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Hello friends, I write this from Portland, Oregon, which is under threat from the US Federal Government right now. This week, as the political landscape looks worse than ever, I’m choosing to celebrate small victories and cultivate pleasure. One: The first tiny victory I’d like to share is that, when I logged into my Libby Library app looking for ebooks to read, I found that a kind librarian had given my book Sushi Scandal a thumbs up and sweet recommendation! This lifted my heart and made me smile. I was raised by libraries as a child, so a library thumbs up for one of my books feels especially poignant and important. Here's a screenshot: Two: What else am I celebrating this week, besides having food to eat and a warm place to sleep? A bunch of people are following my Kickstarter campaign that launches October 13th. That means hundreds of people are looking forward to reading the revised special edition of a book I first wrote over twenty years ago. This is a book I thought I’d never even get my rights back to… but I tried, and then did, and designed this gorgeous new edition! Three: The third thing I’m celebrating? New-to-me music. My earbuds are piping out a song I’ve had on repeat the past week. It’s a bouncy dance tune from Tasmanian duo Sumner. It’s called Stranded, and part of the chorus is: “Hey! We are alive, hey!” I love that! As the weather changes, and the National Guard gathers to threaten my adopted city, I can dance down the street and remember that to be alive is still a very fine, spectacular thing. How about you? What victories have you had lately? What small things are you celebrating? Best wishes — Thorn
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Hello friends, This morning, the rose city of Portland Oregon is shrouded in fog. Just yesterday afternoon, I walked in cool, crisp air and autumn sunlight. Tomorrow, it will rain. And such is life… days shifting from sun to fog to rain and back again. This past week, very little work has gotten done. Well, not the work on my schedule. Not the emails that need answering or the novel I’m almost finished writing. Not getting necessary paperwork to the book keeper. Not the ordering of books for...
Hello friends, The REM song “Hold On” is playing through my head this week. Partially because, after years of trying, someone in my family couldn’t hold on any longer, finally succumbing to a host of illnesses they just could not shake. The song is also with me because of the sheer number of people struggling right now. Struggling to simply survive. Whether because they don’t have money for food or rent, or lost their job, or struggle with mental or physical health, or they are under attack...
Hello friends, This will be a short missive because I've been in Las Vegas all week, at the big Author Nation business conference and the big Reader Nation book fair. While Vegas is not my favorite place—an understatement. I actually find it very trying—I travel here to learn. I travel here to get out of that proverbial comfort zone. It is good for me to stretch myself, body, spirit, and mind. Sometimes, in order to learn, we must cast ourselves into the strange and challenging... And let me...