Hi ya’ll! Life has been very chaotic lately. But there has been some relief in the past few days and my “weekend” has started. And I really want to write something! I’ve written several essays… but they feel very vulnerable. Well, tbh, nonfiction I find is a very vulnerable subject and I don’t want to bear my wounds, relationships, and the like to people. I have been interested in writing fiction, but I have no idea what to write. I started a few stories, but they don’t light me up and I’ve abandoned them. How do you guys find a story that lights you up consistently? I’ve thought about forms of stories recently too; how I don’t have to write a novel per se, it could be a novel in verse, short story collection, graphic novel. I’m reading as diversely and as often as I can to find something that resonates with me… but once again, I am not finding anything to inspire me to write. All I know is that I have something to say. I just don’t know what it is or how to start. Any tips would be great. Thanks!

I'd love to hear what your wins this week have been! Anything at all: what's been really positive for you and has helped you keep going?

Hi folks, I'm happy to announce that my debut novel Dear Haider is scheduled for publication on June 1, 2024, by Baraka Books! https://www.barakabooks.com/catalogue/dear-haider/ It's one of those stories that came to me fully formed in a flash, as I was recovering from a severe mental health crisis. I was at the time in school, but had a break between undergrad and grad school, and wrote most of the first draft in that two month period. I wasn't fully satisfied with my draft however, and due to the demands of grad school, left the manuscript alone for almost 5 years. Then, a close friend of mine, who works as a medical copywriter, generously offered to edit my manuscript with me. It was the pandemic, so we went on Zoom every Sunday and worked on 2-3 chapters for a few hours at a time, for a period of four months. I will be forever indebted to her. Then, I think I did things quite backwards. Instead of trying agents and big publishers first, which I didn't have confidence to shoot for, I submitted to two small presses. One of them, whose founder happened to be my parents' friend and neighbour, immediately made an offer. And the rest is history. I'm happy to share more about my writing/publishing journey, so if you're interested, let me know and feel free to ask questions!

Right now, I’m reading and rereading Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, which is a comfort read for me—a sapphic romance novel. It’s interesting to go outside of my usual genres; I never read romance novels until very recently. At the same time, I’m reading a forthcoming memoir by Morgan Parker. What are you reading, and how are you feeling/thinking about it?

I have lately had the desire to write about my trip visiting my family's homeland of Ecuador... but I've never tackled that story before except when people ask me about it. I keep on telling myself that I just need to get it out--sound and voice doesn't matter in this draft--but I'm cringing so much that my motivation is waning. How do y'all get the VERY FIRST first draft out? How do you psych yourselves out of the idea of needing it to be a particular way in order to be motivated to write it? I know I should just keep my head down and continue... but another part of me is questioning how on earth can I do that when (1) my memory of these events, people, and emotions are vague and (2) it's hard to clarify & dwell on these vague memories? It's not a story based on trauma which is something I'm also not used to doing in craft... it's rather one about finding home, family, and joy in another place. This also adds to my worries that I''m blaspheming my heritage if I don't get it right on the first try...