It’s that time of year here in Salt Lake City when you realize that the brief but crisp fall, the long winter, and the lush spring have once again fooled you into thinking summer is not that bad and you’re probably exaggerating the hellish heat in your memory.
It was all real, and it’s happening again. All I can do is express gratitude for central air, which we did not have for our first 16 years in UT.
There are also things I like about summer, such as:
Summer Writing
I just finished going through the page proofs of my 2024 book. This is the stage where a book feels done, though you can see from my blue flags that “done” is a moving target until the very last minute.
Even so, it isn’t until I’ve put my last Post-It on the proofs that my brain can let go and feel free enough to give itself over to whatever’s next.
As far as what is next, I’m still playing around with several ideas and reminding myself not to rush it. In one of Malinda Lo’s recent newsletters, she talked about writing just one day a week as she comes back from the extreme disruption (a good disruption, but still a disruption) of the success of Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
I’m doing about 2.5 days a week, and arranging my schedule so that those days are completely blocked off. I try to make myself unavailable and protect them from even the simplest of errands. Then I cluster everything else (teaching, coaching, household stuff, appointments, errands, social stuff) on the non-writing days.
This minimizes the number of times I have to transition between tasks and mindsets, allowing for more immersive writing.
With eight months between now and the release of Kyra, Just for Today, and the general quiet of the publishing business in the summer, I’m hoping to commit to one of my ideas by fall and finish a draft before Kyra comes out. (More about Kyra soon enough!)
Summer Reading
A week or so ago I was in Cambridge with the Lesley University MFA, and I relaxed after days of teaching and workshopping by curling up with The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story by Andrew Neiderman (which, oh my, is only $1.99 in ebook right now!).
Neiderman knew Andrews, as he was the guy who finished her books toward the end of her life and continued writing under her name. His voice in the biography is as fawning and purple as an Andrews heroine, and I love it. Do I write books with “literary merit”? Maybe. But the influence of Andrews on my imagination, for better or worse, can’t be underestimated.
Next up is The Favor, by Adele Griffin. I was a fan of Griffin’s going back to the 90s, before I ever even imagined we’d eventually meet and become friends, and every single one of her books has taught me something about writing. I can’t wait to dive into this one.
Then, on August 8, I shall receive my pre-order of another friend’s latest. Whalefall by Daniel Kraus promises to be a big and worthy book, the sort only Kraus could write. Gillian Flynn says it’s “Astoundingly great,” Joshua Ferris calls it “Brave, bold, epic,” and I call it “the book I’m most looking forward to this summer.”
Summer Watching
I’ve been enjoying a bunch of stuff that is specifically related to being Gen-X, from the perfect adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret back in May, to the brand new Wham! documentary.
In between, I did one of my regular rewatches of Breaking Away (1979; one of my all-time favorites), dealt with a lot of big feelings during Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, enjoyed the new Donna Summer doc Love to Love You and also my first whole viewing of The Wiz (1978). I even enjoyed the three-parter on Arnold Schwarzenegger on Netflix much more than I imagined I could.
Altogether, a lot of visiting with the culture and context I grew up in, in all its flawed glory.
I hope your summer days have room for whatever writing, reading, watching, and listening you need.
People always forget about Breaking Away. It's such a great movie! And one of those that feels like a real part of my childhood in the way in folds into my memories.
THANK YOU for the recommendation of The Woman Beyond the Attic. I can't tell you how many times I've watched the original movie and read these books. Going to check that out right now!