Mid-winter wrap up
and a chance to write with me!
Paperbacks are here! In her latest Substack, Rebecca Makkai takes a deep dive into all things paperback: their history, how they’re made and the part they play in the publishing ecosystem.
Which is great timing because my paperback landed last week, and I’m thrilled to say it is gorgeous and deliciously floppy and honestly a bargain so you should get at least one and maybe even two. I mean, who am I to stop you?
Here are a couple of places you can catch me in the coming weeks:
On February 29, I will be appearing with Laura Zigman at Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, NY. More info here. I loved Laura’s latest book Small World so much I wrote about it here. If you are in the area, I’d love to see you.
Zoom tickets are still available for my March 7 event with Book the Writer in NYC. More info here!
WRITE WITH ME!
You may think writing is for ‘real’ writers—authors, journalists, anyone who makes a living on writing alone. But that isn’t true.
My friend Terri Trespicio says that thinking only writers need to write is like saying only chefs need knives. Not true. Writing is not for grad students; it’s a birthright, and a tool that allows us to express our ideas and share our work with the world.
Writing is a tool for self-discovery, inquiry and reflection. And no one ever created, shared or sold a thing without first writing it down.
“But I’m bad at it,” you say. Are you? How do you know? I’m bad at fly fishing and lousy at the trapeze. Though I’ll let you guess how much practice I’ve put in.
The better you get at a thing, the more you will enjoy and benefit from it. And you don’t get good by not doing a thing.
If you’re dying to push past a block or get out of your head, you’re in luck.
Terri is hosting an open house for The Studio, her screamingly successful drop-in writing program that launched last fall. And you can come try her approach for free! I’ll be there to give you a sneak peek at the gorgeous writing we do together every week on Zoom.
Intrigued? Join us for the Open House on March 1st from 12:00-1:30p ET. Register and more info here.
I didn’t go to AWP but I did appear on a panel called “Writing the Resonant Recent Past,” moderated by Sarah McCraw Crow (author of The Wrong Kind of Woman), featuring novelists, including Sarah, who’ve written books set in the late 20th or early 21st century: Karen Dukess (The Last Book Party), Ava Homa (Daughters of Smoke and Fire), and Jennifer Savran Kelly (Endpapers). We dug into the considerations specific to writing about a time period that feels not that long ago but is in fact historical. **Fun fact: Sarah and I both graduated from Dartmouth and her novel is set at a Dartmouth-inspired campus in the early 1970s during the school’s transition to co-education.**
If you registered for AWP, you can see all the virtual AWP panels here for the next month. (Our panel is number V122, if you’re looking.)
I loved my conversation with Katie Fogarty for her podcast A Certain Age. Katie is a brilliant interviewer and asked such good questions about the book. And once you’ve finished listening to my episode, check out the rest featuring writers like Karen Dukess, Annabel Monaghan, Priscilla Gilman and Laura Belgray but also people talking about all things midlife, like menopause, business transitions, caretaking.
You can hear my conversation with Katie here.
Here are a couple of photos from my pre-Valentine’s Day event with Avery Carpenter Forrey at Perrot Library in Old Greenwich. We had candy and got everyone talking about their crushes. Oh, we also dressed up! Avery is so sparkling and fun, it rubs off on everyone!
And speaking of paperbacks, Avery’s novel Social Engagement comes out in paperback on May 21, just in time for summer! Preorder now!
I’ll leave you with the TikTok I made—with my son Oliver’s help—celebrating the arrival of my paperbacks. My book has officially been out for a year (phew!) and I can’t thank you enough for reading and sharing and all your support.
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Loved this! Omg so how funny that you know Terri Trespicio! We crossed paths on Boston when I was at the Globe year ago. She had the best spirit! Sorry that I missed your event with Avery — it was sick house over in my part of the world at that moment. Yay to your paperback!
Happy paperback pub month, Daisy! And thanks for the shoutout!