MASS will turn nine months old on January 4. As the year comes to a close, I want to send a big “thanks” for the folks who have made room at their microphones, on their bookshelves, and in their classrooms for MASS and me. Bookmaking and book-talking is a different kind of work than writing, and it requires help from a ton of people. One of the pleasures I claim at this moment is the ability to say “hey!” with a recap and a celebration of some highlights.
Extra special thanks to:
The Claremont McKenna Athenaeum for bringing me to talk about Women as Witnesses to Mass Violence
Cellar Door Books (in Riverside CA) and University Bookstore (in Seattle WA) for hosting Larry Behrendt and me in conversation about religion, gender, denial, and violence
La Sierra University for hosting me in symposium with Dr. Lora Geriguis about women’s lost histories, including the newly recovered epistolary history of Kathy Leissner Whitman
Superstition Review for inviting me to be a guest on Authors Talk.
David Gutowski for sharing my playlist for MASS at his amazing series on Largehearted Boy.
All the folks at Red House Writers Retreat for the opportunity to bring MASS as a visiting writer-in-residence
John Brantingham and Kendall Johnson for sharing the mic at their own book release at the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona
Chevalier’s Books in Larchmont for hosting my conversation with screenwriter Tim Kirk about manhood and monstrosity
Roy Anthony Shabla and The Green Salon for hosting a choral reading of MASS (with help from Andrea Garcia) and a premier screening of Dean Vergara’s mini-documentary about Michael Haight’s amazing paintings related to the story
Chad Sweeney and the students at Cal State San Bernardino for hosting MASS along with Inlandia authors and RCC MUSE
All the folks at Writers Ink in San Diego for a great conversation between journalist Tom Larson and me
Pamela Brewer for interviewing me about MASS on MyNDtalk. (I can’t overstate how wonderful Dr. Brewer’s thoughtful questions were–she is not an interviewer who “goes through the motions” by any means!)
Melanie Johnson for her article about MASS in the Press Enterprise
For Nick Smith Williams and his amazing cover for the book–yes, it still takes my breath away!–and for accepting a commission to do additional B&W art to capture the process of writing MASS (forthcoming in 2019)
Francesca Terzano of Literary Alchemy Press for inviting me to read at Kindred Spirits (and to Kathy Spivey, for sharing the mic in celebration of her book’s birth!)
Isabel Quintero and the team at PoetrIE for hosting me at Sin Filtro along with kick-A memoirist Juanita Mantz
Cati Porter and the Inlandia Institute for all they do to support literary creativity and community in the Inland Empire
For everyone who has written formal or informal reviews of MASS or engaged and helped to lift the signal on social media: thank you!
To all my dear friends and colleagues–too many to name here–I want to wrap you all in a not-creepy New Year’s blanket to say, again, to all you writers, readers, teachers, perseverers, sweeties, bike pals, art-makers, heartbreakers, gin drinkers, cranks, emoji lovers: merci merci beaucoup!
Last and never least: much much gratitude to Mark Givens of Pelekinesis, my amazing publisher and editor. It’s one thing to have a book. It’s another to have a publisher. And it’s yet another thing to have a publisher who *gets* your work and advocates for you alongside all the writers in his catalog.
Well there you have it.
Making art out of the darkness is always a hopeful rebellion. So much more to do.
Forward we go, into the new year where I believe that good things lie ahead.
Whether you raise a glass tonight or go to bed early: A very happy New Year! Let’s catch each other on the flip side. xo
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