I was thrilled to be invited to join two incredible writers, Yvonne Battle-Felton (Remembered) and Keisha Bush (No Heaven for Good Boys), for a recent Virginia Festival of the Book’s Shelf Life virtual series event. Our books all explore themes of family, memory, and the affirming power of love. What a joy to be in conversation with them! We could have talked for much longer than the hour we had about our writing journeys. Thank you to both and to Shelf Life for this wonderful event.
I was honored to end the year as the featured writer for Plume, A Writer’s Companion–a wonderful community encouraging and celebrating women and non-binary writers. I was interviewed by Melanie Unruh, which was fun to talk to another Melanie!
Many thanks to Christi Craig and Hidden Timber Books for inviting me to join their Small Press Author Reading Series, co-hosted by Lyndsey Ellis, whose debut novel BONE BROTH will be published by Hidden Timber Books next year.
We had a great conversation about MALAWI’S SISTERS, current events, and writing.
Enjoy!
I was honored to be invited to contribute to the Washington City Paper’s “Little Joys” issue, which is a beautiful collection of pieces from an array of people in the D.C. region. It gave me a chance to share what has been bringing me joy during this strange and stressful time of COVID-19 and violence toward Black people. Enjoy!
Escape to Nature
My girl, Karma, taking in the view of the creek.
We’re on the rugged side of the creek, the side that’s unpaved and frequented by deer. My girl, a boxer-pit mix, is lost in her world of smells and sounds I can’t hear, her leash extending ahead of me. Then I pass her as she scrutinizes a particular clump of grass. Above, the birds are noisy, warning each other of some danger in the woods. It’s not me or my girl.
Gray Heron
The fuss is for a hawk that cries out high above the trees. I watch it swoop and disappear behind thick leaves.
Farther up the trail, stock still in the middle of the creek is a gray heron. Too busy sniffing, my girl ignores the bird. I stand motionless, barely breathing as the heron takes a slow step forward, its eye on a fish, perhaps. My girl moves and I look at her for a moment.
When I turn back, the heron is gliding down the waterway, and I marvel at its wingspan. I inhale the cool, early morning air as we wander along, lost in the natural beauty all around. For a time, I’ve escaped the painful and chaotic headlines. For a time, I’m completely free.
Huge thanks to Bad Mouth for inviting me to join its reading series. I share some new work and an excerpt from Malawi’s Sisters.
Bad Mouth is a reading and performance series designed to showcase and support the literary, musical, and artistic communities of Albuquerque and all of New Mexico. And now, across the country!
What an absolute thrill to be featured in the iconic Ms. Magazine!! Huge thanks to Karla Strand for a wonderful interview talking about Malawi’s Sisters, race and writing interesting characters. Take a look!
Authors are always hoping for positive reviews of their work. A bad review can ruin a book’s prospects, just as a good review can help encourage more readers. But when you get a great review, it’s a joyous feeling. This week, I was completely blown away by this book review for Malawi’s Sisters by Sarah Trembath for the Washington Independent Review of Books.
Trembath writes: “The novel moves quickly, as its author has that rare gift of saying just enough to keep readers reading and giving enough to make them understand. We truly know the characters, and we believe them as they find agency in the midst of a terrible loss.” (Click the image above to read the full review.)
I’m so grateful. Stars and reviews on sites like Goodreads and Amazon really do help spread the word. If you’ve read and enjoyed the book, please take a moment to give it a rating, or say a few words on why you enjoyed it. It doesn’t have to be long, but it will be enormously appreciated!
Thanks to The Coil magazine for including an excerpt from Malawi’s Sisters. If you haven’t read the book and not sure if you want to get it, maybe this piece will help you decide:
I had a wonderful visit to the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Va. in March. I was able to be both a reader in the audience of some engaging panel discussions, as well as a presenter on stage. My appearance at the festival was sponsored by the African American Authors Book Club, a long-time book club with a diverse membership. The members were lovely and invited me to a potluck lunch where we continued chatting about Malawi’s Sisters and so much more.
Thank you to all who came out to hear me read. The audience was engaged and asked some great questions during the Q&A section. You can watch it because it was captured by CSPAN’s BookTV!
What a thrill to be included in Karla Strand’s amazing list, “2019 Reads for the Rest of Us” for Ms. Magazine.
Karla writes: “As a reader, I’m always surprised at how challenging it can be to quickly locate books written by women from historically marginalized or underrepresented groups. It’s not that the books aren’t being written—they just are often not afforded the same visibility as titles written by white women, and definitely not by white men.”
This is a pretty outstanding list of books, and I’m honored to be included. Thank you, Karla, for seeking reads beyond the typical big publishing houses.
