write on, vol. 6: in which l'esprit vacances lives on
Dear friend,
I write to you in this final week of August, a time that has, at various points in my life, been full of the giddy excitement and/or dread of back-to-school season. Now that I am no longer living in the world of schools and teachers (except by association with Ash and the many fine educators who are probably reading this right now!), this time of year is strangely... not all that significant? It is true that publishing picks back up with renewed energy in September, once everyone's kids are back in school, but it's not as dramatic as having my whole schedule completely transformed—and now that I'm in my 5th year of non-back-to-school Labor Day, I am attempting to take charge of my Fall Feelings and balance the desire to buy notebooks and organize my life with a continuation of this summer's vibe.
You may recall GENTLE FUN, which was our directive of 2022? This year, we have been all about l'esprit vacances, which I would describe as the idea that you don't need to actually be on vacation in order to lean into whimsy and delight. L'esprit vacances is an excuse to do something slightly indulgent that you might not otherwise do—a sort of antidote to our (my) puritanical inclination towards Abstention as a Form of Virtue because why shouldn't we carpe diem and enjoy our small crumbs of joy?!
L'esprit vacances is also a workaround when actual vacation isn't going the way it's supposed to: when a flash flood prevented us from leaving on our Hudson Valley trip and we spent 9 am to 11 am watching Heartstopper (television in the MORNING!? the scandal!!) rather than taking advantage of the fact that we were still at home to catch up on emails or do some chores.
I am not sure if preserving l'esprit vacances as a longterm thing will eventually cause it to lose its zest, but what I will be taking with me into the fall is the idea that, if you aren't actively working, then there is no reason on earth not to be actively having fun rather than (i) worrying about not actively working, (ii) thinking about how you should be actively working, (iii) dithering over exactly what form of fun will be most productive/cost-effective/enriching. Have I actually internalized any of this? Probably not, but we are all learning and growing, and isn't that what this not-quite-back-to-school season is all about?
[A grammatical sidebar: Ash & I have actually spent the whole summer gaily (in all senses, obvi) crying "l'esprit des vacances," but when I did some Googling & consulted with my friendly neighborhood French teacher (thanks, Ms. Ovy!), it seems that the preposition was perhaps unnecessary. This was further reinforced by the headline description of this vacation rental property in the south of France, where I think we all now must decamp to experience l'esprit together!]
One example of embracing l'esprit vacances: an afternoon jaunt to our favorite local coffee shop patio for iced teas and a muffin in the sun.
READING
I have been doing pretty well with my non-work-related reading this summer, by which I mean, I have been doing some of it! Two favorites have been:
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
This book caused me to exclaim with delight multiple times—if you've read Kelly Link before, you know she's a genius of the short story form; if you haven't, then I think this would be a good place to first encounter her weird fairy tale reimaginings. Kelly was also my teacher when I went to Clarion (aka science fiction and fantasy writers camp) back in 2016, and I'm happy to report she is not just a great writer but also A Great Person™.
The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy by Megan Bannen
My favorite of my recent batch of vacation reads, this is (1) a rom com, (2) a fantasy, and (3) a western?! If that sounds appealing to you at all, don't dally—it took me a few chapters to get into it, but I was quickly swept up and very much enjoyed. She's an undertaker; he kills zombie-like creatures; they think they hate each other but then fall in love by writing each other anonymous letters... we love to see it all!
One of my great summer joys has been reading in various locales—pictured here are Bakey in Brookline, which has outrageously delicious cheese twists and these nicely bookstagram-y tables, and the big backyard of Dear Kingston, a brewery in (you guessed it!) Kingston, NY, where we spent our vacation a few weeks ago.
AGENTING
Would you believe that I sold two more books since the last time we corresponded? And they are both NONFICTION?
First up, this very cool book about the power of giving circles:
And second (after Publishers Marketplace's design makeover, as evidenced in the new screenshot format!), this highly entertaining history of fandom in all its forms:
Obviously, this book will be Allegra's greatest artistic creation, but I personally think this dangerously catchy TikTok will forever be a close second.
Both of these books were sold on proposal, which means that Hali and Allegra are busily writing now—but in the meantime, I also have two new books that you and your friends can actually go out and buy right now or very soon:
Jessica Martin's witty and wonderful rivals-to-lovers rom com The Dane of My Existence, the standalone sequel to last summer's For the Love of the Bard, which came out in June, and the cheeky (hehe) and wonderful Museum Bums, an illustrated gift book all about butts, by adorable Brits Jack Shoulder and Mark Small. Museum Bums will be officially released in September, alongside a matching wall calendar (!!) and set of notecards for writing butt-themed notes to all your friends and loved ones. Truly, a dream come true for all involved & the perfect addition to all of your white elephant/Secret Santa gatherings.
Nothing wrong with a book cake! Because Jess is in the Boston area, I got to go to her launch event and mingle with her adoring family and friends.
The usual reminder in the form of shameless self-promotion: you can always keep tabs on all my books that are currently out and/or pre-orderable via this Bookshop list.
EATING
Apparently, I am into bars now? But only the very cutest bars with good snacks and adorable glassware and sweet lady bartenders. Exhibit A: Bar Pomona in New Orleans, where Ash & I went in early June for a conference they were attending. During our visit, we went to Bar Pomona twice in less than 48 hours and consumed wine, a cheese plate, and soft serve ice cream. (We didn't even make it to their signature weekend brunch or Monday lasagna night, so clearly we need to go back pronto!)
Bar Pomona is also a jam shop, which means the jam pictured above was made on site! It is also, newly since our visit, home to one of my favorite internet-famous bakers, who makes beautiful and sometimes weird maximalist cakes—truly a paradise.
Maggie is into bars now, Exhibit B: Barlette, a BYOB bar (yes, you read that right) in Boston that is so hard to get into that I had to make our reservation from a kayak in the middle of Jamaica pond—because it was critical to get on Resy exactly at noon and that is where we were at noon, of course! The idea is that you bring the booze and they present you with an array of carefully chosen mixers, glassware, etc. You order off a menu of beautifully designed cocktails, they bring you the ingredients (all presented adorably), and you mix and pour for yourself, while enjoying dainty snacks and a hip atmosphere.
And yes, we Ubered home from both of these locations for SAFETY!!
This is a photo of Ash triumphantly raising a paddle after locking down our reservation.
Other notable tastes of the last few months were some incredibly cheese-filled pasta babies (not actual babies—raviolis with a fancier name I have since forgotten!) we had at Tonino in Jamaica Plain & the cheese twist at Bakey (also mentioned above). Clearly I am into cheese as well as bars, but that is not a new development.
And don't worry! I'm still up to my usual home-baking hijinks. Left, please admire the coconut & raspberry graduation cake I made for Ash's former student-turned-buddy; right, behold the lemon blueberry ice cream sandwiches I made for Ash's birthday bbq ("the Ash Bash") last weekend.
ALSO
Summer veggie recipe alert! If you have lots of zucchini or eggplant, I highly recommend making Hetty McKinnon's charred zucchini and corn with basil caesar-ish sauce—it's in her new book Tenderheart, which I am really liking, but also appears in this newsletter. In the book, she says you can sub eggplant for the zucchini, and we actually really liked it with half and half.
Ash and I both were very interested in this Anne Helen Petersen piece about real estate and the "market-reflected gaze." Especially during our kitchen reno last year, I found myself frequently trying to distinguish between what we actually wanted and what I thought we should want for the sake of... resale value? Instagram? Obviously owning a house and having the ability to make changes to it is a super privilege—and while I don't think she articulates that perfectly here, I actually think it's very much intertwined with what she's talking about. Lots to unpack!
Send me your music recommendations! I feel like I need some new ideas of what to listen to, both in the indie folksy realm and the pop-y dance-y realm. I love an album I can enjoy as a whole while I am working or we are cooking or whatever—some of my favorite favorites of the last year or two have been Waxahatchee's Saint Cloud, HAIM's Women In Music, and musical genius Carly Rae's The Loneliest Time. If you are looking for magical music-without-lyrics to work to, may I also recommend Yasmin Williams' Urban Driftwood? I always feel like my taste in music is deeply uncool, so I am a little embarrassed to even share these with you... but why should I be? This is a safe space & I never purported to be a cool music girl in the first place!
But don't worry, I am (evidently) a cool Barbie girl!! This Barbie surprised herself by making her once-yearly trip to the movies to participate in a certain cultural summer box office ~moment~.
THE END
Are you feeling the back-to-school feelings? How are you planning to bring l'esprit vacances into Q4 of 2023? Choose your fighter: zucchini or eggplant? Tell me all your thoughts & feelings, please!