Beka Wueste

The Unsent Letters of Lucy Prior - Now available!

• Apple Books (eBook): http://bit.ly/3Drvbkv
  
• Amazon (eBook and print - hardcover, paperback): https://bit.ly/3QSsYle
  
• Barnes & Noble (eBook and print - hardcover, paperback): https://bit.ly/3DnLMWy
  
• Ingram for bulk retail or library purchases 

“Wueste’s prose seamlessly balances sharp wit, aching nostalgia, and raw honesty.” - Kirkus Reviews

When Lucy Prior died, she left many of the possessions you’d expect to find in an average house, with the exception of a peculiar set of letters. These letters were never sent in her lifetime, and were left with the intention of having someone else decide if they should be sent, thrown away, or published. 

Written with the knowledge that her death was imminent, each chapter is a letter to an individual who played an influential role in Lucy’s life, with whom she had severed connections decades before she passed away. In the letters, she revisits and confronts formative moments throughout her childhood and early adulthood which she had largely repressed or intentionally hidden from even her closest relatives and friends.

The letters cause confusion among her surviving family, who have difficulty reconciling the intense emotions and deeply confessional contents with the woman they knew and loved. The project leaves her family wondering how much they actually understood her, or if they understood her at all, when she kept so much of her life secret from them. 

With each letter, Lucy’s estate manager must determine the value of sending a letter so long after the relationships came to an end. Some are thank you letters, others regrets or apologies, while the rest are condemnations. As the letters vary wildly, the estate manager discovers there is no clear criteria for deciding the benefit or harm in communicating with people who mattered, for better or for worse, in a person’s life.

This novel is ideal for book clubs and classroom discussions due to the epistolary format, and includes recommended questions for facilitators. 

Fireflies in a Jar 

• Coming soon in Summer 2025
• Adult contemporary upmarket fiction, family drama, book club, LGBTQ, literary fiction

Sam is a late bloomer, finally coming of age in her mid-thirties while navigating past traumas and current family crises. This novel will especially appeal to readers who have experienced trauma in struggling with difficult family dynamics or navigating their identity.  It will particularly resonate with former Gen X and Millennial latchkey kids who grew up in the pre-social media era and don’t often feel represented in pop culture.

For most people, it’s the 2010’s, but for Sam, it’s 1989, or 1998, or 2004, or any other time in the past that holds her hostage. Although she physically survived decades of emotional neglect, bullying, homophobia, and racism, she is unable to move on mentally. At any given moment, her memories rear up and seize her, paralyzing her, forcing her to relive an endless loop of the worst times of her life. 

Sam is an entirely unremarkable, closeted mid-thirties professional living in Northern Virginia. Habitually forgotten by her parents, bullied by her sister, and tormented by classmates and strangers alike, Sam became dependent on unhealthy coping mechanisms, and never successfully gained social skills. She tried so hard to avoid controversy or criticism that she boxed herself into near non-existence. 

She is entirely convinced she is unworthy of love or happiness. Her inability to come to terms with her past immobilizes her, leaving her isolated, unfulfilled and desperate for change. When her lack of social life reaches critical mass, she decides to transform her path and take control over her life. Without any strategy or guidance, she charges into ill-advised changes. Not only is her life not magically fixed by her impulsive decisions, but she begins to negatively affect those around her, causing chaos among her family and friends. 

Creative Storytelling

While my professional creative experience has been primarily in painting and drawing, storytelling is a fundamental part of the Mexican-American culture in which I was raised, and is a medium I have practiced personally throughout my life. 

In my day job as a marketing executive, I get to lean into my creative passions by developing written and visual content to support storytelling for a variety of organizations. I’ve also volunteered my written and visual storytelling skills with a number of non-profits to help raise awareness of their missions. 

I’m an award-winning visual artist whose work has been featured in regional and national exhibits. My work often focuses on themes of memory, mortality, identity, family dynamics, nature, magical realism, and dreams. Learn more in my biography and artist statement.