|
|
Hi friends (and welcome, new friends!),
|
Book launching is a kaleidoscopic wild ride, with the book taking on different reflections, refractions, making beautiful patterns in the turn of each interaction. It’s a LOT to absorb: different locations, events, text messages and e-mails and social media posts on several platforms, and even random interactions with people in grocery stores and places where I frequently visit or shop in my hometown. Other descendants and family members reading and enjoying the book. Former teachers and students telling me that they have bought the book. And to be greeted with my face (author headshot) or baby picture (book cover) in so many places is, to say the least, surreal.
|
Time keeps telescoping, too—there are times when I have felt deeply present in moments, trying to take it in, and times when I blink and the whole month has passed. (Like right now.) In that sense, it’s like parenting.
|
I keep reminding myself of that vision board I posted about back in January this year: the lightning bolt image at the foundation of my poster. Even though there are about a million books published each year—each year!—it’s a special thing to have a book come out, and an even rarer thing to have a childhood dream come true (along with so many other childhood dreams that go with it!). I get to do this, I keep telling myself. This is what I have always wanted to do. (Powell’s marquee? Teenage writer dream unlocked!)
|
As a closet introvert, I am surprised sometimes at how much I have enjoyed talking to people at my book events, and how much I enjoy speaking in front of people. When I was teaching I used to get this little cough just before class, a little nervous tic, because I was so anxious about how things would go. But I have not found myself getting that before or during book events. As excited as I have been about these events, I have not really felt nervous. And readers have been so warm and welcoming and generous so far. I am happy to report that the book’s community is a beautiful one.
|
These interactions are so moving, and honestly renewing my faith in humanity. I keep peeking out at headlines from under the covers of book tour world, and I know that so many things are hard and terrible. I sign and donate and speak and support as much as I can. I hope you are doing what you can, too.
|
I also find myself drinking in the silences when I can catch them, and savoring the spaces of time when I get to read, and write, and create. Reading, writing, and creating are how I reset, how I rest, how I make meaning for myself. Last week I submitted a new piece to a literary magazine and even if it doesn’t get accepted, it felt like a small victory to create again. I hope to start writing different projects again—maybe dip back into my novel!—this summer.
|
If we have met during these first few weeks of book tour, thank you for coming! Thank you for supporting me and the book! Thank you for being part of the book’s community.
|
If you have enjoyed the book, one of the best things that you can do to broaden the book’s community is to tell someone else about it. This goes for any book you love. I have heard from two reliable sources (one is agent sibling Laura Goode’s incredibly helpful book Pitch Craft, and the other is the author/independent bookseller Ann Patchett) that the number one way that books sell is this: when a person (not an algorithm or AI) tells another person how much they love it. And in a marketplace of a million books a year, when shelf space at bookstores and libraries is at a premium and turnover is high, word of mouth really helps books stand out, and remain in print.
|
(And if you’ve hung in there to read this far, thank you—future newsletters will not be quite so tour-intensive!)
|
|
Recent/Upcoming News and Events
|
Send a friend: I’ve got more events in the works—more PNW appearances in July and August, and Bay Area/Sacramento area events coming up hopefully in October. One of the best things about the Portland (Oregon) event was meeting friends that my Washington friends had sent to meet me.
|
The book’s heart in public art: If you traced a handprint for my sister Teruko’s art project 1000 Waves Goodbye, we’ll update progress on our Instagram accounts (@tamikonimura, @terukonimura_art) and on my author website. We’ll continue to collect handprints at different events, too. If you haven’t come to an event yet, you’ll find out more about the project soon.
|
Keep watching my News and Events page on my author website for the latest updates. My webpage for the book also has links to essays that I wrote about the research and structure of the book, as well as the wonderful coverage from The Seattle Times, KUOW, and The Stranger.
|
|
Thank you for reading here, there, and everywhere,
|
P.S. For the gardeners out there, the blueberry bushes that I planted a few months ago (see April newsletter) are doing well!—though I will eventually have to transplant them into the ground if I manage to keep them alive. Gardening is always a learning process!
|
I’m still in between the spaces of “I can only reread something” (comfort) and “I am ready and eager to read something new” (adventure).
|
|
• Jasmine Guillory’s “wedding series” (a whole series of rereads, I love her characters, food writing, and dialogue): The Wedding Date, The Proposal, The Wedding Party, Party of Two, While Were Dating
|
|
• Dreamt I Found You, Jimin Han* (retelling/update of a classic Korean folk tale, great use of quiet suspense)
|
|
• I’ll Have What He’s Having, Adib Khorram (a reread, and super enjoyable)
|
|
• A Long Game, Elizabeth McCracken (anecdotes and aphorisms on writing fiction—not quite the format I had hoped for, but still very useful reading—I hope to dip my toes back into fiction writing this summer)
|
• Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery (comfort reread; Anne goes to college!)
|
|
What I’m Probably Reading Next
|
|
• Coyoteland, Vanessa Hua
|
|
•Python’s Kiss, Louise Erdrich (one of my favorite authors!, and this short story collection looks great)
|
|
• The Typing Lady, Ruth Ozeki (ditto what I said about Erdrich)
|
• Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino (essay collection; I am late to the party on this one)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For an archive of my past newsletters, please visit my archive page.
|
|
|
|
|