intertextu[allie]ties | issue 5

what I read, watched, and listened to in november 2024 (plus the pitch for my debut novel!)

hello, dear reader.

Ah, November. That liminal month that seems to exist somewhere between fall and winter. While technically the bookend of the autumnal season, it has always felt simply like the prelude to December to me – a transitional period more than anything else.

This strange month brought with it lows like the results of the American election and an unexpected illness within the family. Therefore, much of my quiet time was spent turning toward things that bring me comfort like warm baths with a book, lighting tapered candles at dinner, and relearning once-familiar pieces on the piano. 🛁🕯️🎹

And that’s not to mention all the books, movies, television, and music that gave my soul a soft place to land this month – like the latest Sally Rooney novel and the much-anticipated Wicked movie. Read on for my November recommendations!

✍️ Allie

Some of the television, music, movies, and books that kept me company this month!

All reviews are out of five stars.  

This month, I read 1 book:

1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney |⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | The fourth novel from the incomparable Sally Rooney is a knockout. While Intermezzo bears all the hallmarks of Rooney’s signature style – intricate prose, exquisitely written interiority, and deeply melancholy protagonists – it still feels like a departure for her. Most notably, this is the first time she centres two male characters. Throughout Intermezzo, Rooney alternates between the perspectives of estranged brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek, adopting a Joycean stream-of-consciousness for Peter’s chapters and a rigid chess-like logic for Ivan’s. The pair spend more time apart than together throughout the novel; however, Rooney explores the fascinating ways in which siblings frustrate, influence, and define each other even when living in parallel – moving in the same direction, but rarely intersecting. The whole is a virtuoso character study of Peter and Ivan as they mourn the death of their father, their manners of grieving both different and the same. 

All reviews are out of five stars. Rewatches are indicated by an asterisk (*).

In my last newsletter, I expressed a wish for November to be a stronger month at the movies and it certainly delivered! This month, I watched 16 movies:

1. Wicked: Part 1 (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

2. John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

3. John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

4. Eastern Promises (2007) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | Full review.

5. Conclave (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

6. Ratatouille (2007)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

7. Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia (2018)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

8. We Live in Time (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

9. Death Becomes Her (1992) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

10. The Menu (2022)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

11. The Wizard of Oz (1939)* | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | Full review.

12. The Substance (2024) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

13. Gladiator II (2024) | ⭐️⭐️.5 | Full review.

14. Timecop (1994) | ⭐️⭐️ | Full review.

15. The Merry Gentleman (2024) | ⭐️.5 | Full review.

16. Under Siege (1992) | ⭐️ | Full review.

As you can see, I turned to a few emotional support comedy specials for some emergency serotonin in the wake of the US election, but I also frequented the cinema for some new releases as we move ever closer to awards season (my favourite).

I also finished the second season of Industry this month, which I’m pleased to say clocked in at ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: a rating which has improved by a full star from the first season. The pace is breathless and, in its sophomore season, the storytelling fully surrenders to its melodramatic tendencies – just when you thought the characters had no more terrible decisions to make or people left to betray, there they go again! It tries so hard to fill the void that Succession left and, while it doesn’t quite succeed, it has its moments of brilliance that evoke the cutthroat antics of the dysfunctional Roy family.

I am a part of that merry subsect of people who believe that November is the perfect time to start listening to Christmas music. Some say it’s too early, but I feel like waiting until the first of December cuts the season too short. If you, like me, want to start enjoying some yuletide cheer as soon as possible, may I interest you in my seven-and-a-half-hour playlist of holiday hits and deep cuts alike?  

In the words of Cher, “DJ, play a Christmas song!”🪩

While I finished the sixth chapter of my novel-in-progress this month (yay!), I thought I would give my beloved “firstborn” a moment in the sun.

I finished A BIT BACKWARDS, my debut novel, in 2022 and have been working ever since to break into the world of traditional publishing. As I have learned, the way to do this is to find a literary agent who loves your book so much they will pitch it to publishers. And how do you secure a literary agent? You research who could be a good fit for your book and send them a query letter, which is essentially a 300-word (or less) sales piece that showcases what makes your story stand out.

So far, I have queried forty-four agents and have received three full manuscript requests. The verdict is out on two of these requests at the moment, but it’s a possibility one of them becomes an offer of representation, so fingers crossed! 🤞

In the meantime, I thought I would share the latest version of my query letter with you all:

Where is there to go after happily ever after… except backwards? Complete at 99,000 words, A BIT BACKWARDS is an upmarket friends-to-lovers contemporary romance told in reverse that would fit comfortably on a bookshelf between Emily Henry’s swoony People We Meet on Vacation and Gabrielle Zevin’s sweeping Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

On paper, Darcie Winters and Callum Smith make no sense. Where she’s sunny, he’s serious. Where she’s silly, he’s sensible. Quick with a pop culture reference, Darcie is a not-so-secret nerd who loves to laugh – especially if it helps to quiet her grief over the recent death of one of her adoptive dads. Brilliant yet guarded, Callum is a person with autism on the asexual spectrum who speaks like he’s just stepped off the pages of a Jane Austen novel. When Darcie and Callum’s paths first cross at University College London, they’re practically designed to despise one another. Instead, they become best friends.

But A BIT BACKWARDS doesn’t start there. Set over the course of seven years, it’s a grumpy-sunshine love story based in modern-day London that begins with a happily ever after and ends with a meet-cute. The middle is an exercise in mutual pining as Darcie and Callum struggle to choose between admitting their true feelings for one other or maintaining their friendship at all costs, haunted by the disastrous disagreement that divided them years ago.

A BIT BACKWARDS is perfect for readers looking for a slow-burn romance who also have a soft spot for quirky characters.

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november snapshots. 📸

The holidays are often a time of tradition. Do you have anything that you must, without fail, read, watch, or listen to every December? Something that brings you comfort and joy? Or that simply puts you in a holly, jolly mood? ✨ Please share in the comments!