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About
From Allyson McOuat, author of the popular 2020 New York Times Modern Love essay "The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems," comes her debut essay collection
In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the '80s and '90s that molded her identity. McOuat stirs the ingredients required to conjure an unsettled spirit: the horrors of pregnancy and motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, near-miss experiences, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.
Through her own life experiences, various tall tales, urban legends, analysis of horror and thriller films, and spine-chilling true crime incidents, McOuat uncovers how cultural gatekeeping has forced her, as a mother and queer femme woman, to persistently question her own reality. Through this charming and humorous exploration of what moments have made her who she is, McOuat demonstrates for readers a way through by forgiving herself and exorcising her stubborn attachment to a phantom, heteronormative, nuclear family structure. From the author of the popular New York Times Modern Love essay "The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems," comes this series of intimate and humorous dispatches as examined through '80s and '90s pop culture on motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.
Allyson McOuat (she/her) is a queer writer from Toronto who has been published in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Broadview Magazine, and Plenitude Magazine. McOuat's Modern Love essay was adapted for television by Modern Love Amsterdam on Amazon Prime. She is a mom of two amazing daughters.
Sales and Market Bullets
• A "HAUNTING" MEMOIR THAT LOOKS AT THE AUTHOR'S QUEER IDENTITY
• DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A POP CULTURE LENS: Intertwines personal anecdotes with '80s and '90s film analysis, pop culture phenomena, supernatural tales, urban legends, and spine-chilling true crime incidents.
• CATERING TO MULTIPLE DEMOGRAPHICS: This collection of personal essays will be of interest to queer lit readers, women, pop culture fans, Gen Xers, true crime consumers, and ghost story aficionados, with essays covering LGBTQ+ culture, horror and thriller films, crime, fertility treatments, miscarriage, divorce, gaslighting, non-traditional parenting, truth in storytelling, aging, supernatural experiences, and overcoming trauma, among others.
• POSSIBLE ENDORSEMENTS: Allyson is connected in various ways to the following people and will be approaching them for endorsements and/or promotional opportunities: Dan Jones (New York Times editor of Modern Love, which often recommends essayists' books and sometimes creates podcast versions of their essays), David Hein and Irene Sankoff (creators of Come from Away), C. Day Burrill (author, leader of Butch Femme Social Group with 22K members).
• FOR READERS OF: In the Dream House (Carmen Maria Machado), I Am, I Am, I Am (Maggie O'Farrell), Superfan (Jen Sookfong Lee).
• MODERN LOVE ON TELEVISION: McOuat's Modern Love essay was featured in an episode of Modern Love Amsterdam's first season on Amazon Prime in 2023.
In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the '80s and '90s that molded her identity. McOuat stirs the ingredients required to conjure an unsettled spirit: the horrors of pregnancy and motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, near-miss experiences, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.
Through her own life experiences, various tall tales, urban legends, analysis of horror and thriller films, and spine-chilling true crime incidents, McOuat uncovers how cultural gatekeeping has forced her, as a mother and queer femme woman, to persistently question her own reality. Through this charming and humorous exploration of what moments have made her who she is, McOuat demonstrates for readers a way through by forgiving herself and exorcising her stubborn attachment to a phantom, heteronormative, nuclear family structure. From the author of the popular New York Times Modern Love essay "The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems," comes this series of intimate and humorous dispatches as examined through '80s and '90s pop culture on motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.
Allyson McOuat (she/her) is a queer writer from Toronto who has been published in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Broadview Magazine, and Plenitude Magazine. McOuat's Modern Love essay was adapted for television by Modern Love Amsterdam on Amazon Prime. She is a mom of two amazing daughters.
Sales and Market Bullets
• A "HAUNTING" MEMOIR THAT LOOKS AT THE AUTHOR'S QUEER IDENTITY
• DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A POP CULTURE LENS: Intertwines personal anecdotes with '80s and '90s film analysis, pop culture phenomena, supernatural tales, urban legends, and spine-chilling true crime incidents.
• CATERING TO MULTIPLE DEMOGRAPHICS: This collection of personal essays will be of interest to queer lit readers, women, pop culture fans, Gen Xers, true crime consumers, and ghost story aficionados, with essays covering LGBTQ+ culture, horror and thriller films, crime, fertility treatments, miscarriage, divorce, gaslighting, non-traditional parenting, truth in storytelling, aging, supernatural experiences, and overcoming trauma, among others.
• POSSIBLE ENDORSEMENTS: Allyson is connected in various ways to the following people and will be approaching them for endorsements and/or promotional opportunities: Dan Jones (New York Times editor of Modern Love, which often recommends essayists' books and sometimes creates podcast versions of their essays), David Hein and Irene Sankoff (creators of Come from Away), C. Day Burrill (author, leader of Butch Femme Social Group with 22K members).
• FOR READERS OF: In the Dream House (Carmen Maria Machado), I Am, I Am, I Am (Maggie O'Farrell), Superfan (Jen Sookfong Lee).
• MODERN LOVE ON TELEVISION: McOuat's Modern Love essay was featured in an episode of Modern Love Amsterdam's first season on Amazon Prime in 2023.