Vacation Notice!

Dear sword-wielders and sandwich lovers!

I’m taking two weeks off to work on the book I’m supposed to be writing, whose deadline has been inching nearer and nearer like a word-devouring shark. This weekend I got to jump in a lake, kiss a baby’s head, admire the absolute riot of purple clover growing on every sidewalk median and unmulched patch of earth. In a flourish of impulse that overrode my anhedonia I even wove the clover blossoms into a crown, though I only wore it for a minute. It died in the heat. But by then I didn’t care—I was in the water, I was overcoming my fear of drowning, stroke by careful stroke.

It was a good weekend, and coming home felt like a ton of bricks landing on my shoulder-blades. The plot I’d hatched to take a week off suddenly seemed like an even better idea than it already had, and blossomed into two.

I need the time to think, to stop chasing the news cycle like a badly permed hare, and try to use my isolation as a tool instead of a privation. I have a lot to write about, and will, hopefully, share some of it here.

In the interim, I’d love to hear from you!

What’s jolted you out of yourself lately, made you feel real pleasure?

What are you reading?

What’s your favorite thing about this newsletter, and what might you want to see changed?

Did you enjoy Morning and Evening, the novella available in its entirety now to paid subscribers?

Should I start an advice column?

What’s a great movie featuring really snappy dialogue? A really well-written movie—I feel like I haven’t seen one of those in ages!

And cetera. Sound off in the comments; I’ll be lurking around. See you in two weeks!

With love,

Talia