Off the Record AT Off the Record!

I’m trying and failing miserably at keeping up with all of the pub day love, but I had to share these photos my best friend’s husband, @will.lucina took at the @hayadamshotel today!

The inspiration for this story hit during a @onepeloton ride. An instructor (I THINK @codyrigsby) mentioned Marilyn Monroe and I was like huh… Marilyn and JFK. That’s the era I’m writing in!

Then, as I was trying to ignore a hill, I remembered being out at a Capitol Hill bar years ago with @jenlu13 and her husband and some guy was trying to impress me by telling me that JFK used to send people to that bar to pick up girls to bring back to the White House.

A quick Google search proved that wasn’t true because that bar opened in the 70s, but I texted Jen and Will and asked if they remembered hearing that too. They didn’t, but Will said, “If it did happen, it was probably at Off the Record.” And I was like… what a FABULOUS title for a journalism book!

No, there’s no evidence that Kennedy did that, so the president and VP are fictionalized and not named in this book, but many key scenes happen at this very real-life bar!

So thank you, Will, for dragging me out to Capitol Hill all those years ago, for sparking this idea, and for taking these pictures today! 🩷

#bookstagram #offtherecord #publicationday

It’s here! Off the Record is out in the world today!

Publishing is weird. This, like all of my books, started as a text to my agent, @rachcath3726 saying something like “I think I have a book idea: girl wants to be a reporter and uncovers a spy plot.” I told my editor extraordinaire @nancyytaylorr the idea for this one at my cousin’s wedding in February 2025. She suggested one change, I came up with a twist on the spot, and now it’s a book.

This was both a pivot for me and not. Me? Write a spy thriller? Huh? But at its heart, it’s a story about grit, determination, and a love of writing. You know, me. I, like Judy, had a lot of people tell me no before I got here. And I, like Judy, said, “Oh yeah? Watch me.”

It’s not Don’t Forget to Write. I know some of you want that again and again. The two have similarities in the chutzpah of their leading ladies, as well as their older relatives without whom their story goes nowhere. Their insistence on living their lives on their own terms. But to me, the biggest similarities are the speed I wrote both with and how much fun I had telling their stories. What I’ve learned is when the story is right, the writing just flows. And this story absolutely poured out of me.

So now my time with Judy and Jack is done, and it’s your turn, dear readers, to go on a journey with them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And make sure you read the author’s note for what’s real and what isn’t.

And as always, thank you for coming on this ride with me. I’m here because of you as much as me.

🩷 SGC

(Side note, I made all three images by hand, without AI, in Canva and photoshop… who knew becoming an author meant being a graphic designer too??? 🤪)

#bookstagram #publicationday #offtherecord

Current view…

9yo has swim team time trials this morning (we’ve been here since 7:45) and I have edits to do on next summer’s book, then we need to go see my grandma, pick up the cake for tonight and then it’s off to @parkbooksmd for the first launch event of Off the Record!

#authorlife #swimteam