sash Bischoff - A well-known actress unravels while filming a feminist adaptation of Tender is the Night… I am powerless against anything Fitzgerald related.
What I’m Writing
Part of me is like, what is the point of this when my city is on fire?
Another part of me is like, at the baseline of Novel 2 is a love letter to this city and that means something–
It’s another sunny day in paradise, my eyes safely shielded by my movie star sunglasses, and I know I was never in any real danger of leaving Los Angeles. Of losing that moment of being stuck in my head until I tilt it back toward the sun, a cloudless blue sky and palm trees stretching up, leaning slightly as if waiting to hear a secret, and I’m blissfully rooted in the present, head emptying.
In beefing up Novel 2’s LA-ness in edits I learned that Culver City was founded by Harry Culver when he was 37…. can you IMAGINE?? This man founded a whole city before he turned forty. I’m only 32 – I have so much life ahead of me! Presumably.
Now that I’ve deemed Novel 2 “done,” my next step is to write a query letter to send to potential agents.
Typically, a query letter is made of four key sections — intro, stats, plot and bio.
Historically, I’ve treated the query letter like the cover letter for a job, but recently I read a newsletter from Courtney Maum (author of Touch, a novel I loved about a trend forecaster who headlines an anti-reproduction summit at a tech company though she senses a global desire to return to the physical world and get offline… same!!!) where she says query letters aren’t job applications, they’re actually just about seducing an agent into reading your whole manuscript… compelling!
A Query Letter break down—
Intro
This is where you tell the agent why you think they’d be a good fit to represent your novel. I don’t want to submit to any random agent, I want to submit to agents who are interested in what I’m writing about, so I will use the information they give in their agent bios and look at the other novels they represent to craft something personal.
Intro of the query that got a full manuscript request for Novel 1:
I'm a huge fan of Jasmine Guillory and Emily Henry, and recently fell in love with Carley Fortune's EVERY SUMMER AFTER. Though my novel is not a romance, it does have romantic elements and a tone that I think may fit in among your list.
Simple! To the point! I showed that I knew what was in their portfolio and that I understood why my work would fit in with what they already represent (that they chose not to representment it is…unfortunate lol).
Stats
This is where you get into word count, genre and comparable titles.
Most novels run anywhere between 50k - 100k words. At 63k words, Novel 2 is on the short side, whereas Novel 1 at 83K was more typical.
Genre can be tricky. Both of my novels can fit into one of three categories – Commercial, Upmarket or Women’s Fiction. I absolutely hate the term “Women’s Fiction” so I would never self-identify my books as that, but would the publishing industry? Possibly.
In the case of Novel 2, I think I’m going with Upmarket, which sits somewhere between Commercial and Literary fiction. The writing is elevated but accessible, and the story is primarily character driven and theme-heavy, whereas a lot of Commercial fiction is plot-driven (if this sounds arbitrary and made up, that’s because it is!!!!).
Comparable titles can also be tricky. Obviously, I don’t want there to be a book out there that is the same as mine (and i have not found one), but I also need to find books that have similar vibes and themes that can convey that my story is marketable because other books like it have successfully been marketed in the past (publishing is, after all, a business).
Possible comp titles for Novel 2:
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton (because it deals with dating and navigating changing relationships in adulthood as friends enter different phases of their lives)
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (because tonally, my writing in general is similar to Serle’s, it’s set in LA and it also deals with dating lol)
Old Flame by Molly Prentiss (because it’s about female societal pressures, aging, workplace friendships and dynamics…)
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler (because it’s about being in love with a city and losing yourself in an intoxicating relationship)
If you know of any other books along these lines… lmk!
Plot
Basically, the jacket copy of a book. The thing that makes you pick it off the shelf and take it home. This is such an art form and it is so hard! It’s hard because I’m so close to the book that I’m like… what is the plot? Is there a plot?? I know that there is. Lots of things happen, but how do I distill it into a couple of pithy sentences that make you want to read it?? And also not spoil anything…
Brain Dump for Novel 2 plot paragraph:
Eve has built herself a community in LA with her coworkers, her roommate and her two single friends who were alumni of her college
Dating and single friends/coupled friends
Skating by at work until she gets a project that awakens her brain
She’s looking to be inspired
Unfortunately she finds inspiration in the past
Chasing the high of youth
Love within reach but not quite
Growing up and growing into yourself/away from people
Toxic nostalgia
Eve needs to reconcile her nostalgia with her vision for the future to free herself from her past and grow up………
Bio
Who am I and why did I write this?? They actually want to know. Guess I gotta just tell them….
Some places you can donate for LA Wildfire Relief
Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation (supports LAFD by providing essential equipment, and trainings to supplement city resources)
Pasadena Humane Society (the shelter has taken in over 400 animals from the eaton fire, many burned and injured, in need of medical care)
World Central Kitchen (providing meals to first responders and families impacted by the wildfires)
Baby2Baby (distributes emergency supplies for vulnerable children and families including diapers, food, formula, water, clothing, blankets and hygiene products)
Direct Relief (coordinates with local health centers and free clinics to distribute medications, N95 respirators and other medical supplies to impacted communities)
Mutual Aid LA Network (supports smaller, local mutual aid efforts across the city who are doing direct, on-the-ground work)
Altadena Girls Fire Recovery (started by a local teen, focusing on gathering clothes, personal items, beauty and hair care products – the everyday items that will allow teenagers to thrive and carry on amidst challenging circumstances)
American Library Association’s Disaster Relief Fund (helps restore library services and support the communities they serve - many LA public libraries offer immense free resources regularly but especially in times of crisis, and the palisades library has burnt down)
If you’re in the market for books, consider buying from Book Alley in Pasadena, it’s still standing, but the owner of the bookstore lost everything in the Eaton fire
That’s all from me this week – if anyone has information on the wellbeing of Palisades resident Larry David, please let me know… (i’m serious, i’m so worried i had a dream about him)
Stay tuned.
