Notes & News: March 2019
Below you will find the latest updates on what I am writing, reading, researching, and teaching, some of the awesome things my cool friends are doing, and, of course, news about everyone's favorite tortoise, Terrence. Thanks for reading! -- E.B.
P.S. If you are getting this message and don't recall signing up for this newsletter, it is probably because Karen or Rich Bartels suggested you might be interested, or I thought you might be. ZERO hard feelings if you choose to unsubscribe! Seriously. Just scroll down to the bottom and we can pretend this never happened.
Tortoise illustration by Miranda Sofroniou.
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Writing Notes & News:
On January 30, I sold my book Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, a first-person journey through the world of loving and losing animals, exploring the singular nature of our bonds with our companion animals, and how best to grieve for them once they've passed away, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt! My editor is the wonderful Naomi Gibbs, known for editing many incredible books, including some of my favorites from the past couple years: Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee, Tango Lessons: A Memoir by Meghan Flaherty, and After the Eclipse: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search by Sarah Perry. A publication date is not set yet (likely spring 2021) but the one thing I know for certain now is I have to turn in a complete draft of the book by January 2020. Eek! Here we go!
Since I've been preoccupied with sending my book out to publishers, I have neglected most of my other essay and interview projects this past month, but the February installment of Non-Fiction by Non-Men featured Alanna Okun, interviewed by guest-interviewer and my former GrubStreet student, Céillie Clark-Keane. Also, Shelly Anand and I interviewed Dr. Crystal M. Fleming about her new book How To Be Less Stupid About Race as part of the Wellesley Writes It series on Wellesley Underground.
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Reading Notes & News:
If you want more frequent updates on what I am reading, find me on GoodReads!
In terms of books, this past month I read advanced copies of two books that are coming out this spring that I highly recommend: Good Talk by Mira Jacob (March 26, 2019) and The Body Papers by Grace Talusan (April 2, 2019). Both books are incredibly raw, intimate, and beautiful memoirs about the experience of being part of a family of immigrants in the United States. (Also, fun fact, I recently interviewed both Mira and Grace for upcoming Non-Fiction by Non-Men interviews... stay tuned!) I also read My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite for my true crime book club, which was funny and dark a.k.a. my favorite type of book. And, currently, I am reading the Arab of the Future graphic memoir series by Riad Sattouf, which was recommended to me by a GrubStreet student in my Jumpstart Your Writing class this past fall.
In terms of non-books, I highly recommend this essay by Ruoxi Chen about why the Daniel Mallory con artist editor story shouldn't be that surprising to anyone. I am obsessed with this poem written by a six-year-old. And if you are looking for some feel-good news, read this great story about a German Shepherd and a tortoise that got themselves into quite a pickle.
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Research Notes & News:
This is the spot for glimpses into the research process behind Good Grief.
This month I learned that Katharine Lee Bates buried her dog, Sigurd, on the Wellesley campus, and I feel completely cheated that I am only just learning about this now, a decade post-college. Wtf. This is the kind of stuff they should have taught us in First Year Orientation. Photo taken by the wonderful Lisa Scanlon Mogolov who clued me in on this magnificent fact.
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Teaching Notes & News:
It's never too soon to start thinking about signing up for one of my spring or summer classes at GrubStreet! Here's what I have coming up:
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Friend Notes & News:
Not to brag, but I have many badass friends writing amazing things and making incredible art. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see my regular enthusiastic posts about what they are up to, but here are a few great recent things they've done in the past month:
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Terrence Notes & News:
He has been sleeping a lot. Winter is hard when you're a tropical tortoise living in New England. Here is a photo of him staying warm and relaxing in his "jacuzzi" (i.e. a small cat litter box filled with hot water).
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