Writing on Writing, Blindness, Pop Culture, Science, Meaning, and Story
First there was the COVER REVEAL.
It’s been a minute since then (!) and now it’s time to reveal the back cover of INVISIBLE VIOLETS: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays! You can find book info, including how to pre-order signed and personalized copies here.
With no further ado, here is the back cover:
Since announcing the release of my debut book, Invisible Violets: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays, which releases on March 13, 2026 from Wandering Aengus Press, people have asked me how they can get signed books.
I have answers for you!
And not just signed books, but also personalized!
It’s a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure depending on where you live, and so this post serves as your answers for every scenario. Whether you live near me or far away, I have ways to get signed books to you.
There are lots of ways to get signed books in the City of Roses:
Along with local events, I’m working on some Orcas and Seattle events as well.
Orcas Island: Plans aren’t definite yet, but I’m working on two separate trips for bookish events on the island. One will be in June 2026 and will be an event with my publisher and other authors at the press, details TBD. Another will be next winter, January 2027 or so, and will be more focused on my book and its many mentions of life on Orcas.
Seattle: This is a bit more ephemeral, but would likely be coupled with the Orcas trips, either on my way there or on my way back. Details TBD. My dream is to do an event at Easy Street Records in West Seattle.
For either of these locations, you could either buy the book at the event or pre-order the book and bring it to the event for me to sign.
Most of my inquiries so far have come from people in this category. This is for you if you:
To make this available to people in places I’m not likely to travel to in the near future, I’ve partnered with local bookstore Annie Bloom’s Books in Multnomah Village, and they will be my hub for signed and personalized books.
Here’s how to get signed books through Annie Bloom’s Books:
Note: This is for shipping to US addresses only! Which brings me to…
This isn’t a done deal yet, but I’m thinking of going to the NOAH Conference this summer, and will update here with details as plans progress. If I go, I’ll definitely bring books with me to sell and sign!
If you want a signed copy of my book and you live outside of the US, you can buy the book from me directly, via Venmo or what have you, which will have to include the shipping costs, and I’ll sign or personalize and mail it to you. You can always reach out to me via my Contact Form if you need to set this up.
I think I have covered every earthly possibility for getting signed books to everyone who wants one. If you have questions or need help with any of the methods, reach out to me here!
Chrys
Image description: four photos of Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at Portland Book Fest.
The time is here. After rounds of editing, eproofs, print proofs, and another round of proofs, the book is locked in.
I spent all summer going over my book for what felt like a bajillion times. In fact, if I had to read any of it right now, I’d probably run away screaming because I’m SO SICK OF MY BOOK! Good thing there’s a fair amount of time until launch day (March 13th) so it can feel fresh again by then.
In the meantime, now that it’s all locked in, here is the cover:
It’s a typographic cover rather than an image-based one. One thing I’ve learned through this process and my work at Ooligan Press is that covers often look duller in print, and a lot darker. So stay tuned for future reveals. The back cover will be coming soon, and so will an unboxing video when the author copies arrive!
~Chrys
In light of the amazing publishing news I posted last month, I want to post about different parts of the process. Mostly, that’ll entail looking back at how I got my manuscript ready for submission, but today I want to talk about the call. It’s important to me to be as transparent as possible, especially for other writers reading this.
I was home sick from work. A bug had been rampaging through my grad program, and it was my turn. So I’d gone to bed early the night before. This was a good thing, because when I woke up, I had an email from Jill McCabe Johnson, the publisher at Wandering Aengus Press, sent the night before, asking if we could find a time for a call so she could ask me something.
After running through about fifty-three thousand possibilities, I settled on suspecting what she wanted to discuss would be something like, “We’d like to publish your book, but…” I couldn’t imagine she wanted to call me just to reject me–I remembered how when I was applying to medical school, a call meant you were getting in, and if they wanted to reject you they’d do it with an email or a notification posted in their online portal–and the need to ask me something wouldn’t likely apply to a straight-up acceptance.
Mostly, I was shocked that they could have an answer for me so quickly. I’d expected to wait until April, at least.
Continue reading “The Call”
Yesterday, on the new moon and the lunar new year, I submitted a full-length book manuscript to the Wandering Aengus Press Book Awards.
The manuscript I submitted is a collection of fourteen personal essays. The topics I explore within the pages are pretty reflective of this site in general but with less Breaking Bad. Not none, mind you, but less. There are essays discussing blindness and albinism and disability, essays about medical school, essays featuring the internet of the early 2000s, essays touching on pop culture in so many forms, essays rooted in land and place. Under the surface, they’re all contemplations of choice and time and memory.
They all, and I do mean all, touch on music in some way. In fact, I have a playlist underway and it is both massive and amazing.
My title, at least for now is
In some ways, it’s been in the works for over a decade. In other ways, it took shape over the last two or three. In yet another, it came together over the last eight weeks.
I plan on posting more about the process, as it’s been a wild ride I’d love to share.
But for now, for my first post in over four years, I’m just gonna bask in knowing that I did a thing.
Chrys Buckley 