TIME TRAVEL, SNOW DAYS AND TALKING TO STRANGERS
Jan 23, 2025LIFE 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!!
Wasn't my thing...Became my thing: This is How you Lose the Time War is a novella about two warring agents who travel through the threads of time to try an assassinate the other – and then fall in love. So they change the past to give themselves a shot at the future. So, this one started very WTF for me. Wasn't sure if I was going to keep going. And then it absolutely blossomed, sucked me in, and I didn't get off the couch on Sunday until I finished it. If you like SCI-FI and Romance, This is How you Lose the Time War is a cocktail of beautiful writing that you just might enjoy! And who doesn't love a small book.
What I'm writing: I'm about 4 chapters into my new novel Evangeline (working title that won't be THE title, but it's my main character's story so it's just easier this way). Drafting the first act has reminding how much I love writing fiction. It's like my entire inner world begins working together to make her story work. Imagination is so fun. And the ideas seem like they drop out of the sky. When authors say that their characters talk to them, it's true. This week I channeled a lot of Evangeline's omen dreams, her beliefs about astrology, wrestling with truth that people won't listen to, and a desire for financial independence...all of which challenge societal norms at the turn of the 1900s America. <Hmm, feels current.>
WOMEN’S STUDIES
What gets passed down becomes our history. I went deep on the Challenge catastrophe last week in American Scandal: Bigger, Faster Cheaper. This disaster was before my time, but I remember learning about the teacher Christa McAuliffe – and re-learning the details as an adult was wrenching. It was a well-done, highly human pod that (IMO) told the stories of these astronauts with much humanity and grace.
Some of you have been reaching out about how much you loved my Telepathy Tapes pod recommendation...I TOLD YOU!! If you haven't listened to it yet, do it do it do it.
Also a must read: The Anti-Social Century. It's a long, gut punch. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people. And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don't take, or actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”
PASS IT ON
Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:
It has been a (double) Snow Day in Savannah!!! I never thought I'd be walking around with inches of snow on the ground, trying not to eat it via black ice. But alas, here we are. In my quiet moments I've been packing up more and more Daisy-s to send to all of you. Thank you SO much for the love you've been showing this book. If you're reading and loving, tag me @maxiemccoy in pics of your Daisy!! And feel free to live-message me your play-by-play thoughts of the plot. These two texts made my day this week (and yes only one of them was unbiased haha):
Woman on xx