Wednesday Writing Notes

Showing up for my practice

It’s Tuesday night, and outside the swallows are circling above the yellowed grass, sending out calls and responses as they swoop for insects. I’ve been cat-sitting on Bainbridge Island, slopping around in a mess of emotions and urges and intuitions as I get ready to turn in my book on August 1st and contemplate my housing situation. It’s all decided now: I am staying in Seattle for another year, moving neighborhoods and still paying exorbitant rent, and that’s okay.

I’ll be honest— my editor hasn’t yet read my entire manuscript, although I turned in the whole shebang last year on August 1st (Groundhog year!). I waited months. Agonizing months as my editor neglected to respond to my emails until March(!) when she finally confessed that she hadn’t read my book and suggested I take a shot at revising it with only a few vague scraps of feedback to feed me.

It wasn’t great timing. I got the email on a drive to Montana, where I’d be staying with my nanny family for the month, and really ha…