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 thought it might be nice to have a daily pet thread. Here's Daphne, whom some of you might already know about. She's about 11 years old and an incredible sweetie (unless you're another dog or the USPS).

https://tinhouse.com/workshop/residencies/ Fiction (novel/short), Nonfiction, Poetry, and Graphic Novel, as well as the translation of any of those genres. When applicable, applicants may be under contract to publish the book they are applying with. International writers may apply. Former Residents may not apply. Former Scholars and past Workshop faculty may apply. You must be 21 years of age or older by the start date of the residency you are applying for. Trans Author Residency June This residency is intended for any writer who identifies as trans and is working on a full-length manuscript. General Residency July This residency is intended for any writer working on a full-length manuscript. First Book Residency August This residency is intended for debut writers who have not yet published a full-length book. Applicants may be under contract but cannot be scheduled to publish their debuts until 2025. Chapbooks and self-published works do not count toward this requirement.

I wanted to share my recent post with you all and also take the opportunity to thank you all for being here and to thank Esmé for making this space available to us. In the post I share some of my reflections over the transition into a new year. I would be so happy if any of you felt like sharing your thoughts or approaches! https://chaiselongue.substack.com/p/and-2023-was-falling-down-and-2024