Where Am I?

I’ve spent the bulk of my writing time this summer discovering the world of coding. I’m taking an interactive fiction class, a genre often described as a mashup of stories and video games. I’ve never considered myself very tech savvy, but turns out coding can be fun. (I’ll be sharing a video game/story in my next personal newsletter, so if you’re interested and haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here!)

My writing group met last week and as we caught up on what we’d all been doing this summer, the phrase “I’m not writing” got repeated. I said it. “I’m not really writing, I’m making video games…”

But I’m a firm believer in the idea that writing doesn’t need to be actual writing. Reading counts as writing. Thinking about writing counts as writing. And, I don’t care if this seems like a stretch, but I think anything can be for our writing—including just living. Really living.

So if you haven’t been Writing™ this summer either, here’s a list of activities I think count as writing. If you’ve done anything on this list, you’ve been productive in my book. And if you’ve done multiple things on this list, I’d say you’re having a very successful summer as a writer:

1. Reading (yes, audiobooks count)

2. Thinking about writing

3. Attending an author event or listening to a craft talk (yes, podcasts count)

4. Traveling literally anywhere, even to a different neighborhood

5. Seeing a live show (music, theater, dance, etc.) or visiting a museum

6. Hiking, biking, kayaking, or leisurely walking

7. Having a conversation that makes you think or laugh

8. Listening to music that makes you really feel or reconsider how you previously thought about something

9. Watching a film or show that introduces you to an idea, character, or information that surprises you

10. Learning or trying literally anything new

visiting Red Rocks was one of my summer writing accomplishments

I read Laura Stanfill’s Imagine a Door a few months ago, after reading Cassie Mannes Murray’s interview with Laura over at Pine State Publicity I’d borrowed the book from the library, so can’t look up the exact quote, but there’s this beautiful sentiment about how the job of a writer is to be a worthy lover of life. In the end, that’s what we’re tasked to do: to live each day to the fullest and to love the people in our orbit the best we can, and—I don’t remember if it’s in the book, but I’ll add: to experience all the art we can. And so if that’s all we do this summer (or year), we’re still doing our job as writers.

Now let’s go out and enjoy this beautiful summer day.

Reading Recommendations:

I’m trying to keep poetry in steady rotation and my current read is aja monet’s My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter. These poems are politically conscious and razor sharp.

Mac Crane’s A Sharp Endless Need is poetically written and structured like a basketball game. A gorgeous queer novel about basketball? Yes please.

Has anyone out there read Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s Magical/ Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders? This book is a masterpiece and I can’t do it justice in a blurb, but I’d love to talk about it with someone, so if you’ve read it, hit me up!

Preorder alert: If you’re looking for a short story collection about rural America, be sure to check out Adam al-Sirgany’s More Hell. The sentences are well crafted, often surprising, and overall it’s a thoughtful collection. (And if you’re in the Rockford area, I’ll be reading at the More Hell book launch on August 22 at Maze Books!)

Also, I want to share some exciting news as two very talented writers recently announced book deals! Huge congratulations to Analía Villagra and Victor Ladis Schultz!

This collection is going to be SO GOOD! Congrats, Analía!

Doesn’t this novel sound SO GOOD?!? Congrats, Vic!

This post’s title is courtesy this song:

Wishing you a lovely month, full of Writing™ or writing adjacent activities! <3