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Judith Rodgers's avatar

Good morning. Yesterday I did as I planned to during this challenge and worked on the material from my novel that I will send to agents whom I am querying. This meant a Zoom with a friend who has read most of the novel and had lots of praise and super suggestions on the portion I sent her that will go out. But the phase of querying is a drag, there's no other way to describe it. Last night I had a conversation with a close friend about a post she shared on Mother's Day. She wrote about how mothering is designed to show you how imperfect you are. We talked about the grief inherent in being a parent, over the times you must let go--of the adults they become, of your failure to be the mother you want to be. It's a very real part of my life, this sense of loss. She said I should write about it. This idea hit me in that "why not?" way--I haven't composed a Substack in a long time, so I sat down this morning and let it rip. This is me, 1050 words later. Thanks to everyone for this group energy. I wouldn't be here without it.

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Diane Sunde's avatar

I love every part of today’s letter! I love the writing prompt with the shoes, and yes, I can’t wait to figure out who they belong to and why they’ve been lined up on the street for ages now. What if it rains? What then, people? What then?

And Hala Alyan’s note was exceptional! “Writing is a portal without expiration.” Profound! And noting that a writer is a writer beyond any forgone book-in-hand or award-on-the-wall spoke directly to my heart. Yes! (Can I get a halleluiah?) But maybe the one line that really punched me more than a double-shot of espresso was seeing these words: writing is an act of return. Absolutely beautiful.

I rarely gush but this morning I can’t seem to hold back.

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