In 2013, I self-published a book…

It was a little popular for a self-published book, mostly because Will Manley (unbeknownst to me) wrote a column about in Booklist saying every library should have a copy, so some libraries bought it, because at that time such a mention was kind of a big deal in the part of the library world that reads Booklist.

Night Sweats is no longer in print, because ten years seemed like long enough for corporations to be making money off my work, and because my world is a very different one from the one I wrote about then. Retiring a book sometimes kills it; sometimes, instead, it makes it ascend into the vast culture we all draw from. What happens to Night Sweats is not up to me.

But if you’re curious, here’s a little bit about it:

Laura Crossett was thirty-five years old, one month into a relationship, and six months into a new job when she sat in a staff bathroom and looked at a stick that told her something she already suspected.

Almost half the pregnancies that occur in the United States each year are unplanned. Some of them happen to married women, some to unmarried; some occur due to failure to use contraception; some due to contraceptive failure. Some happen to women who hope one day to have children; some to women who never wanted children at all.

In a political climate that polarizes around issues of sexuality and choice and a popular culture that glamorizes pregnancy and fetishizes motherhood, we rarely hear the stories of women who did not seek to become pregnant. Night Sweats is one of them.

Here’s the prologue as it first appeared on my blog.

You can borrow it (and in some cases download it)…

• in a variety of electronic formats from the Internet Archive
• in print from some libraries (WorldCat’s list is fairly of date–if your library isn’t there, ask them about interlibrary loan!)

Reviews and more…

• Rob Cline reviewed it in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. (Full disclosure: I know Rob, but I had no idea he was writing a review.)
• Donna Seaman reviewed it for Booklist Online.
• Will Manley wrote a Manley Arts column about it in Booklist.
• Rachel Walden reviewed it for Our Bodies, Our Blog. (Full disclosure: I sent her an ebook copy.)
• Jenna Freedman has written a review. (Full disclosure: Jenna is a friend, and I contributed to a zine she edited.)
• Lucy King reviewed it. (Full disclosure: Lucy and I are sort of related, although we have never met.)
• Booklist columnist Will Manley says you should buy it.
• Walt Crawford has written a hard-hitting review. (Full disclosure: I once shared a cab with Walt, and we know each other online.)
• Night Sweats on GoodReads!
• Night Sweats on LibraryThing!
• Night Sweats in Open Library!
• Discussion questions for Night Sweats

Errata

• Early editions misspelled Inskeep in the acknowledgments. It has one n, not two.
• EPUB version purchased prior to July 1, 2013 are missing a couple of lines. Please contact me for a free replacement!
• Other typos are my fault, not that of my brilliant friends and copy editors.