Lucy by the Sea

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When I picked up Elizabeth Strout’s new novel Lucy by the Sea, I knew a few things. I knew that I’d be greeted with familiar characters - as all of her novels inform and draw from one another in a truly unique way. I knew that the cadence of Lucy’s voice would carry through with familiar phrases - “I remember that…” I knew that the book took place during the early days of the pandemic on the coast of Maine.

But what I didn’t know was how close it would hit to home, reminding me of the uncertainty, the fear, the lack of guidance, the unknowns of 2020.

I’ve read a handful of books that have taken place during the pandemic. Most of them have missed the mark in some way. They’ve felt rushed, maybe even unfinished, perhaps trying to jump ahead in the game when it comes to having something to say about what we’ve all gone through… before it’s been processed by the author themselves.

That was not the case with Lucy by the Sea.

In Lucy by the Sea, Strout has found a way to tackle the pandemic as a character in and of itself in her nuanced, thoughtful, and achingly beautiful way. If you’ve read her other books, you’ll read this latest one with rapt attention, just as if you were listening to a friend talk about their experiences of 2020… of loss and love and change and the things that stayed the same.

Maybe in part because of our location in New England - and now specifically in Maine - the stories she brought up and the attitudes that were portrayed were particularly familiar. I remember hearing instances of angry residents being unwelcoming to out of staters who sought refuge in Maine, I remember being fearful of crossing state borders even into New Hampshire (those borders ten minutes down the road that never felt like an obstacle before) and feeling hesitant even when we started house hunting up here with our Massachusetts license plates in 2021 (though of course, we had no issues…).

The entire book tugged at my heart in a way few others have (just as much as Olive Kitteridge, which is my all-time favorite) I think because it brought up all of those emotions, all of those memories, we’ve been so quick to slide away as we try to grapple with our new normal. It’s all still so new, so fresh, so raw, and as a society, we’ve been unwilling and are ill-equipped to process our collective trauma and grief.

It made me think and feel in ways I wasn’t prepared for. But I found I welcomed the tears as they came and the gasps and sighs as they escaped my lips. While you don’t have to read her other books before reading Lucy by the Sea, know that this book is the chef’s kiss of the conglomeration.

Have you read it? Is it on your reading list? I’m aching to talk about it more in-depth, but don’t want to give any spoilers away. Let me know in the comments!

Available now: Farm Girl!

Dear long neglected blog... I have some news to share...

My debut novel, Farm Girl, is now available for purchase on Amazon in eBook and paperback!

From the back cover:

When Beatrix Hampton, a travel photographer with a passport full of stamps but no permanent address, finds herself searching for stability she heads to the quiet town of Cumberland, Massachusetts. Here, she is embraced by the people and town she spent much of her childhood with, including family friend Cliff Finley and his apple orchard. Bea finds solace in the rhythms of harvest season, but as secrets are unearthed she discovers her ties to the orchard are more than sentimental. Bea must make a decision: will she run like she always does, or stay and help save Finley Orchards? 



I've spent over three years with Bea, Cliff, and Graham in the fictional town of Cumberland, and they are so dear to my heart. I'm thrilled to finally be able to share them with you! My most sincere hope is that you not only read the story, but that you get swept up in it's sense of place, find the characters thoughtful and complex, maybe shed a few tears, and overall love the book. 

Over the coming weeks keep an eye on my social media channels as I'll be posting at least one giveaway over on Instagram, as well as a special giveaway for my newsletter subscribers {click here to hop on the list if you haven't already!}

It would mean the world to me if you could help me spread the word by sharing about Farm Girl by any means you see fit. If you post online, feel free to tag me! 

Thank you for joining me on the adventure that is self-publishing a novel. This is a dream come true for me, and I hope you enjoy reading Farm Girl. 

Found in a bookshelf

Last week the cable company had to come and do a thing to some cables, run some wires, all sorts of technical things that go in one of my ears and go straight out the other.

The day after they were here I went over to look at my carefully curated stack of books that sits in front of our built in bookshelf. It's full of to be read's that I intend to go through this year. But the stack looked different, bigger books were on top (the horror!) and even worse than that, some books were facing the wrong way! 

Upon further investigation, half the book stack were books I had already read or had no plans on reading.

And then I looked down and saw the cable.

Someone had taken books out of the shelf in order to rerun the new cable, and my stack of books was taken down as a casualty of fiber optic war. 

I sat and found the books that were in the original pile, and went through others that I forgot we had, adding to the ever growing TBR stack.

And then I found a book about Haiku, which was timely as the creative writing class I'm teaching at our co-op was covering haikus the following class, and isn't that always the way it works?

The book, The Essential Haiku, has made it through many years and several moves. It was one, like about half of our collection, that became ours when we moved in together but was originally Lucas's. He studied poetry in college, and I sometimes joke that his collection of books was part of the reason I fell in love with him.

I know I've written previously about our bookshelf, about his books and how they always literally pop out at me just when I need them. About how I'll think of a title or an author, consider checking it out a the library or on Amazon, wander over to our shelf, and there it is. But I can't remember which blog it was on, or if it was an Instagram post, and I'm too lazy to look through the archives to find the link.

Yesterday morning before co-op I had a chance to look through The Essential Haiku, and I found Lucas's chicken scratch in notes and underlines and stars. From a different time, lifetimes ago. The underlined sections resonated with who he is and who we are. Separate but also together.

This time of year I tend to get sappy. The anniversary of our first date was a week or so ago, and I have such fond memories of our early days together. Wandering the streets of Salem to see the ice sculptures, brunches at Red's, Netflix dvd's back before streaming was a thing. The process of becoming us was quick, we both knew early on that we had something special. But the process of being us, that's a lifetimes worth of work. And finding little bits that remind us of our authentic selves, then and now, is what makes it exciting and rewarding. My husband is a man of few words, and so to see his inner workings, even from years ago, is an honor, one that makes me love him even more than I thought I could.

We often talk about what a gift it is to watch our children grow and become the people who they're meant to be, but we don't often talk about those aspects of our partners and spouses. With parenting, if you have a co-parent you're able to discuss ad nauseam your children's developments, physically and emotionally.

But when it comes to your partner... not so much. Maybe because we're all in the trenches, and it's harder to see changes, progress, their changes often impact our lives for better or worse, and the conversations don't happen as easily. We're willing to dissect our children's lives, but not nearly as willing to dissect our relationships and our own growth. Our partner's growth may be tied up in our own, or compared to our own lack of, or maybe don't want to own up to something, or are afraid that with one persons growth comes distance, if we don't allow space and encouragement.

Maybe we're not prepared to see when and if we evolve at different rates.

But there's joy (and sometimes frustration) in watching another person evolve. To watch someone embrace themselves, and then come back and embrace each other. Not quite new, but not nearly the same as when you first met.

Our books hold a sacred spot as a reminder that we are always evolving, separately and together, and to witness that process is a privilege.

Words of Wisdom: Ruth Hogan

“In this world, Daisy, we are tiny. We can’t always win and we can’t always be happy. But the one thing that we can always do is try.” 

~ Ruth Hogan, The Keeper of Lost Things

Currently...

I'm writing this on July 3rd, and it's beyond hot. My brain is fuzzy with the heat and humidity, and so for this weeks blog posts I'm turning to a tried and true journal prompt...

Currently I'm...

Reading... Enough as She is, by Rachel Simmons (it's for a book club on raising girls, but let me tell you... I'm getting just as much out of this book for myself as I am for Paige), and Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Miranda Dickinson. 

Playing... endless games of Exploding Kittens with the kids.

Watching... Nailed It on Netflix (if you need a good laugh, be sure to start with Season One!), and Death in Paradise, also on Netflix ;)

Listening to... Frank Turner, non stop since Lucas and I saw him play in Boston on Sunday. His new album, Be More Kind, is brilliant, especially his song of the same title, "In a world that has decided it's going to lose it's mind, be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind..." and his song The Way I Tend To Be, from an older album, has these lines which I simply adore: "Love is about the changes you make and not just three small words." 

Working on... reminding myself that only I can find my own internal motivation, self confidence, and self belief, no one can do it for me.

Eating... all things grilled. We made these Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs over the weekend, and they were a huge hit! 

Wanting... a new tattoo... 

Needing... to speak kindly to my body, and to drink more water.

Loving... summer evenings on our porch. We've embraced eating alfresco, and have been lingering after dinner. I'm loving the connections and conversations this time affords for the four of us nightly. 

Thinking... about the second rejection I received for my manuscript, and how the first one gained high fives, but the second one I kept to myself for a few days. It stung. Not because I expected to hear anything positive at this point, but because the reality of the long road ahead sunk in on an already difficult day. I let self doubt creep in, and I talked myself out of how much I wanted to be on this journey very quickly. Luckily, after a few days I found myself again... thanks to a husband who listens until I answer my own questions, some inner searching, and loads of journaling... and I'm in this for the long haul. {Editing to add... the universe is definitely testing me, almost as soon as I typed the words "long haul" another rejection letter came in! I'm handling it much better this week... so that's something!}

Feeling... hot. 

Celebrating... the patriotic act of dissent. 

Grateful for... beach days, live music, iced tea, summer dresses, and hope.

{The newsletter will be going out on Thursday, per usual, though it may be later on the day depending on if I have a chance to pull it all together on the 4th or not! If you haven't signed up and would like to, click here. My mailing list is, at this point, simply one email on the first Thursday of the month. I write a bit of a personal letter, share links that I've found interesting, and the most recent blog posts all in one place.}

Top 10 Books on Writing

Over the past few weeks, several people have asked about my favorite books on writing, and I figured perhaps a few of you might be interested in my top books on writing as well. Below are my favorite books about writing and creativity...

My Top Ten Books on Writing

1. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. This tiny book packs a punch. Not only is it full of solid advice ("Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark.") but Dillard also finds a way to breath exquisite prose into a book that is about so much more than just writing. One of my favorite passages reads, "The feeling that the work is magnificent, and the feeling that it is abominable, are both mosquitoes to be repelled, ignored, or killed, but not indulged."
2. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. My copy (which is actually Lucas's copy... shhh...) is dogeared and filled with markings, highlighted passages. It is a classic title which most who have studied writing in some way or another have heard about. Goldberg champions mindfulness, having a (flexible) practice, and a healthy view of writing and relationships between the self and the world around. She writes, "I want someone to know me. We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves, we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us." and later in the same chapter, Artistic Stability, "If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you." Yes, yes, yes.
3. The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes. This is a recent favorite of mine. It's the kind of book that takes you to a little coffee shop with a trusted mentor, someone who tells it like it is, doesn't let you get away with anything, but who smiles kindly and pats you on the shoulder and tells you that it'll all be okay, you just need to work hard and be persistent. In this day and age of social media and likes and followers, Keyes words strike me as timely: "Popularity is a serious brake on artistic expression of any kind. If people like you - and you expect them to like you - the risk of doing anything controversial, or saying anything revealing, is profound." 
4. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Yet another classic, I have yet to meet anyone who dislikes this book! I've read this book several times, cover to cover and also in sections when needed. I read it first at a pivotal point in my life, at a time when I was reading anything and everything by Lamott. I'm not the first person to say it, but through her books she held my hand and walked me through the tender early days of sobriety, but also the early days as a writer when I wasn't quite ready to take myself seriously. In reading this book, it felt like I had someone in my corner cheering for me. 
5. Stop Worrying, Start Writing: How to Overcome Fear, Self-Doubt and Procrastination by Sarah Painter. I have long loved Sarah Painter's podcast, The Worried Writer, and was thrilled when she put out this non-fiction title. It's full of helpful tips, advice for showing up for your work, and focuses on writing as a practice. I love this gem from Painter: "At some point, if I ever wanted to be free of this continual self-doubt and second-guessing and terrible neediness, I was going to have to decide that I was good enough. That I deserved to be a writer. Not that I was instantly amazing and deserved success, not that I deserved to be universally adored, but that my words, my writing, my voice, my stories were worth creating. For myself."
6. the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This quick and easy read is a treasure to keep on hand for when you feel resistance lurking around your work space. It's a title that doesn't necessarily focus on writing, per say, but on creativity and the resistance that keeps us from getting to, and doing the work. This is perhaps my favorite section of the book: "Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it's the easiest to rationalize. We don't tell ourselves, 'I'm never going to write my symphony.' Instead we say, 'I'm going to write my symphony; I'm just going to start tomorrow.'" So true!
7. Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See. Carolyn See gives you a step by step guide to changing your life in the most literary way, from suggestion writing to authors you admire, to writing a thousand words five days a week for the rest of your life. Her suggestions are spot on and her humor is what kept me turning the pages. She tells you flat out you might not like her advice, but you'll love the results. The final words in her book read, "If you love this world and this craft, they will lift you to a place you can't begin to imagine." I've done more for less... so I'll take her advice any day of the week.
8. Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life by Dani Shapiro. Honest, personal, and to the point, Still Writing is broken into three parts: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends. Each section contains mini essays pertaining to each of those three writing processes. Middles helped me through some daunting moments mid novel, and made buying the book a second time (because my first copy accidentally got donated...) totally worthwhile! A favorite quote of mine is, "I've learned to be wary of those times when I think I know what I'm doing. I've discovered that my best work comes from the uncomfortable but fruitful feeling of not having a clue - of being worried, secretly afraid, even convinced that I'm on the wrong track." Completely reassuring to hear this one from one of my favorite authors.
9. Outlining Your Novel by K.M.Weiland. I used this book, and the workbook companion, to plot out my current novel. I didn't use every question or technique, but it helped me in key ways to create complex characters in ways that I haven't been able to achieve in my other works of fiction. There's something to be said about reading a book at the exact time you need it, and that was the case with this book. 
10. If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. This may be my favorite book on writing, ever. Ueland is kind and generous in her writing, and encourages writers to be playful and experiment and to find joy in the work. She writes, "Everyone is talented, because everybody who is human has something to express." and “Everybody is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it must be from his *true* self and not from the self he thinks he *should* be. ” and “No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good.” There is no better book to curl up with if you want a reminder of the benefits of writing, for yourself, from your heart.

There are so many books on writing out there, and so many I haven't read yet! Story Genius, Wired for Story, The Plot Whisperer, and Steven King's classic On Writing, are all on to-be-read list. I hope I've introduced you to a few titles you may not have heard about... what are your favorite books on writing and creativity?

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