Too much ME for just one ME
A thing about launching a book is you get so heartily sick of yourself that you would like to disappear into the cracks of a sofa. That's precisely when you're supposed to be sharing all the places you're appearing, or all the interviews you've given. And that makes you imagine that everyone who *isn't* you is also heartily sick of you. (At least, this is true for me.)
Any book's success in this day and age is on the shoulders of the people you love, people who love you well in return. I genuinely don't know how assholes make it in publishing. I suspect that nearly every book I have ever moved has been off the goodwill and hearts of friends.
The launch for We Lived on the Horizon at P&T Knitwear was more than a "This is Your Life" moment for me. Friends I've had since elementary school showed up. My first actually kind boss, who I started working for nearly 20 years ago. She became a friend and role model. My first real writing friend (who is on a mammoth book tour at the moment, so it was kismet that she was able to make it). Tumblrs from when I had my earliest account in, like, 2008 or 2009? Friends drove distances. Flew.
A lot of my writing is about how language fails to convey itself and... well, there isn't an exact word in english that expresses this feeling-- the joy, and the near crying of it. Every picture of me from that night looks a bit unhinged because I'm about to burst with emotion. I am profoundly lucky and feel both embraced and crushed by the good fortune to know people like this.
So. Too much me for me. You know?
Grab We Lived on the Horizon from your preferred place here
If you'd like to see this hot mess express on the road and hear me read from We Lived on the Horizon:
I'll be at RiffRaff books in Providence, RI on 1/21
INFO HERE
It should be a really fun night.
Virtual event on 1/30:
Author Hour in Massachusetts (via Tewksbury Public Library!)
I'll be in convo with my friend and writing hero, Adrienne Celt!
INFO HERE
If you just want to read me blathering on about the book, there are links to a whole bunch of interviews and podcasts here.
To everyone who already got a copy, people I may never get to thank in person, thank you.