I swear I stepped into a time warp at the end of May and lost weeks of my life. Where did they go? Well, they went into the time warp, obviously, because when I emerged I found that the library holds I was picking up had expired a solid week earlier and also that I was supposed to send a newsletter back at the beginning of June and it was no longer anywhere near the beginning of June.
Maybe this is another one of those things about publishing a book that they don’t tell you. You will return from your launch and your book tour and your months of focused, intentional work surmounting your visibility blocks and building a gateway into your book and figuring out how to make the private public in a way that feels authentic, and you’ll get home and be depleted and unmotivated and wonder what your purpose in life is and vaguely recall that you used to write fiction, and weeks will disappear into vast invisible gaps in the space-time continuum.
I’m finding my way. I’m back to something like a routine, back to the practices that sustain me, prepping for my next group coaching container, and most importantly I’m writing again. I’ve plunged (maybe belly-flopped would be more accurate, given the pain involved) back into a giant edit on Book #2, which I’m fortunate to be working on with the same incredible editor at Random House Canada (see below!) who helped make The Mother Act what it is.
Being deep inside a daily practice with a novel-in-progress is always my anchor, the key to my most centered self. It’s so hard to get back in once I’m estranged from it that I always vow I’ll never stop writing ever again. But now, at last, I am writing, and it’s good.
I have more events ahead, though, so the coming challenge is maintaining that connection to creative process while being my public self out in the world.
Here are a few places you can catch me over the next month, hopefully rooted firmly in time and space:
I’m really excited to be part of this celebration of the newest novel by my dear friend and writing soulsister Sarah Henstra. The Lost Tarot published this week. At the launch I’ll be interviewing Sarah about mystery vs. mastery, art, tarot, and ways of seeing, and the incredible new experiences she’s made happen with this fourth novel of hers—including recording the audiobook and commissioning The Artist Tarot, a collection of original artwork inspired by the tarot card paintings in the novel.
If you’re in Toronto, there are a few tickets left on Eventbrite, and you don’t need to know Sarah (or me, for that matter) to come join in this book launch / art show / Solstice celebration.
We’re pairing art with story again at Blizzmax Gallery in Prince Edward County, Ontario. I’m told this is a really fun event and I’m looking forward to sharing the stage with these writers! I’ll be reading from the opening of The Mother Act.
This event was dreamed up by Sarah Henstra, Sarah Selecky, and me as a way to explore our own preoccupations as creative women as well as the themes inside all of our books: Sarah Henstra’s The Lost Tarot, Sarah Selecky’s Radiant Shimmering Light and Story Is a State of Mind: Writing and the Art of Creative Curiosity, and my The Mother Act.
The Picton Gazette published an article today exploring the idea of the art monster and the ways The Mother Act and The Lost Tarot depict the disruptive art-making of their women characters.
One year ago, friends and book lovers Caitlin and Taylor opened this adorable indie bookstore in Grimsby, Ontario, and I’m delighted that they asked me to be part of their first birthday bash. I’ll be signing copies of The Mother Act, chatting with readers, and celebrating books in general, this store in particular, and women making dreams come true.
My Random House Canada editor Sarah Jackson and I are pairing up for this tell-all about editing and being edited. From acquisition to the editorial letter to the manuscript riddled with comments—how does it work, how does it feel, how does an editor approach it, how does a writer navigate it, and how does the book change along the way? We’ll discuss all this through the lens of my debut novel, The Mother Act.
Sarah Jackson is a novelist herself and brings insight from both sides of the editorial process. I am a writing coach committed to helping other writers grow by sharing the less-talked-about realities of the writer’s experience.
This virtual conversation + Q&A is hosted inside the Centered membership community and is free for members. If you’re interested in coming and aren’t currently a member, you can join the session for a $20 drop-in fee, which you can put toward your Centered membership if you decide to join later. (Do a quick search for “next guest mentors” on this page to find the spot to sign up.) It’s a beautiful space!
{Gulp. Did I say I was going to be maintaining my daily writing practice from now on? That’s a lot of events!}
If you are in or near any of these places at any of the above dates, I would love to see you!
Warmly,
Heidi
P.S. The Mother Act was in excellent company last week on Chatelaine magazine’s list of 10 Favourite Books of Summer 2024…if you happen to be in the market for summer reads!
How wonderful to see your success. Best wishes for the best of everything in your future !!! Happiness, joy, love .