Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Happy 5th birthday to THE OTHER ME (August 10, 2021). Its themes are still relevant (see: my Substack about Obsession) and I still get comments from readers telling me how much they loved this book. I appreciate every one of you! 021
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026In my latest newsletter, I write about how Obsession’s badly behaved main character reminded me of the antagonist in my debut novel.sarahzj.substack.comYou regret 100% of the shots you don’t takeObsession (the film), authorial choice, and not letting characters off the hook 010
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Revisiting one of my favorite SF books from childhood, which serves Cold War vibes and really makes a case for reading the directions.sarahzj.substack.comWill anyone read in the future?We’ve been worried about this for a while 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 10/05/2026Cross genre "speculative fiction plus x" seems to be having a moment. So how does one actually...bend genres?sarahzj.substack.comAm I going to disappoint everyone?How I learned to stop worrying and write cross-genre 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 01/04/2026💖📚 February and March reads 📚💖 Kushiel’s Legacy had me in a chokehold (no innuendo intended but iykyk) for most of February and I’m not mad about it. 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 03/02/2026In this month's newsletter I wrote about albums I couldn't stop listening to when I was 17, the formation of taste, and breaking rules in writing practice. Also, fuck ICE. sarahzj.substack.com/p/edge-of-se... 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 10/12/2025"I, as a scholar of boning, know how hard it is to produce sex scenes that convey story and character while also being hot." This is the line that made me LOL IRL but the entire essay is a valuable read for anyone who reads or writes about sex (or who thinks sex scenes are always "unnecessary"). 021
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/12/2025I'll be reading and signing books at the Lynx Bookstore's Local Author Festival this Saturday! Come say hi from 10-3. thelynxbooks.com/events/39217... 010
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich JengJennifer Laughran @literaticat.bsky.social · 10/11/2025Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to "help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch. 10633599
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 08/11/2025I wrote about worldbuilding in romantic fantasy and how there's plenty of room for plot-forward and character-driven SFF novels.open.substack.comA world without love is no world at allOn world building in romantic fantasy 010
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich JengJason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 20/10/2025Support the 2026 @apexmag.bsky.social Kickstarter! Apex publishes amazing SF, dark fantasy, and horror and we need their stories now more than ever. I'll give an Apex gift subscription and dedication to one random person who promotes this Kickstarter! 1/ www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...kickstarter.comApex Magazine 2026An award-winning digital literary magazine of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror. 3123133
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Google docs giving me a popup telling me my birthday is coming up (I am AWARE, shit I'm not THAT old) when I'm just trying to make a comment on a document is going to be my villain origin story 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/10/2025"You may have heard the aphorism that Happiness = Reality / Expectations. Multiply that by about 30 for your feelings about your career in traditional publishing. (What do you mean that math doesn’t make sense?)" From my latest newsletter, about That Publishing Article:sarahzj.substack.comYes, publishing is depressingAnd maybe that’s okay? 010
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich JengSam Whyte @samwhyte.bsky.social · 05/09/2025This gets progressively funnier with every use of the term "floppy". 21472302163
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/09/2025“A standalone can afford to leave questions unanswered. In fact it can’t not do that, because if you try to explain everything in one go then you don’t have a story, you have a wiki.”sarahzj.substack.comFast zombies are still the scariest20-mumblemumble years later 010
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 19/08/2025I’ll be at Auk Market in Gainesville this Saturday for their 2nd annual book + art faire! Enjoy delicious treats and browse books and maker goods from 10-3. I’ll be inside the Protocol Gallery - come say hi! More info: www.facebook.com/events/68414... 020
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 10/08/2025Happy 4th birthday to THE OTHER ME (released August 10, 2021). I’ll always love my weird speculative domestic suspense novel about an artist who discovers that marrying your high school sweetheart may not, in fact, be the best idea! 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 09/08/2025I wrote about burying my father and traveling through the United States in 2025, and my complicated feelings about both.sarahzj.substack.comHostile territoryA road trip through the American heartland + my emotions 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 15/07/2025The first draft of my “LABYRINTH in Florida” romantic fantasy is done! Now the real work begins. Image is one of Kay Nielsen’s illustrations for a 1914 edition of a book of fairy tales including East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The story and illustration both capture some relevant vibes ✌️ 010
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 08/07/2025In my latest newsletter, I write about progressing toward the ending of your novel. (It doesn’t get easier as you get closer.) sarahzj.substack.com/p/the-mirage...sarahzj.substack.comThe mirage of an endingThe closer I get, the more it recedes 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/06/2025Technology is so shitty rn that I started writing fantasy instead of sci-fi. sarahzj.substack.com/p/writing-sf... 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 06/05/2025The recent (and recurring) discourse on whether authors should post critical reviews of others' books got me thinking about professional relationships, creative insecurity, and nostalgia for well-loved media properties. Read at sarahzj.substack.com 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 17/04/2025Excited to be at Thrillerfest in June! If you're going, bring your coffee at 8am on Friday, June 20 to listen to me and these amazing authors talk about writing satisfying endings. (And if you're not a morning person, I'll see you at the bar!) 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 12/04/2025The ebook of THE OTHER ME is only $4.99 at all ebook retailers! This is my debut! It's the story of an artist who is transported to an alternate life in which she never followed her dreams, and it's about the choices we make for love...and those that are made for us. 100
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 10/04/2025In which I do a deep dive on adolescent rebellion, romantic longing, and the ways in which a 35-year-old movie about a mostly-obsolete technology connects to our current era. sarahzj.substack.com/p/pump-up-th... 000
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich JengGhostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 09/04/2025if I come out of this actually having been forced to understand the stock market, I'm going to be so fucking pissed 1139845
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich JengAuthors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 08/04/2025AABB hosted a press conference about to protest Florida HB1539. Check it out here. Bet you'll recognize a few speakers. youtu.be/bYi_Ebu17uo?...youtu.beFlorida's HB 1539 (2025) Press ConferenceYouTube video by FL Freedom to Read Project 03215
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 06/04/2025The future I always dreamed of for our next generation 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 05/04/2025Well that’s one way to get a bunch of people to learn to code I guess (Orrrr make them extremely frustrated and bottleneck content updates through already overworked devs) 000
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/04/2025ngl the Trump rhetoric around these tariffs forcing the US to produce bananas and computer chips inside its borders is giving Great Leap Forward vibes, and we all know how that ended up. (Apparently we don’t all know) 100
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 04/04/2025Happy Horny Trees Season to those who *achoo* celebrate 000
Reposted by Sarah Zachrich Jengwarrior cop @wyattprivilege.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Well at least there’s one bright spot. Lemme just look up what VIX is real quick 622236442
Sarah Zachrich Jeng @sarahzj.bsky.social · 02/04/2025Not me reading Paladin's Faith and being all "the main couple's great, fire, no notes. But what about these two people who hate each other?" 😍 000