It's the end of May! I put up three posts this week in a rush of inspiration after putting things off for weeks. I hope y'all didn't mind. It was an interesting month for me. I moved between feeling happy and settled to heartbroken and overwhelmed, sometimes in the span of a few hours. I wrote a lot too. I'm writing about sex a lot right now and thinking about sex as a form of communication, a way of understanding the bond two people share. What makes sex sexy? What makes sex real? Is it the feel of her skin under her fingertips, a yelp, or a moan of surprise? Most of it is instinct (I'm constantly asking my friends and myself, did it make the p q?), but making it feel believable on the page and also like it's pushing the plot forward has been a challenge, albeit a fun one. I'm also thinking a lot about friend groups as a society, the shifting nexuses of power, and how to articulate that in a way that feels authentic, funny, intimate, and tense. All that to say, I'm still writing this novel, so there was a lot of reading about writing this month and tentatively putting words on the page. Onto the post.
The Highlight Reel - standout moments from May
A PR person from Riverhead wrote a very sweet note to thank me for including Exhibit by R.O. Kwon in my initial book preview. It makes this newsletter feel legit!
Homebodies turned 1! I wrote a sappy Instagram post because it’s me. I went to Astoria Park with one of my best friends, Noor, and C. We stared out at the East River, ate carrot cake and talked shit. In other book-related news, Homebodies is out in paperback on July 2nd, so keep an eye out for that.
The New York Times featured me in their Sunday Routine column, which was special because I love Sundays, and I very much enjoy slinging biscuits most weekends with C. My stepmom thinks I’m a celebrity now, even though I’ve insisted I’m very much not.
My little brother graduated high school! We’re almost ten years apart, so our lives are very different, but he’s a reminder of a former self and marks a time in my life. If he’s getting old, then so am I. But I’m a very proud sister. His entire life is ahead of him, and though he’s inheriting a world that’s ordinary in its evil, I hope he can find hope and joy in the people. There are still lots of good people.
A rainy day drive down 301 from Brandywine to Richmond with my friend Chay. Think rolling green hills and fog and trees. There was green everywhere. A perfect drive, a perfect day!
Serendipitously, my best friend Lacey and I were in DC at the same time. She moved to LA seven years ago, and we only see each other a few times a year. We ate lunch by the water, caught up (though we already talk to each other every day), and ate shaved ice.
She’s the cutest! A book date with two people! I can’t wait for you all to read this one. We hung out at the bookstore until we were kicked out and ate at my friend’s restaurant, where I got very drunk and talked way too much. Such is life. Overshare! Be vulnerable! It’s worth it when the people are safe. They bore witness to everything I was going through, and for that, I’m forever grateful.
Noor invited me to the restaurant she manages, La Devozione. She’s been in food and bev most of our twenties, and I love visiting her at work and watching her in her element. She always feeds me too much and gets me drunk. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend an evening.
Coming home from that night with two of my best friends’ friends in tow and in my drunken haze, saying I wanted french fries and forgetting about it, only to have one of them order fries to my apartment on the drive home.
The very brilliant and funny (and fine!)
had me perform at her event I’m Glad You Brought It Up, a night of writers talking about pop culture moments they’re convinced only they remember. I talked about ThatSoBeyonce, an anonymous Twitter account that was constantly rattling off predictions that sort of kept coming true. For a second there, I thought it was Beyoncé’s burner. The fact that there is barely any evidence of the account doesn’t disprove that theory.Visiting with another group of high school kids. The best part of any week is talking to students who are writers or readers and always asking great questions.
Trying every ice cream flavor at Sugar Hill Creamery on Lenox Ave. I met with Petrushka, one of the co-owners, after we were connected by the brilliant Szilvia Molnar, who wrote The Nursery. In addition to ice cream, Petrushka gave me sound business advice and spoke life over my dreams.
BBL Drizzy.
Swapping scrolling breaks for reading breaks. It’s helping with the slump!
Talking about the same four topics with my closest friends and somehow finding new ways in.
Seeing Turiya Adkins in conversation with Camille Bacon at Hannah Traore’s gallery. The conversation broke my brain in the best way and offered me a new way into my current work in progress. It was a reminder to hear artists talk about their craft—sometimes there’s synergy in ways you might not expect.
Watching Nicholas Payton perform at Smoke Jazz Club up in Harlem with my aunt and C.
Discovering a new favorite lip combo: Ami Colé lip liner in Café Touba, Merit sheer lipstick in 1990 (tapped on), and Polite Society Glossy Lip Balm in Bumbleberry
Please enjoy the selfie I sent all my friends
Lowlights
It’s impossible to talk about this month without noting the undercurrent of grief from watching bodies burn, bloodlines erased, and books lost to the annals of history. But that, in many ways, is our job. To watch, to donate, to be accountable, to refuse apathy, to tell the truth. To be aware. And I’d be remiss not to mention the genocides and atrocities going on in Tigray, Congo, and Sudan. It’s horrific to watch greed and the lust for power and control consume and erase with impunity. This is not okay; it never will be.
Things I Read
On Writing by Stephen King
As I said earlier, I’m reading books about writing. The first one was the iconic On Writing, which came recommended by author Bryan Washington. The memoir and practical writing guide made me feel inspired and reminded me that writing should be fun and exciting and I’m lucky to escape into a world of my own design. It got me excited about my draft and office and all the things. I definitely recommend!
Greenland by David Santos Donaldson
In Greenland, the narrator is trying to write a novel in three weeks and has decided to lock himself in a room with a gun to force himself to make it happen. I love it when writers write about writing. It's very meta and always a little dramatic. Anyway. Kip (full name Kipling) is a Black Brit writing about the relationship between E.M. Forster and Mohammed El Adl, which happened while Forster lived in Alexandria, Egypt, for three years at the end of World War 1. Throughout the novel, Kip tries to summon his muse and, at times, succeeds, and eventually, he chases his inspiration to its zenith. The book has this very straightforward writing style but weaves in magical realism, getting progressively more surreal and absurd. It's an interesting juxtaposition that works well for the novel. While the book is ostensibly about Kip writing his novel, it also meditates on race, sexuality, ambition, and the ways Kip can't see himself. Although I enjoyed it, I struggle with meditations on Blackness in reaction to whiteness and Black characters that seek validation from white people. It perplexes me, and I always want the characters to leave. But alas! It was successful for what it was, and I'd be interested in reading whatever Donaldson writes next.
The Winner by Teddy Wayne
I read this in one sitting. It purports to be a "skewering of the elite," but that doesn't happen. Instead, the book's thesis seems to be that money and wealth are seductive, and people, specifically white men with sociopathic tendencies, will be seduced. It's also about the ignorance of the wealthy. Like Pineapple Street with a thriller (using that word loosely) plot.
Story by Robert McKee
I almost didn’t buy this during a trip to McNally Jackson, but one of the salespeople said it was worthwhile. I’m very glad I did. Even though it’s geared toward screenwriting, Story explains story structure in a way that’s generally helpful for writing. There’s some dated language in here (it was 1997), but overall, the information is good. I’ve found every section wildly helpful, and thinking about story as something with components that can be broken down, put back together, fixed, and adjusted is incredibly helpful. I was chatting with another author about the book, and I said it would be particularly good for assessing your novel during the revision phase, especially if you’re a pantser instead of a plotter. Being able to generate all the material and then tease out the beats and the form on the backend is a good way, I think, to write what you want to write and still have a coherent story in the end.
Things I Watched
As always, lots of TV!
The Good
Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu)
I’m late to this show (it came out in 2023), but I’m glad I got around to It. I loved it so much and binged it in a single sitting. I teared up a few times watching. It’s a beautiful meditation on family and what we lose even when we’re certain we’re on the right path. Kathy Hahn is incredible as the protagonist, and even though she’s far from perfect, we understand her and root for her to do better and hopefully win. Overall, it’s about the bittersweetness of life and how grief can shape you—a worthwhile watch!
The Contestant (Hulu)
This documentary is about Japanese reality TV show Denpa Shonen, which asked the question: can you survive on sweepstakes prizes? To answer the question, producers enlisted aspiring comedian Nasubi, who was chosen from a group of hopefuls. He was told to strip naked and fill out magazine sweepstakes until the prizes were valued at one million yen. He didn’t have anything outside of the basics (not even food!), everything had to be won through sweepstakes, which made the whole thing anxiety-inducing. The whole time Nasubi is being recorded, but he has no idea that it’s being livestreamed into millions of homes. It’s a wild and upsetting ride. When the credits rolled, I sat in shock for a full two minutes, thinking, what the actual fuck?
Eric (Netflix)
I really enjoyed this miniseries, which follows a puppet maker and show producer (he invented a Sesame Street-like show called Good Day Sunshine) whose son goes missing. The family is dysfunctional from the start, and their son’s disappearance completely breaks them. All of the characters in Eric feel very clearly defined, and there’s layers of tension and intrigue. It does feel a little cluttered at times (there’s a lot going on!), but it’s worth the watch.
Under the Bridge (Hulu)
I mentioned it in the last send, but I liked this show. It has a heartbreaking ending and learning about what ended up happening to everyone is a reminder that stories never end. That life goes on even after tragedy.
The Fine
The Sympathizer (MAX)
I wanted to like this show so bad, but I can’t lock in! I gave up around episode three and while it was originally compelling, I’m having a hard time really getting into the story.
Killing Eve (Netflix)
I am a Killing Eve fan, but the fourth season hasn’t grabbed me like I thought it would. I miss when Eve who worked at the agency and there was the invisible tension between Villanelle and Charlie. I’ll finish it, but I probably won’t be happy about it.
Hacks (MAX)
I was a Hacks stan! And even though I liked this season, I didn’t love it. It wasn’t as funny as season’s prior and the character’s felt a bit stagnant. I did enjoy it though, and will probably watch season four.
Challengers (In theaters and available to rent on streaming)
Whew. I was silently screaming through so much of this. When Josh O’Connor slides that stool closer?! I was gripping the seats! I will never forgive Luca for not having them fuck in the steam room. Love Zendaya down but honestly she can go. I’m anti straight Zendaya and deeply uninterested in anything she does that involves a man.
Bodkin (Netflix)
This show was kind of clumsy and stopped short of being brilliant because it relied a lot on external factors to shape the plot without any real character development, but all in all, I had a good time.
Dune 2 (MAX)
I wasn’t into it! The time jumps were weird, and there was no tension. Like Timmy is just preternaturally good at everything and never once messes up? I feel like even Jesus had to struggle a time or two.
Bridgerton (Netflix)
I’m a Bridgerton fan, but I was disappointed by this season. Colin and Penelope have zero chemistry, and watching him kiss her in that carriage felt like waiting for the clock to run out on his shift. I’m just not seeing it for them! Also, the plot felt rushed through. He “taught” her for all of 20 minutes, and then that was swiftly ignored. They could’ve just stuck to the Lady Whistledown drama and built the entire season around that.
The Abysmal
Outer Range (Amazon Prime)
Season two was disrespectfully bad. If you’re going to do supernatural things, the world needs to have rules. And nothing makes a show worse than when the rules shift, or things have no rhyme or reason. There were time skips and butterfly effects that added up to nothing, and we ended season two with more questions than answers. It was cyclical and frustrating, and if Josh Brolin hadn’t played such a captivating cowboy, I wouldn’t have made it to the final episode.
On Replay
The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther 2 (MAX)
I was due for a rewatch. Hambergahrrr.
Dune (Max)
I forgot about what happened in this one so I watched it before seeing two. It was as good as I remember and watching Oscar Isaac die never gets easier.
Best Bites
Fried red snapper @ Off the Hook in Astoria
Magnolia Bakery carrot cake, specifically the Bloomingdale’s location. The icing to cake ratio was bigger, which worked SO well. Best carrot cake I’ve had in recent memory (sorry auntie)
Alewife in Richmond, VA. Everything they have there is good.
Sundays Only biscuits, specifically the four cheese and sea salt & olive oil flavor
Ice cream at Sugar Hill Creamery (they have particularly good sprinkles and all the flavors are bomb)
Branzino @ Celestine
Things I Want
Quince Slip Silk Dress - I saw it on my editor Crystal and she looked incredible in it.
This dress from Staud
This portable outdoor lamp from DWR (I imagine it going in the kitchen!)
20K more words of my draft.
Expense Report
Things I actually bought
Lots of books, including
Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
The Elements of Style (Illustrated) by Strunk, White and Kalman
How It Works Out by Myriam Lacroix
Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda
That’s all! How was y’alls month? I want to know.
I mean, Sunday Routines is low key celebrity for sure.
“Things I want: 20k more words of my draft.” So deeply relatable. And excited to start Story next week.