Stir!

Flattered they revised this announcement on Insta... I'll take it!

About a week ago, I participated in Stir, a reading series at Cafe Suspiro in San Francisco, hosted by The Fabulist and the amazing T.K.Rex! This was a bittersweet engagement, since I filled in for a reader who had a last minute emergency, but I was honored to be asked and excited to read from The Body a Book of Conjuring.

I joined Swetha Amit, Lisa Goldstein and Edna Mira Raia on a panel reading their work in honor of "foggy season" and then of course discussing all things writing (and for Edna-- all things performance) related to it. I read a chapter introducing my character Mercury, his backstory, or the way I viewed it, his story of emerging from the fog of unknowing and to the clarity of becoming and being who he was. I'd forgotten how satisfying it can be to share your work and see it click with people.

T.K.Rex was kind enough to take photos of the evening and share them with us. Proof that I won't turn into a wildebeest if invited to speak to a live audience. I think here I was embodying the words of Renderer Augusta Lux, who is always confident and grandiose in speech... a true diva.

Hedgebrook, the life changing impact of The Art and Craft of Revision

I was unprepared for the complete charm of my cabin with a woodburning stove.

I've spent some time processing my visit to Hedgebrook for Deborah Harkness's The Art and Craft of Revision workshop. I have to say it was lifechanging, and enabled me to take myself seriously as a writer and novelist. The workshop itself was fantastic, as was my cohort, but I also want to note how fundamental Hedgebrook was to this experience. It was the stealth character in the narrative, alway there in the interstices of my consciousness. I've never known so much peace of mind and centerness as after my walks through Hedgebrook's woods, thinking about my novel and how I wanted it to make people feel. It's been a difficult feeling to recapture, though looking at the photos helps.

I sat here everyday with a cup of tea, staring into the woods and letting my mind drift where it wanted.

Fantastic artwork, everywhere you looked, on the cabins, but also nestled in the landscape.

I loved this little guy. The onsite sculpture was amazing.

The magic of Rainforest Writer's Retreat

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Run by the inimitable Patrick Swenson, Rainforest Writers Retreat was an extraordiary experience of concentrated writing punctuated by sweet writer meetups and long beautiful walks in the spectacular Olympic Rainforest. I started a collection of mushroom stump photos! Got up early to watch the sun rise over the lake. Had a couple of major novel epiphanies that crystallized my perspective and how I'd communicate it. Slept like a champ. I can't wait to go back.