Newsiest Newsletter of All
Next week, craft is back. For now, relax into so much fun content!
Parley Lit, 3 is here.
The fall issue just came out withe a website redesign. Check it out HERE or watch the YouTube playlist below, starting with Ira Sukrungruang’s “Your Thai Life Begins Here”:
I also host Totally Biased Reviews.
Next week, I’ll post a “books in review, review” on insta [ @ adjsbb and @ parleylit ], but for now, check out the conversations with incredible authors:
Susan Shapiro interviews thirteen people about how they forgave - or never forgave - major harms.
Joshua Mohr writes the most heartfelt, edgy punk hero in the first of three voicey, super compelling novels.
Hyeseung Song writes about her journey from childhood to art in this lush and deeply insightful memoir.
Jane Wong’s memoir about growing up in restaurants, food, and art full of depth and delicious language.
We also interview publishers, starting with Josh Dale from
!We have dozens of interviews scheduled next year with publishers and authors.
So subscribe on YouTube or Apple Podcasts!
I’ve also had articles out in Slate, Business Insider, and a NYT Tiny Love Story.
This year, I’ve had some literary essays out, too:
MUTHA Magazine (illustrated! by me!)
and Parley Lit
Here’s the Tiny Love Story…in print! (If you’ve got a paywall, it’s below in full):
That picture was taken on January 10th, 2012 when I was exactly forty weeks pregnant (which means an inflated, desperately achy waddler). I wasn’t my best self. I was terrified and super annoyed that the beach in Virginia was piss yellow and freezing which felt nothing like the quartz fluff sand at my hometown beach. I simultaneously leaned allll the way into feeling resentful of…the trap of all sensations…while trying to have fun (sooo slowly) chasing my toddler around the beach.
When I showed the (physical! newspaper!) article to my kid and described that day, he just said, “Cool.”
I said, “Your face is in the New York Times. You are fifteen. Do you know where I was when I was fifteen?”
“Yep.”
“…Working at McDonalds! And that day on the beach was so pretty but I was crawling out of my skin! And you really wanted Kraft mac n cheese not decent mac n cheese at this seafood restaurant and threw a fit. That’s why we were running on the beach!”
“I know.”
Later, my husband reminded my kid that it was a big deal to have something in the New York Times. “Obama probably read that,” he said. “And other world leaders!”
“Uh huh.”
“And, like, Robert Smith!” I said.
“Ok.”
“Martha Stewart!”
"Who?”
“Beyonce!”
“Jon Stewart!”
“David Chase!”
“Madonna!”
And it went on like that for three days. I told my kid, “I’ll be excited for you until you’re ready to step into the glory of having your BABY FACE ON PAGE TWO OF THE NEW YORK TIMES.” I’ve stopped trying to elicit some degree of thrill from my kid, though every once in a while I’ll pull his eternal headphones off his ear a little and squeak, “NEW YORK TIMES!” or, “PAGE TWO!”
Sixteen years of pregnancy and/or parenting has confirmed, in spades, that it is absolutely impossible for me to be cool about stuff like this. It only took me eleven stops to find a physical copy, and it is indeed already framed in my hallway. #nochill
Anyway!
In the next newsletter (coming soon!), I’ll talk about artist/writer identities, how to define them, and the collision of circumstance and choice inside of an artist’s life.
xo