Hi besties, 

I’ve been sitting on this news for a while now, trying to find the right words, and honestly, there are no right words, so here we are.

I have a book deal! 

Typing that still feels surreal. This has been years in the making. I’ve been writing for over ten years, quietly, stubbornly, always coming back to it no matter how many times life got in the way. Writing has always been the one thing I couldn’t let go of, even when I doubted everything else.

I started plotting No Saints Among Us in July 2023, and weirdly, the writing itself wasn’t the hardest part. The hardest part was believing I was allowed to want this. Once I let myself trust the story I was seeing so clearly in my head, the words came more easily than I expected. The characters knew who they were. The story wanted to be told.

What followed was years of edits, beta readers, more edits, tough feedback, moments of excitement, moments of frustration, and more than a few “why am I doing this?” spirals. And then, in December 2025, I signed a publishing deal.

That sentence still makes my hands shake a little.

This was a dream I carried quietly for a long time, one I didn’t always believe would come true. I’m endlessly grateful to my publishing team for believing in this story and trusting me with it, and to my past self for not giving up even when it felt easier to stop trying.

There is so much more I can’t wait to share with you soon. For now, just know how grateful I am that you’re here, reading this, celebrating with me, and coming along for this journey.

I am, in fact, still internally screaming!

 ★ Zeynep