Giving away 100 copies of my new book!

It would make an excellent holiday gift, if I may say so.

Weekly reader Q&A

Q: What was your favorite college linguistics class/what made you love linguistics?

A: They had me at Linguistics 101. My first linguistics professor was this sprightly PhD student, a petite gal with lots of freckles and enthusiasm, to whom I could relate for so many reasons. I remember on the first day, to get us fledgling linguistics students to start thinking about language in terms of its nuts and bolts (but also its subjectivity), she invited students to come up to the board and write down a sound that’s difficult for non-native English speakers to pronounce. I’d always been utterly obsessed with accents and speech patterns—dialects and idiolects—and how a person’s use of language affected the way they moved through the world. So you can only imagine my delight when I showed up to class and discovered there was a whole field of language supernerds just like me, who could spend an entire afternoon discussing tongue positions when people around the world pronounce the sound “r.” (I tell a bit more of this story in my Wordslut intro!)

But undoubtedly, it was my Sex, Gender, & Language class, taught by Professor Louisa O. Vasvari, that planted the seed for my career writing about language, culture, gender, and power. Almost every source I cited in Wordslut was something I first read in her class! One last answer to this question: Because I love sounds and sound puzzles/patterns, I was transfixed by my phonology and phonetics classes. Fun fact: Did you know the human larynx looks quite a bit like a vagina? The day they showed that video in class sure was interesting. I guess there’s a reason they call it a voice “box” ;P

Enter my first Goodreads giveaway for The Age of Magical Overthinking!

For my U.S. readers! Goodreads is giving away 100 hard copies of my new book. To enter to win one, all you gotta do is fill out this form between now and December 11.

These hard copies are actually galleys, meaning they are not the final final draft of the book, which kind of kills me, because I don’t even let my nearest and dearest read the book before it’s in its most perfected state. But alas! I surrender!

I personally try to stay away from GoodReads for my ~mental health~ but I just have to share this review that someone posted of The Age of Magical Overthinking last week. This is EXACTLY what I hoped readers would take away from the book. Gosh, it made me so happy to see.

My last solo Sounds Like A Cult episode of 2023 airs tomorrow.

It’s on the cult of reality TV families (you know those super voyeuristic TLC shows like Jon & Kate Plus 8, Sister Wives, and 19 Kids & Counting… I shudder to admit I was obsessed with them growing up). The episode features a juicy convo with Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband Derick, who got the f*ck out of this creepy cult and are now spilling the whole tale. Def one of my favorite episodes of the show so far. Tune in tomorrow morning!

There are 3 spots left on my “write & travel with me” trip to the Amalfi Coast in 2024!

Pics from Amalfi 2023 :)

Give yourself the gift of adventure! Romanticize the hell outta your life! Last year, 24 adventurous readers and I spent a week in Southern Italy visiting the ruins of Pompeii, sailing along the coast of Capri, gobbling infinite pizza, spritzing noon and night, and taking all-levels writing workshops with yours truly. It sounds surreal, because it WAS! And I’m doing it all again next year from October 13 - October 19, 2024. What could be dreamier than reading, writing, and meeting fellow book & carb lovers in one of the most beautiful places in the world??

This creative, 6-day vacation costs $3,225 total (this includes all lodging, sightseeing activities, writing workshops, airport transfers, 8 meals, an amazing local guide, and more. It’s truly a fabulous deal for all that you get). Some travelers from my 2023 trip enjoyed it so much that they’re coming back!! If you have any desire at all to come along for this adventure, click below for more info, and feel free to comment any questions below <3

We have a winner of the notebook giveaway!

Lorelei Seleen, you were randomly selected to take home the Papier journal!! Expect an email from amandamontellpublicity@gmail.com, so I can figure out where to send it :)

A weekly roundup of books, podcasts, TV shows, tchotchkes, and anything else I’m currently “cult following.” This week, for nonfiction books that recently arrived in my P.O. Box!

WORDS FROM HELL by Jess Zafarris

Wordsluts, here’s a rec for you! It’s a fun, naughty, edgy etymological exploration of English’s “dark corners” from the “horinest words” ever invented to the language of crime and scandal.

FOR BLOOD & MONEY by Nathan Vardi

For fans of the book Bad Blood about the downfall of Theranos, this riveting account chronicles the race to develop two hotshot cancer drugs by a journalist who covers the intersection of Wall Street and Big Pharma.

SWIPE UP FOR MORE! by Stephanie McNeal

This one is by a reporter friend, who was a special guest on the Sounds Like A Cult episode about the “cult” of essential oils! It’s a super-readable inside look at the mechanics of the influencer industry, penned by the single most qualified person to write this book!

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL? by Blythe Roberson

Blythe is a pal and humor essayist whose latest collection is a refreshingly optimistic, down to earth (literally), and open-hearted romp through her travels in America’s National Parks and what they taught her about our culture and herself.