Wednesday, March 11, 2020

my debut novel "99 Erics" has been released!

So in recent posts, I shared news of my 2nd book Excluded being mentioned in two "best books of the 2010s" lists, the release of Spanish and French translations of Whipping Girl, and my essay "He's Unmarked, She's Marked" being included in the anthology Believe Me. But I've been saving the biggest news of all for last...

My debut novel – 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel – is now officially released! 

You can purchase 99 Erics right now (in paperback & ebook formats) at all the major online outlets (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Books, etc.). The ebook is also available in all formats via Smashwords (where you can download the first 5 chapters for FREE!).

Brick-and-mortar bookstores & libraries can order the book via Ingram – please encourage them to carry it! You can locate your local independent bookstores via IndieBound.

And if you appreciate 99 Erics, *please please please* give it a good review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or wherever you purchase it, as this really helps to spread the word about the book!

If you are associated with a literary or media outlet and wish to obtain a review copy of 99 Erics, or to possibly interview Julia about the book, feel free to contact me here.

If I had to do one of those “Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman” pitches for 99 Erics, I would describe it as kinda like a Michelle Tea novel meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except that none of it takes place in outer space.

Here is a more standard synopsis of the book:

Kat Cataclysm is an ethically non-monogamous bisexual woman and absurdist short fiction writer. 99 Erics is a humorous account of Kat’s experiences writing a book called 99 Erics, which is about her experiences dating ninety-nine different people named Eric. It is more surreal than slutty. Not that there is anything wrong with slutty.

The book is largely comprised of amusing anecdotes from Kat’s dates with various Erics; satirical takes on relationships, sexual conventions, language, the writing process, book publishing, online media, and tech culture; and Kat’s smart yet silly digressions on a variety of topics, including the distorted nature of memories, hipsters, sex toys, sabermetrics, YA dystopian fiction, trendy restaurants, temporal anomalies, Freudian slips, banana slug mating practices, lucid dreaming, the internet of things, poetry slams, and Prince lyrics, to name but a few. These more fanciful passages are seamlessly interwoven with more serious and mundane matters, such as navigating the world as a woman and sexual minority, being an outcast who doesn’t really fit in, struggling to make ends meet, and reconciling one’s past with the present. The end result is a fun and fast read that tackles meaty subjects and contemporary issues along the way.

Several excerpts from the book are available on the 99 Erics webpage. More will be released in the coming months and will be posted there (along with any interviews & reviews), so stay tuned...

Monday, March 9, 2020

He's Unmarked, She's Marked: my essay in Believe Me

Welcome to the third of four posts summarizing recent news about books that I have written and/or am otherwise included in. In this post, I want to talk about my contribution to the new Jessica Valenti & Jaclyn Friedman anthology Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World, which just came out a month or so ago.

During the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017-18, many people shared their personal stories of sexual harassment & assault using the hashtag #BelieveWomen, intended to highlight the fact that our accounts are often presumed to be dubious or outright untrue. This collection offers many insights into this problem while simultaneously expanding the discussion to include other marginalized groups and survivors of sexual assault. Lots of amazing writers and activists share their perspectives and strategies in this book, and I am very honored to be included amongst them!

When I was asked to contribute to this anthology, the first thing that ran through my mind was this: On past occasions when I have personally experienced sexual harassment or attempted date rapes, I wasn't worried so much that people wouldn't believe me because I am a woman. Rather, I thought that they would primarily dismiss my account due to the fact that I am transgender. And of course, this isn't a trans-specific issue. I've heard similar sentiments from sex workers, people of color, disabled people, and other LGBTQIA+ people. In fact, the accounts of all marginalized groups (including women) tend to be discounted or disbelieved to varying degrees, and it is even more so for individuals who are multiply marginalized.