Books, bread, and bat-ball sports

or, what I've been up to

Oct 10, 2021

The title of this newsletter issue is a bit of a misnomer in the sense that those are three constant elements of my life; they’re nothing new. ;) But the alliteration is fun (with a nod to Dwight) and it’s true that my life lately has been full of these things as usual. I’m always trying to find time to bake with Bianca, my sourdough starter, who turned 5 this summer. Bianca has “babies” (starter I’ve shared) down the street, in Huntington Beach, and now as far as the east coast because a dear neighbor friend moved away, dehydrated it, and then successfully rehydrated it in NC. (If you’re local and ever want some, just say the word and come by with a glass jar.)

My kids are in full swing (get it, swing?) with softball and baseball (and 1 kid is also playing golf). I’m at the fields watching games or taxi-ing to and from practices a lot. And in a bookish twist, I even had a fangirl moment recently where I met a local middle grade author at the softball fields because her daughters play in a neighboring league. She was so sweet when I came up to her awkwardly, and she even gave me a couple of bookmarks. (I’m reading her book to Hallee right now; I’ll share it when we finish.)

At home, we’ve been watching the Dodgers whenever we can (this will surprise no one 😁 ). If you’re a baseball fan, can I recommend Molly Knight’s writing to you? She’s my favorite sports writer and I’ve been really enjoying her newsletter lately. It’s pretty Dodger heavy, but she also writes smartly about other baseball players/teams and even mental health.

Since I last updated you, I’ve finished my manuscript (🥳 )and submitted it to Pitch Wars, which is a mentorship program that I have applied to in the past with other manuscripts. It’s very competitive with thousands of entries, but it’s a fun process to apply to, and a cool community to be a part of. In November, if I don’t get chosen as a mentee, I will start a new project with NaNoWriMo and start querying agents.

Please enjoy this aesthetic I made for my story. 💙

Here’s the pitch for that story:

TO BEST THE BOYS x THE SCORPIO RACES in a world inspired by 1900s Greece:

With her home and future dreams on the line, Kassia, 17, teams up (read: fake betrothal!) with a boy from the upper class, Niko, to compete in a cliff diving competition that’s normally only for boys. Amidst island politics, curfews & high taxes, family drama, a sea that glows, and the discovery of a secret society, they must learn to live out their island’s mantra—courage and grace— to win the competition and redefine the future for themselves and their island, and must maybe, fall in love along the way.

This fall I enrolled in a Library Technology class at a community college. It’s been very enjoyable so far, and I plan to slowly continue to take the classes as I write and still part-time-homeschool two kiddos. Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions about the program! I’m pretty excited about it.

I’d love to enjoy some more interaction with this here newsletter (especially if I can actually get in a regular rhythm of writing & sending it!), so I thought it would be fun to add a new section at the end. I’m calling it Trope Talk, and it will simply be me asking you to share a real-life experience or favorite bookish moment or a favorite book that relates to or features a certain trope. If you don’t know what a trope is, here is a decent explanation but essentially in terms of fiction, tropes are iconic/standard scenes/themes/moments/elements that tend to be common in a certain genre. Today’s will be a super simple one…

Trope Talk: Happy Ever Afters… share a favorite HEA in real life or in a book! (You can comment or reply to this email (a better option if it’s spoilery 😉 ). I just might share some of your comments/answers in a future newsletter.

Books, bread, and bat-ball sports

or, what I've been up to

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