CHILI CRUNCH, BETA READERS, AND THE 40TH BIRTHDAY TRIP

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Beta Reading: When I wrote Daisy, I had two rounds of beta readers – people who were willing to read early drafts of the novel and give me super specific feedback. I'm reading a friend's novel, a Japanese-literature inspired book...and I'm just so happy to be doing it. I know how hard it is to get to the stage where you let your words live in someone else's hands, and man, what an honor to read someone's heart. So, while I cannot point you to this novel (yet), I will recommend some of my favorite Japanese Literature: Marukami's Novelist as a Vocation and Hiiragi's Lantern of Lost Memories.

What I'm writing: Well, well, well. I knew from my research that Evangeline Adams the astrologer was likely queer, having been with both men and women in her lifetime (but the latter was according to other people's accounts, not primary). But in my outlines I hadn't totally figured out that side of her, the backstory, how she related to her sexuality during my point of the story. Yesterday, when I was writing a scene of her making sense of her nemesis, her queerness emerged and it was fun and forbidden for that time and made a lot of Evangeline make sense. Writing and character building and world building is WILD. It never ceases to surprise me even when I think I have the story all figured out.

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history.

Unpacking the 40th Birthday Trip. As I write this, I'm gearing up to go on one of my best friend's 40th birthday trips to wine country. And I'm SO excited to celebrate her in the same way we've celebrated every engagement, marriage, and baby shower of our married friends. This article really touches on this 40th birthday phenomenon, and how it's deeply tied to 40 being a very different 40 than it was for our parents. And how for women, it's so connected to our women friends, our celebration of life, of what's to come, of what has been. I've always loved birthdays for this very reason and it's getting me quite excited to start advance planning mine ;)

If you hate And Just Like That, what does that say about you? My favorite profile writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner had some things to SAY on this pod (candidly, I've only watched a few minutes of highlights but I have the whole episode bookmarked for this week's plane ride.) What if hating And Just Like That means you just hate middle-aged women, she asks? What if hating the how is a hatred of yourself? While I appreciate her POV and the challenge...I personally hated AJLT for entirely different reasons (first, the writing. Second, I've been saying since the first season that our Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte wouldn't have turned out so out-of-touch 20 years later!! They were savvy. They lived in the heart of NYC and didn't leave. Come ON. None of it was believable to turn them into out-of-touch rich bafoons). But really, my main critique of the final season, which (SPOILER) lands the plane by trying to dissect what it means for Carrie to “be alone” and ends the series with her actually alone....was such a missed opportunity. Yes, I know, she was absolutely boy crazy and centering her world around men for 25 years, even though she had the very best friends whom she loved and was loyal to, albeit imperfect. How on earth did this final season not show her learning that the greatest romance of her life would be those women, and with them, she'd never end up alone. And with them at her side, drinking martinis and talking about vibrators, they should and could end the final season of the show. Michael Patrick King, SJP, call me... ;)

How does Taylor Swift Deal with Internet Noise. Spoiler alert: she doesn't ever hear it!!! This is a good read for anyone trying to stay sane from the commentary, the posts, the projections on the internet. I still need to listen to her episode on New Heights, but the clips I've seen have been so refreshing...girl apparently has HOBBIES. Which, imagine the hobbies we'd all have if we took back our time spent lavishing attention on the internet...or had a cool billion dollars...just saying.

Other stray links: was anyone else once obsessed with The Biggest Loser!?!? I loved that show for about two years in college. Thus, Fit For Tv, an expose documentary about this weight loss game show was very interesting (and horrifying).

If you've ever wondered if my novel Daisy is any good, check out these 20 text messages ;)

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

I'm no chef. I cook for myself, but it's taken me a long time to get comfortable with fully hosting a dinner for group of people (whereas cooking for a single one of my girlfriends was always easy breezy to me). Since moving to Savannah I've gotten much more comfortable with hosting and cooking. Over the last few weeks I've cooked dinner for a few groups of friends and have really nailed a couple recipes. In honor of the nearing close of summer, I give to you this corn and shishito summer salad. So spicy and fresh and wonderful, which I added a bunch of lettuce to to make it entree appropriate...but if it's the main event I recommend making more than even this calls for. And THIS Japanese sweet potato dip will make you the hit of any appetizer happy crowd. Just make it ahead so that it's not hot when you serve it. And for points, add a tablespoon of chili crunch for a serious kick. Yummmmm!

Woman on xx