Winter’s last frost has passed and spring has settled onto our mountain for good. Everything is lush, here, everything blooming. The grass I seeded last month has sprouted, blue-green and fine as hair. The little cottage garden at the front of our house is teeming with flowers whose names I’ve never learned. Little yellow bobbles that nod in the wind, and delicate blue stars, and freakishly tall tulips so darkly purple they are almost black. Our seasonal depression has fallen away into a crazed chattering of hopes and plans. We try desperately to hold our delight in one hand, our terror, anxiety, and grief in the other. Spring is mania. I sign at least one petition a day, often two or three. Do you?
Last week I took the train down to NYC to participate in a very sweet event at the Center for Fiction with Madeline Miller (Song of Achilles, Circe), Maria Dahvana Headley (The Mere Wife, Beowolf), and Nataly Gruender (the forthcoming Medusa). Despite Madeline and Maria joining remotely, the event felt intimate and joyful, a wide-ranging conversation about feminist retellings, the power and setbacks inherent in updating ancient stories, and more. It was a sold-out event and the crowd was darling. If you happened to be there, thank you! If you missed it but are interested in participating after the fact, please enjoy this video of the event.
I took the train to New York and back, which was very slow and fun. Now I am back at mountain house and looking ahead to more local excitements. This Saturday 6/1, I’ll be at the NEPM Asparagus Festival in Hadley, MA, signing copies of Fruit of the Dead from 2–4PM EST, at the NEPM info tent, and possibly eating an asparagus donut (???). Come say hello, buy a book, listen to some music, drink a beer. Participate in a bunching contest! Can you bunch? How well can you bunch?
The next day, Sunday 6/2 from 12-2PM EST, I’ll be discussing my and process and book(s)—and maybe even yours, too—at Grace Bialecki and Matt Jones’ virtual workshop The Write Time. The Write Time encourages participants to share their writing and discuss ways to improve their own, as well as participants’ work. Each workshop starts out with a writing exercise or guest speaker who shares writing advice—on craft, process, or the business of writing—for no more than thirty minutes. By emphasizing open exchange and exploration, the workshop inspires attendees to develop their own writing practice. Sign up here.
Looking ahead to Monday, 6/17, I’m thrilled to be joining two other incredible authors at a Tables of Contents reading + dinner at the Chelsea Market Makers Space in NYC. Tickets are not yet available, but trust me, the other two authors are amazing, and the event will be delicious. You can keep an eye on their Instagram and/or sign up for their Substack to stay in the loop when they release more information.
I’d also like to mention the wonderful reading series I’ve been cohosting with Kate Senecal at The Dream Away Lodge in Becket, MA. The Dream Away Reading Series convenes at 6PM on the third Saturday of each month (with one exception this season, the fourth Saturday in August) to showcase three incredible writers for a delicious night of food, drink, and books. We kicked off the season in May with the incredible Temim Fruchter (City of Laughter), Michael Dumanis (Creature), and me. Here’s a list of our upcoming shows, to pencil into your calendar now (you can also follow us on Instagram!):
June 15: Abigail Rose Clark (Returning Home To Our Bodies), Annie Liontas (Sex with a Brain Injury), and Emma Copley Eisenberg (Housemates)
July 20: EJ Seibert, Gail Thomas, and Jennifer Rosner (Once We Were Home, The Yellow Bird Sings)
August 24: Sara Eddy (Ordinary Fissures), Sarah Seltzer (The Singer Sisters), and Ocean Vuong (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous)
September 21: Nerissa Neilds (Plastic Angel), Ellen Meeropol (The Lost Women of Azalea Court, Kinship of Clover), and Essie Chambers (Swift River)
October 19: Anne-E Wood, Sarah Bridgins (Death and Exes), and Lena Valencia (Mystery Lights)
November 16: Emily Lackey, Mary Warren Foulk (If I Could Write You a Happier Ending), and Dori Ostermiller (Outside the Ordinary)
Lastly, since we’re looking ahead a bit, I might as well mention that on July 8 I’ll be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA, for a conversation with brilliant mensch Julia Phillips about her much-heralded sophomore novel, Bear, which comes out on 6/25. RSVP for that one right here.
Man, oh, man. If you’ve read this far, you deserve a treat. How about a discount?
Visit Simon and Schuster online and enter LYON25 at checkout to get 25% off a new hardcover copy of Fruit of the Dead, plus free shipping.
Thank you, thank you, and more soon,
xo Rachel