Welcome to Sour Cream Village

I should probably start making a grocery list

If you read even the first page of Summer Romance, you might remember the moment when Ali finds a fourth box of cornstarch in her pantry and has an inkling that maybe she needs to get her life together. When my husband started reading that book, he said, “Wait. Is this an autobiography?” He was sort of kidding.

My husband is an accountant by training and by nature. He moves through the world like other people, except that he’s always accounting for something. Before he goes to the grocery store, he makes a list and then cross-checks it against what’s already in the fridge. Literally, who has time for that level of vigilance?

So this weekend when he was blowing off steam by auditing the refrigerator, he found three half-empty containers of sour cream. He grouped them together and then called me over to walk me through the new corner of our fridge that he’s now calling Sour Cream Village. It’s where the sour cream gathers. We laughed until the refrigerator started beeping from being open too long.

Which is all to say, well, I don’t know what. Except that I’ve found that the secret to a happy marriage might be figuring out how to turn the most annoying thing about your partner into something you can laugh about. It’s an act of acceptance - of both the person and her limited interest in inventory management. It’s like saying, “I see you. And I love you anyway.” Those should be the wedding vows, plus the sickness thing.

---

Writing a novel - Phase One

I’ve just started writing a new book - a fresh word document with strangers talking to each other without any punctuation at all. It’s midnight but, also, the sun’s in their eyes, and their personalities change from paragraph to paragraph. I hear authors talk about their terror of this part. The starting, the blank page, that naggy blinking cursor.

Not me. I freakin LOVE this part.

Starting a new book is like getting dressed for a first date. The possibilities! You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. Will there be instant chemistry? Long pauses where you pretend to be intensely interested in your napkin? You have no way of knowing, and it could be a total disaster. Or. It could be THE ONE.

This week I am carbonated on my way to the library. My fresh new book could go in any direction. It’s Schrödinger’s book! Is he tall? Is he grumpy? Does he smell like cinnamon and freshly cut grass? I’m not totally sure, but I bet he’s a good kisser. On page one of a novel, everything is still possible.

Watch this space for when the honeymoon phase wears off.

---

Cover reveal - my Most Anticipated Book of 2025

THIS. BOOK. I’m low key obsessed with the cover of WELCOME TO MURDER WEEK by

Karen Dukess

. I’m not even sure what it is that grabs me - the murdery vibe? The playfulness of the blue nails? Go to my Instagram to see it in all of its animated glory.

From the author of The Last Book Party, it’s a novel about an American woman who travels to the English countryside after she discovers the tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town. Think The Great British Bakeoff meets Agatha Christie meets Nobody Wants This. It’s funny and twisty and totally unexpected. I absolutely devoured this book, you will too.

---

Okay, that’s it. I’m excited about this new Substack situation because I’d love to hear from you. Anybody else unpack teriyaki sauce into a cupboard that’s surprisingly already jammed with teriyaki sauce? Lmk.

Lots of love,

Annabel

(PS Future You called, she wants this book…)

Did someone forward this to you? Did you happen upon it on your own? Please subscribe - it’s free and worth every penny!