BOOK LOVERS & BEYOND HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2021

After another challenging year, the holidays are finally upon us and I hope you will be able to find peace and joy this season. I love giving well-thought-out presents to family and friends and have put together some of my favorite pieces to channel your inner Santa. I always start from a bookish perspective and then add other book-adjacent items that have caught my fancy. There has been lots of talk about supply chain issues and shipping delays so start in good time to maintain your sanity :). My goal is to have a little fun and inspire, not to push products! Nothing beats good health and the company of loved ones...

Photo courtesy of BookBub

BOOKS

So many interesting titles have been released just in time for the holidays. Bibliophile Diverse Spines is the latest installment to the much-appreciated series. Foodies will love Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide and creatives will find inspiration in the living spaces of Artists in Residence. The Afro Surf tome makes me want to hit the waves!

Art, design, beauty, style, and decor are front and center in these beautiful coffee table books: ACNE PAPER; Mickalene Thomas; Life in a French Country House; Estée Lauder: A Beautiful Life; Slim Aarons Style; Hill House Living.

These new biographies dig deeper into the lives of beloved icons: Will; Tim: Biografin om Avicii; Garbo.

The Something's Off book came out in June, but it would be the perfect gift for (and homage to) fans of the late great designer and artist, Virgil Abloh.

COZY FASHION

Want to keep someone warm or up their WFH game? These pieces may just do the trick: Soft Goat cashmere pants and hoodie; Ugg Cozette slides; Ugg Scuffita slippers; Stand Studio purple furry hat; Stand Studio Lucille shearling tote; Stand Studio cocoon coat.

HOME

Home for the holidays takes on new meaning with these pieces: Svenskt Tenn Mareld vase in forest green; Svenkt Tenn emerald Glasiett leaf; Anissa Kermiche striking Love Handles vase; Chamois Pomegranate tablecloth; Not Another Bill personalized Table Seating Planner for dinner parties; Skultuna's newest Veermaker's Bluebell candlestick.

CANDLES

Let there be light with these elegant scented candles: Perennial favorite La Forêt from Victor Vaissier will bring the essence of the forest to your home. Pair it with another one of their seasonal fragrances, Saison Bleu. Holiday from Harlem Candle Company was inspired by Billie Holiday. Evening Amber, a new, aromatically chic blend by style maven Nathalie Schuterman. Light it all up with this smart match set from Eldstickan.

LUXURIOUS SELF CARE

Do you want to spoil someone in your life? Or maybe reward yourself for getting that raise or publishing a book? Hermès hand cream and nail polish are the latest entries into the luxury beauty space. Chanel also produces a luxurious hand cream for winter days. Dr. Barbara Sturm skincare boasts a loyal clientele and I'm happy to see she has developed products for darker skin tones. The Molton Brown Christmas Cracker with four woody-scented bath gels would make the perfect stocking stuffer.

COOL LUXURY

These gifts are sleek and gender-neutral: stylish Hermès Apple watch; Satake Ame knife set; Rimowa's classic silver cabin bag; Tiffany Supreme keychain.

FUN & WHIMSICAL

Holiday breaks aren't complete without a complicated puzzle to put together and bibliophiles will be scratching their heads for days with In the Bookstore and Classic Paperbacks! Olympia Le Tan trades in her signature book covers for an adorable CEO Barbie clutch. Pärlans Julkalender is a wonderful collection of delectable caramel candies.

LAST WORD...

Please consider donating to a charity in need or a cause close to your heart. Among other charitable organizations, I will be supporting Mentor International.

Wishing you all love and light this holiday season!!

HELLO AGAIN!

October 10, 2021

Photo: Ariana Ghatan

I’m back! My apologies for the lack of blog updates. My goal has always been to write a monthly post, but the period before and after the release of Sommaren på Nornö took me on an all-consuming but incredible ride. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know the novel was chosen as the sommarföljetong (summer book selection) by TT News Agency and serialized in over 30 newspapers across Sweden. The thought of having my words in local papers and reaching such a broad audience had never entered my wildest dreams. Truthfully, I had never even heard the word följetong before and did not know what it meant! But what a privilege and pleasure it was to connect with so many engaged readers around the country. I was also fortunate to receive some media coverage, and being interviewed on Nyhetesmorgon, Sweden’s most popular morning program, was such an honor. However, the most extraordinary part of my book release has been seeing the photos and reviews posted by readers and book influencers. Beautiful vignettes and creative bookstagrams. Honest opinions and deeply thoughtful comments about the narrative. Agnes, Linn and Zoë Holmgren, and the fictional island of Nornö, really took on a life of their own. I have learned so much from this journey and am enormously grateful for the experience.

Things culminated with the Göteborg Book Fair a few weeks ago, where I met other writers and more of the Norstedts team IRL. I love Norstedts and feel so lucky to be a part of their family! Sometimes I feel like the new kid on the block, but everyone is so nice and helpful, putting my nervousness at ease.

Admittedly, Summer 2021 was quite intense, and the last few months have also been a whirlwind of personal travel and celebrating my milestone birthday—interspersed with some book events. As a result, I have felt the need to rest, read, and replenish. At the end of August, I had lunch with Jennifer Lindström, Senior Editor at Norstedts (and the woman who made it all possible 😊) to discuss my next project. I shared my ideas with her, and once we outlined a plan, I felt like I could finally leave my obsessing over the stats and reviews about Sommaren på Nornö behind. It was time to look ahead and move on to the next story.

However, all is not lost. I can now officially announce that I will be writing a sequel to Sommaren på Nornö! Although this wasn’t my original plan, many readers are curious about what happens next and have expressed a longing to read more about the characters. So, you will continue to follow Zoë, but in a new time and place (yet still with her connection to Nornö) and get inside the head of a new character. I am so excited to begin writing and hope you will want to read this new story once it comes out (hopefully Autumn 2022). Until then, you will find me hunkered down over my computer—typing away—but see you in this space next month!

Book Report

The final cover! My novel will be published on June 3rd.

To say I was on the verge of tears when I saw the first draft of the cover for Sommaren på Nornö would be a complete understatement. I wanted to bawl, sob, weep–so reduced was I to a blubbering sack of JOY! Given the multilayered themes in the novel, I wasn’t sure what element Norstedts would choose to highlight. Instead, the super-talented artist Emma Graves went for a mood, that summer feeling in the Stockholm archipelago when the sun begins to set and the sky is bathed in a rose-gold glow, eventually vanishing below the horizon to make way for the violet-gray night. This fleeting time of year is a character unto itself and the blanket of lavender flowers in the foreground flawlessly evokes the season’s natural beauty. I definitely think shades of purple will be my motif in the visual profile supporting this book. I may even stick to an all-purple wardrobe if I do events haha!

We tweaked the cover a few times before reaching the final image that best represented Zoë Holmgren, the eighteen-year-old girl whose narrative alternates with that of her mother, Linn. Thankfully, Norstedts recognized the importance of authentically depicting Zoë’s biracial traits: her textured, curly hair, tan skin tone and curvy physique. Here are the three previous drafts:

The fact of the matter is things seem so much more real once an author sees the cover of their book, which is usually completed before revisions are even finalized. This gave me extra motivation to dig deeper into the soul of the characters and what I genuinely wanted to convey, no holding back. The manuscript returned from the Swedish translator last week and I’m so excited to read her interpretation of my words and tone. However, she is such a pro and has translated many best-selling authors, including Josie Silver, E.L. James, Paula Hawkins, Jennifer Weiner, Ruth Druart and Mike Gayle, so I have faith she captured the spirit of little ol’ me as well!

I recently participated in a virtual sales conference where Norstedts presented their releases for Summer 2021. I was given a publication date of June 3rd, perfect timing for vacation season. My hope is that people will want to read Sommaren på Nornö while they’re sunbathing at the beach, lounging in deck chairs, or catching some rays on the dock. It was interesting to hear the other writers talk about their upcoming titles and to pitch my own work, giving me a glimpse into the business side of publishing. Sommaren på Nornö is now listed on Adlibris and Bokus–another thrill–and I love the back cover copy. In addition to all of this, I took some new author photos. It was so much fun getting glammed up to look laid-back and casual!

Photos by Hugo Thambert.

I also received a summary of the communications plan surrounding publication and it was very professional, on point, and a bit nerve-wracking! As the oldest publishing house in Sweden, Norstedts’ literary and cultural bona fides run deep. I am so grateful to be one of their writers, but upon reading the document a few words made me stop and think, namely “critics,” “cultural editors,” “review copies,” and “book bloggers.”

This is what I keep telling myself, but it’s more like a fifth child!

After a year of being in my writing bubble, it suddenly dawned on me that Sommaren på Nornö will soon be going out into the world and at that point, every word, all of my thoughts, ideas and contemplations about Zoë, Linn and the fictional world of Nornö will be open for analysis and commentary. This is certainly a daunting thought (!), but I’m also very curious to see how the book will be received. Until then, I’ll probably have to undergo some kind of therapy beforehand…