Temperatures and hemlines are rising.
I got up early today and snuck out of my house, into the depths of the sweating UBahn to reach the only decent air conditioning in Berlin.1 Living in a country that is suspicious of any type of cooling technology, including fans, means these spaces are rare, and precious. It’s July.
Reviewing my notes to get back into my novel, set in Scotland in March, shows I’ve twice abandoned work on it in the beginning of July, unable to imagine the cold coast my characters are visiting. It’s hard to imagine being cozy in a sweater when you’re sweaty in a tank top, as I am today.
Writing and creating change with the seasons. My ambitions slow down, even as I struggle against this change. I want to make the most of my summer — despite having lived in Europe for seven years, I haven’t freed myself from the tyranny of American productivity thinking. Perhaps this year we can make this shift together.
What I loved in June
You may have noticed there was no Footnotes for June — adding another message to you this week felt forced. We need breezy inboxes this time of year.
Even so, I did read and watch lots that I loved last month.
Book highlights:
Family Happiness, Laurie Colwin was an amusing novel to read while relatives were visiting, but there was something reassuring about a troupe of idiosyncratic family connections and complications in my reading while in real life B and I explored Leipzig with his parents. (alongside thousands of goths there for an international convention)
The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes (US Title: The Dress Diary), Kate Strasdin. The gift of a victorian album of fabric swatches to the author inspires a historical treasure hunt to discovery the identity of the album keeper. One tiny clue reveals it was Anne Sykes who catalogued thousands of fabric swatches to record her friends, family, and servant’s clothes for most of her life. Given her life took her far from the UK, the story is as varied as the fabric. Textile lovers and sewers will adore this.
When I Sing, Mountains Dance, Irene Solà is unlike anything I’ve read recently. Beginning with one character’s untimely death in the mountains due to a lightning strike, the novel follows the reverberations through the entire community for years and generations after the event. We see the world through many eyes, even a deer’s, who plays an unexpected role in the lives of the humans who share its forest. Reads like a dream, in the best way.
Watched and loved:
The Residence (on Netflix). Shonda Rhimes’ latest is the most delicious distraction. A murder in the White House during an official dinner for Australia creates chaos throughout the house. Cordelia Cupp (surely the best detective name in recent memory) internationally known investigator and avid birdwatcher diverts her car from the airport to answer the call to solve the case. Clever, snappy dialogue, a twisty plot, and a woman of color taking no shit from anyone made this a delight from start to finish.
One to One: John & Yoko (2024/ 2025 in Germany). On August 30, 1972, John Lennon and Yoko played a concert to raise money for institutionalized children at a vastly underfunded facility. The film is not only a touching portrait of the couple and their lives as artists in the early 70s, but also a portrait of New York and the world at that time. While it was disheartening to see how little some areas of life have improved, the power of art and artists to initiate change was hugely inspiring.
Book (& Craft) Alchemy Highlights:
The Secret Library podcast wrapped with one of my favorite episodes of all: a behind-the scenes interview about the show where I swapped roles and let
step in as interviewer.Creatives prefer work where assembly is required, not only in terms of putting things together, but also where we as artists come together:
What’s on in July
To get us through the heat, and to get the southern hemisphere through their darkest days, we have some treats in store for you this month:
July 18: July Member LIVE (8am PDT / 11am EDT / 16:00 BST / 17:00 CEST)
July 25: WORKSHOP. I enjoyed running the last Member Workshop on Making Writing Delicious with Tarot so much that I can’t wait until September to run another one. This time, we’ll be looking at Getting (and Staying) Organized as a Writer. (9am PDT / Noon EDT / 17:00 BST / 18:00 CEST)
I’ve been working on a longer piece to share, and am really grateful for the opportunity to slow down and write more in-depth this summer.
Postcards from Paris: I’ll be in France this month and can’t wait to share the highlights of bookshops and creative discoveries (plus, let’s face it, FOOD.)
Members: hope to see you at an event or in the comments soon! You can RSVP for the workshop below. If you’re not yet a member, now’s an excellent time to join us… our July accountability thread is in the comments below. See you there!