How to Grow Wings & Create Beauty from Trauma
NYT, Brevity Blog, & Other Publishing News!
Southeast Alaska in July swerves between twenty hours of sunshine and spruce trees turning red, to lush rainforest a million shades of green. Plenty of black bear sightings, their dark hides lustrous from fresh salmon, and orcas hunting baby humpback whales until humpback families chase them off. Days start at 3 AM and last until 11 PM, salmon berries gleam like jewels in an explosion of chlorophyll, devil’s club leaves swell as big as pumpkins, and mosquitos chase humans inside around 8:00 PM. Abundance, thy name is July.
Okay, now to business. So much news!
First, this 100 word Tiny Love Story that was published in the New York Times, along with my daughter’s artwork!!! (The nice thing about raising neurodiverse children during a pandemic is you’re never starved for writing material! Thank you, children, for letting me never get bored and continuing to inspire me!)
Second, this interview for Brevity Blog where I pick Keema Waterfield’s brain about radical honesty, how she crafts beauty from traumatic experiences, and writing into hard-to-remember moments.
Third, this silly piece on Slackjaw that was inspired by my husband’s love affair with his woodstove and my pandemic devotion to my dishwasher (a.k.a. sister wife/moral support animal/therapist).
What else? Oh yeah, for some reason the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council agreed to give me $1,000 so I could work on my memoir! More on the memoir later…
What I’m reading now:
This new book of birth poems by Emily Wall, published by Red Hen Press. One of the poems was written after Emily interview my mother about my daughter’s home birth, and its parallels to giving birth to me at home during a time when midwives were ilegal. Because women have always had to fight for the right to trust their bodies and choices.
Also, Hysterical, a debut memoir by Elissa Bassist forthcoming from Hachette September 13, in which Bassist recounts her experience of being silenced, how that experience led to mysterious health issues, and almost killed her. Couched with wit and biting humor, this book will leave you trembling if you’re a woman, as you may likely recognize yourself.
What I’m loving listening to as I cook/clean/laundry/housewife/drive/walk:
Write Minded Podcast with Brooke Warner of Shewrites Press and Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo
Snow Days by my friend Allison Waid
Glennon Doyle’s interview with Alok Menon who asks: “Why have we been taught to fear the very things that can set us free?” (Thank you, former student Allie Owen for recommending!)
Me, my mom, sister, brother (in law) and ‘Merica all celebrated birthdays this month — what can i say, July’s cup runneth over!!! I’d like to say that my mom’s best gift to me was to show me, through example and words, that true freedom IS possible.
BONUS Honeys hot tip #27:
Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline. Maybe she realized that patriarchy has mislabeled her as inherently flawed in order to sell more makeup, but she knows that true beauty is being exactly who you are.
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Take care of yourself. Drop a line. Love you.
Summer
