Why Not Now?

The question I'm always asking myself.

It’s been a long time since I wrote a proper book review, and I very much enjoyed writing this one on Allegra Goodman’s latest for The New York Times Book Review.

I am hosting an event for superstar Lauren Groff on behalf of her phenomenal new story collection BRAWLER in my backyard on March 7. Tickets (which include the price of the book) are available here. If you’ve been wanting to visit New Orleans, this would be a great excuse.

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Hi friends.

Last fall an idea for a book showed up in my head. Not fully formed but I had a story arc and a character and a strong impetus to write it. Like I woke up one morning and there it was. When this happens it is not to be ignored.

I wrote about 10,000 words of it and then I knew it would require my full attention. I could not tend to it casually while I finished up my other projects, including the edits on my forthcoming novel. What I needed was a clean slate and all the time in the world ahead of me.

(All photos in today’s newsletter are of Gurleen Rai’s work)

When I shipped off the finished novel last week to my editor I felt strongly I had given it most of the creative energy it needs. There will inevitably be some tweaks coming, but this book has fully bloomed. It will not require consistent love and attention from me anymore.

So I sat down yesterday morning to see if the engine was still running on this nascent idea, and it was, right where I left it. I whizzed through a few pages. Then I tightened up a few screws in the outline, saw where some others might be loose in the future but that’s for me to figure out someday.

Starting in March, I am going to write another 10-15,000 words of it and then clean it all up and see if it’s going to be worth my time. Twenty thousand words or so is usually enough to figure out if this is a ship I want to try and sail. I should be there before we hit this year’s #1000wordsofsummer.

Oh, did I tell you this year’s #1000wordsofsummer starts May 30 and runs through June 12? It does. So get ready.

As I write this spring, I will be keeping my mind open for ideas and inspiration. I would like to say my mind is always open, but there are times when the moment of inspiration is complete, and you need to turn off external stimulation and voices and just figure out how to finish what you started.

What does it mean to keep my mind open? Reading (everything), attending (and creating) cultural events, having conversations with strangers, connecting with wise people I know, traveling when possible, taking long walks every day no matter where I am, stretching, breathing, watching movies on a big screen, tending to my garden, paying attention, paying attention, paying attention.

What does it mean to you?