an unusual post and a few very special announcements

a real book you can hold in your hands, a sale, a pesky virus, and more

look at her she is so beautiful

hello good morning friends,

I rarely use this newsletter in anything resembling a normal, “hello here is some news about me,” way, and I promise this won’t become a regular feature, but today’s a rather special exception for a few reasons.

The first and far and away the most important is that today, THE LONELY STORIES: 22 Celebrated Writers on the Joys & Struggles of Being Alone, is out in the world. The Lonely Stories is a gorgeous collection of essays about solitude, loneliness, isolation, living alone, choosing to be alone, ending up alone, personal space, loss, grief, personhood, and all the myriad other complicated, devastating, and/or rewarding facets of being alone in one way or another. I have an essay in it called “A Strange and Difficult Joy,” that’s a reworking and expansion of an essay I wrote for Catapult several years ago—if you liked that, I think you’ll be interested in this, and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then this will be something wholly new and maybe exciting for you (maybe it’ll be exciting even if you are familiar with the essay, though). Natalie Eve Garrett is the genius editor behind this collection, and it was such a profoundly wonderful experience to get to dig in with her on re-shaping this piece from the guts outward. I’m so grateful to Natalie for her wisdom, insight, and patience, and to everyone at Catapult involved in making this beautiful thing a reality.

I love this collection, and I’m almost impossibly honored to be a part of it. Somehow, my writing is in this book— this real book! an object in the world! that you can touch with your hands!—alongside essays by writers such as Jesmyn Ward, Melissa Febos, Jhumpa Lahiri, Maggie Shipstead, Jean Kwok, and Maile Meloy, amongst many other brilliant individuals. I think it’s something incredibly special, and I think you should buy it from your local indie bookstore today. I mean, maybe, if you feel like it. But no really, despite my skittishness about self-promotion, I really think you should. A real book! In the world! Imagine!

The second announcement is somewhat less important, but: I have Covid! I’m mostly fine, I think, and the worst of it is (knock wood) behind me, or at least I hope so. But because I’m stuck inside and feeling sorry for myself, I’ve put griefbacon subscriptions on sale this week. Until Friday, get 20% off of yearly subscriptions, because I’m sick, and new subscribers joining our weird little conversation pit club here cheer me up more than just about anything. I think the subscriber-only content (extra essays a few times a month and a discussion thread almost every week) is pretty great, especially the discussion threads, which have been become such a special, livejournal-y sort of place.

That’s about it for now I guess. Buy and read The Lonely Stories, subscribe to the paid version of this newsletter at a discount, send me recommendations for things to read and television to binge while I’m still sick and stuck inside, hold the people you love close, wear a mask in indoor public spaces, and go enjoy the good weather if you can. For-real essays will return in the next day or two. xoH