Collaboration & serendipity
Plus an invitation
A year and a half into having a book in the world, I can tell you with authority that, for me, the most fun, authentic, and rewarding way to promote a book (or maybe anything?) is through mutual support and collaboration with awesome people you’d be excited to hang with anyway. Throw in a little serendipity? Even better.
A month ago, I had just made the decision that when my next book comes out I don’t want to be a lone wolf. Less toiling alone trying to get people interested in what I have to offer; more coming together with others to create fun and mutually rewarding conversations and experiences.
About a minute after consciously articulating this, I received a message from a stranger named Rose Diell, asking if I’d like to come together to create a fun and mutually rewarding experience.
See? Serendipity!
I didn’t know Rose but I did know about her—I’d heard her on Keltie McGuire’s Kids or Childfree podcast talking about her novel, Fledging, which is about a woman so overcome by the baby decision that she lays an egg. The novel asks what it is to lead a meaningful life, and it sounds a resounding call for women to make their own choices for what that means.
Kids or Childfree is also where Rose found me. Keltie interviewed me this summer about The Mother Act, my path of considering and choosing motherhood, and all the maternal ambivalence/rage I transferred to my character Sadie. That podcast experience itself was one of my favourite collaborations, a conversation that felt supportive, honest, and important.
Rose is a UK-based author; Fledging came out there last year and is launching in North America this fall. She was putting together an online event moderated by award-winning documentary filmmaker Therese Shechter, and she wondered if I’d like to join as her conversation partner for a discussion about (non-)motherhood in fiction.
Yes, I would!
Then I went to a weekend festival in Prince Edward County with my family. I was mostly offline that weekend, but I did read Rose’s email inquiring into Ontario indie bookstores that might partner with us for the event…about one minute before I found out that a new friend at the festival, Katy McIntyre, was opening an indie bookstore in PEC the very next day.
We stopped at Idyll Books on our way home—Katy’s very first official customers!—and it was the most adorable bookish spot you could ask for, chock-full of good vibes.
I asked Katy, “Would you like to be the bookstore partner for a cool online event in October?”
Yes, she would!
That’s what I’m talking about. Collaboration, community building, people who are making cool things or exploring important questions coming together and inviting other people to an enriching co-created experience. (Plus serendipity!) That’s what I want.
I’ve since watched Therese’s most recent film, a documentary called My So-Called Selfish Life that uses humour as a sharp tool to tackle the question of whether or not to have children. It got me thinking in new ways about a topic I’ve already thought about a lot, and I’m really looking forward to what I know is going to be her thoughtful moderation of our discussion.
And now! This is where I invite you to be part of this collaboration too.
(NON-)MOTHERHOOD IN FICTION: FLEDGING & THE MOTHER ACT
Idyll Books is pleased to host an online event celebrating the Canadian release of Rose Diell’s Fledging alongside Heidi Reimer’s The Mother Act, in conversation with filmmaker Therese Shechter.
Both Fledging and The Mother Act examine the question of whether or not to become a parent, and the experience of being one, through the guise of a thought experiment: in Fledging, a woman so overcome with indecision that she lays an egg; and in The Mother Act, a woman so overwhelmed with motherhood that she abandons her child.
Therese Shechter will draw on her long experience investigating thorny questions around women’s roles and identities to explore what motivated Diell and Reimer to write their novels, and what they say about motherhood and womanhood.
Join us for an evening of conversation and connection, and be part of a timely exploration of creativity, choice, and the stories women tell about their lives.
WHEN: 14 October 8pm EST
WHERE: Online via Zoom
HOW: Tickets available here (free but limited!)
I think this is going to be a really special one, intimate, honest, and nuanced, with space for interactive Q&A. If you’re at all interested in women’s roles, identities, and freedom of choice, I hope you’ll come be part of it!
Warmly,
Heidi