Happy equinox! If you’re like me, you regard September as the true beginning of a new year—I mean, formative years always marked a new school year as an interface, right?
I’m clearly not alone, because in just this last week several new literary ventures and projects have popped into my inbox/social media/virtual transom. In September, here in the Pacific Northwest, we close out those sunny, high pressure systems with increasingly cloudy, skin-saving weather patterns and more time at the keyboard. I can almost taste the modem dust as we, in my household of three, compete for internet bandwidth.
Speaking of bandwidth, you may have heard that Chuck Palahniuk will be launching his latest novel, Greener Pastures, in serialized fashion via, you guessed it, this very platform!
In anticipation, Chuck is leaking some of his curated gems, origin stories and, frankly, brilliant advice on writing in his Substack, Plot Spoiler. Though I’ve known Chuck “Palahnjuk” since his Freightliner days, I’m upset that I never actually witnessed him IRL rocking this charming ‘stache.
In other news, check out this terrific essay by Nancy Townsley in The Big Smoke! It’s a timely piece, and really sums up the nuances of existential dread we’ve touched on this past year, as well as the specter of humanity that saves us from the abyss.
Looking for a great read? Mark your calendars for the Powell’s Book virtual launch for A Girl Called Rumi! Ari Honarvar's debut novel, weaves a captivating tale of survival, redemption, and the power of storytelling. Kimia, a successful spiritual advisor whose Iranian childhood continues to haunt her, collides with a mysterious giant bird in her mother's California garage. The author will be in conversation with Ashleigh Renard on September 24th at 5:00 Pacific.
Lastly, I want to point you to a really cool FREE four-part webinar series hosted by my friend and colleague Susan DeFreitas. It’s a way to introduce you to her unique course, "Story Medicine: Better Stories for a Better World."
To kick off her offering, she’ll be joined in conversation by four very special guests, whose work exemplifies the principles explored in the course: Reema Zaman, Lidia Yuknavitch, Aya de León, and Jennie Nash.
Here are some key points addressed in Susan’s course, and in the webinar:
· How do we engage with political issues in our fiction without coming across as preachy or didactic?
· How do we write about violence and abuse without simplifying or glorifying it?
· How can we diversify our novels with characters of races, cultures, and sexual orientations other than our own—without falling into stereotypes, blind spots, and cultural appropriation?
· Moreover, how can we build an imaginative bridge in our work from the world we live in to the world we want to live in?
Sound interesting? Register for the webinar here!
So that’s plenty to chew on, right? Let us know in the comments below if there are other cool goings on!
I've signed up for both Plot Spoiler and Susan's webinar series. Thanks for pointing them both out!