Hello from a fellow Mother Untitled contributor! I love reading your work and am very excited for your book! Congratulations!! I also struggle sometimes with wondering whether my words are “important enough.” I try to keep in sight that if just one person feels a connection with just one sentence, it’s more than enough. And of course, my words are important to me, and that’s why I write in the first place. Xo
All your recommended books sound great (which is more than I can say for books recommended on other substack pages). I’ve read Tom Lake by Patchett and loved it. It manages to convey both the sense of displacement that covid lockdowns induced and to recreate the magic of the mother’s tale as well as her ability to distance herself from her past love (in a way that often bewilders her daughters) and revel in her present life...
And I read your book and loved it. I found following the complexities of maternal love through three generations (and a fourth taking shape through the pregnancy) very moving and very sophisticated. Wonderful book!
I’ve also been feeling a call to hibernate- esp with respect to the outside voices of social media, you really echoed the thoughts bouncing around in my head lately:) Love your book recs too- I’m starting Tom Lake asap and going to get a copy of Ink Blood Sister Scibe after reading your thoughts!
I think as writers-for-hire, we're constantly trying to appease our editors and readers (because that's how we get paid!) and sometimes it can be hard to tug on a thread just for the sake of curiosity. Yet from one Enneagram Type One to another, that's how we grow! (And for what it's worth, I would honestly read the phone book if you wrote it.)
Hello from a fellow Mother Untitled contributor! I love reading your work and am very excited for your book! Congratulations!! I also struggle sometimes with wondering whether my words are “important enough.” I try to keep in sight that if just one person feels a connection with just one sentence, it’s more than enough. And of course, my words are important to me, and that’s why I write in the first place. Xo
All your recommended books sound great (which is more than I can say for books recommended on other substack pages). I’ve read Tom Lake by Patchett and loved it. It manages to convey both the sense of displacement that covid lockdowns induced and to recreate the magic of the mother’s tale as well as her ability to distance herself from her past love (in a way that often bewilders her daughters) and revel in her present life...
And I read your book and loved it. I found following the complexities of maternal love through three generations (and a fourth taking shape through the pregnancy) very moving and very sophisticated. Wonderful book!
I’ve also been feeling a call to hibernate- esp with respect to the outside voices of social media, you really echoed the thoughts bouncing around in my head lately:) Love your book recs too- I’m starting Tom Lake asap and going to get a copy of Ink Blood Sister Scibe after reading your thoughts!
I think as writers-for-hire, we're constantly trying to appease our editors and readers (because that's how we get paid!) and sometimes it can be hard to tug on a thread just for the sake of curiosity. Yet from one Enneagram Type One to another, that's how we grow! (And for what it's worth, I would honestly read the phone book if you wrote it.)
Thank you! I love your recommendations