Pretty Thoughts

It’s my turn to write a post, but it was a serious struggle deciding what to write about. 

A ‘life update’ post? Nah, that’s not really what these are meant for. Amy and I do share what’s going on in our lives, but we want there to be some takeaway for you— to give you something for the time you spend reading our words. 

A ‘spring is here’ post? I’d talk about how much I love the energy of spring. A fresh start! I could tie in my recent move, how now that I’m getting settled I can see the light at the end of this tunnel of not writing. But that seems flat, and I don’t have much more to say than those few sentences. 

I’ve been told the most vulnerable posts tend to be the most helpful, so I went confessional, almost finished writing it, but then got news about something tragic that happened in my community. It was the first of two such atrocities and this one I knew the victim’s family. Suddenly my ‘here’s my problem’ post felt very off-note. 

I’ve been pretty discouraged by the world lately. Maybe you are, too. Maybe like me you’re looking for a glimmer of hope amid headlines of destruction. 

I wish I could package that for you. Offer something to make sense of the wickedness in the world. Give you a little slice of faith. Promise you goodness will prevail, love will win. 

I can’t do that, but I can remind you of the power of your words. I can remind you that your stories are needed. I need them. Not just me, other people I know. We need your stories. Stories help foster empathy, which everyone can use a little more of. Your words and stories can become a little glimmer of hope to your readers. (Unless you’re looking to fill your readers with despair, but hey, you do you!)

I think us writers tend to think big and feel deeply. We’re people who hear of awful things happening globally or in our community and feel a puncture in our chests. We’re people who often live in our heads, trying to make sense of things. And we take all those big thoughts and feelings and funnel them onto the page. We perform alchemy with our words. We leave our reader, if not changed, at least understanding how we see the world. And in that, we bring a little more kindness. That’s our super power. 

It makes me think of the last line in “Good Bones,” a poem by Maggie Smith I’ll never get tired of: You could make this place beautiful. 

You can. 

We all can. 

How’s that for a pretty thought? 

Reading Recommendations

Online: I love Tara Isabel Zambrano’s writing. I find her prose so crisp and elegant. She recently published this beautiful flash story, “Once in our home in Agra, the monsoon was over” in Your Impossible Voice.  

A new Deesha Philyaw story is cause for celebration. “Heaven’s Whisky” was published in Orion Magazine, and it’s great, of course, and so is the killer use of footnotes. 

Recently read: 

I’m excited to share that I’m working with the brilliant Mandana Chaffa on a new series for Chicago Review of Books where we interview university and small press editors. The first interview was with Marisa Siegel from Northwestern University Press, highlighting their Curbstone Books imprint, and Marisa recommended I check out Yxta Maya Murray’s novel, God Went Like That. The book takes the form of an EPA report to highlight stories of people impacted by a real-life nuclear reactor meltdown, and is incredibly moving.

Currently reading:

Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to sit and read for a while, but I’ve been driving a lot for work, so I’ve welcomed audio books back into my life. I’m currently listening to De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s Decent People, read by one of my favorite narrators, Bahni Turpin. The novel is a literary mystery about a Black community in the aftermath of a triple homicide, and while it’s “plotty,” it’s also really thoughtful, examining race, homophobia, and shame. 

Up next: 

I’m a big Kaveh Akbar fan and I’ve heard great things about his new novel, Martyr! . And then I read Greg Zimmerman’s thoughts about it and decided to bump it up higher on my TBR. Greg is a smart bookseller with excellent taste in books, so if you’re looking for book recommendations, please follow his Substack!

The title of this post came from this song:

Sending you a little slice of hope. Hang in there. <3