By Leslie Lindsay
A curated newsletter on the literary life, featuring ‘4 questions,’ reading & listening recommendations, where to submit, more
Leslie Lindsay|Always with a Book
~MUSINGS & MEANDERINGS~
Hello…Summer!
Have you ever noticed how things that are meant for you organically appear? Bear with me…I know, it sounds a little woo-woo.
I’d like to believe that if the timing is ‘just right,’ there is no push or pull, there is no hemming or hawing, it just makes sense. Maybe it’s ‘intuition,’ a ‘no-brainer,’ the ‘universe aligning’…whatever you might call it, it doesn’t really require much thought.
Recently, I walked into a store not looking for anything in particular. I just ‘knew’ I needed to go inside. A pair of earrings ‘called to me.’ They weren’t expensive or otherwise out of reach. I just needed them. They were ‘meant’ for me.
Later, at a used bookstore, I kept returning to a particular title that seemed to want to go home with me. For twelve bucks, I bought it. There’s something in this old architecture renderings instruction guide I must need.
Other things–or people–might ‘fall into place’ or ‘cross your path.’ What are? Are you paying attention? That’s what it means to ‘see a sign.’ The sign might not give you all the information you need to solve a problem or provide some deep insight, but if you look within, you just might discover what it is. Maybe for me, the book will unlock some creative idea I’ve been mulling about. (Turns out the earrings matched a shirt I already had in my closet perfectly). These were all things I wasn’t seeking, but they found me.
Which leads me to our author insights today–Ashley Audrain is talks about her new domestic thriller, THE WHISPERS (June 6, Pamela Dorman Books) and how we all have these silent intuitions ‘whispering’ to us. In this case, it’s mostly about mothering…can we mother differently and still be ‘good?’
Question:
What do you think this means for you and your art/writing? Are there missed opportunities in your creative work? Maybe a ‘sign.’ theme, charater, or something that keeps nagging at you?
Respond here in a comment, or find me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
xx,
~Leslie : )
This issue of Musings & Meanderings is jam-packed with some really great stuff to get your [writing and reading] summer off on the right foot. Coaching, book recommendations, where to submit, reading recommendations, author interviews, recently published prose, and a quick 4 questions insights interview with the fabulous Ashely Audrain on her newest domestic thriller, THE WHISPERS (Pamela Dorman Books, June 6, 2023)
By the way, I do not get any ‘kick-backs’ or other kind of payment (in-kind, or otherwise) for mentioning these classes/workshops/books/individuals. Sharing because if helps me, maybe it’ll speak to you, too.
Some Writerly Things:
- Writing flash non-fiction? Check out this 6-week Zoom workshop Sudden Truth hosted by Writing Workshops taught by Blaise Allysen Kearsley.
- Black Warrior Review (BWR) is open for submissions for their 2024 issue and seeking poetry, nonfiction, prose, comics/art (free), and an open contest. Check it out.
- I’m really into this concept of visual poetry, which is a relatively new (to me!) form I’m totally digging. Check out P&W‘s News & Trends column featuring Monica Ong.
- Maybe you are working in memoir and looking to explore a story that involves others? What might that look and feel like? What are the legal ramifications? Check out this online offering from Lily Dancyger, fee-based.
Some Readerly Things:
- An author friend recently recommended this book by Andrew Porter and you can stream his FREE author chat on YouTube.
- This article in The Guardian discusses why Ocean Vuong thinks we should not continue writing ‘just because we are alive.’
New! Featured Author|Insights
Internationally bestselling author
Ashley Audrain
THE WHISPERS: A Novel
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Push, a propulsive page-turner about four families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens—and what is lost when we give in to our own worst impulses.
Leslie Lindsay:
Without responding in complete sentences, what would you say THE WHISPERS is about?
Leslie Lindsay:
Without responding in complete sentences, what would you say THE WHISPERS is about?
Ashley Audrain:
Intuition, mid-life identity, envy and regret
Leslie Lindsay:
Where did you write THE WHISPERS? Do you have any special writing routines or rituals? Do they change with each project, or remain constant over time?
Ashley Audrain : I wrote most of THE WHISPERS during the pandemic, and although this proved very difficult in many ways, it was the first time I established a more regular writing routine in the mornings. I’d wake up at 5am and write at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, until my kids woke up and their virtual learning began (schools here in Toronto were closed for a very long time). The rest of the day was a write-off! I wish I was still keeping up that routine now, but it’s completely changed with a bit of freedom. Now, I mostly write in coffee shops after I drop off my kids at school.
Leslie Lindsay:
If you weren’t writing, you would be…
Ashley Audrian : Wishing I were writing! Most likely, I’d be working at Penguin, where I worked for two years before I had my first child and wrote The Push…
Leslie Lindsay:
What book did you recently read that you can’t stop talking about?
Ashley Audrain :
A book I read recently that I can’t stop talking about it is the memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful by poet Maggie Smith. I listened to it on audio while walking around New York last weekend, and now I have to get the hardcopy to treasure. It’s about the end her marriage, but also her repair afterwards, told thorugh a wonderfuly unique structure and lyrical prose. I loved it.
[Leslie’s note; I agree, wholeheartedly. I read–and loved this one, too. It definitely made me feel all the feels…from laughter to tears]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
ASHLEY AUDRAIN’s debut novel, The Push, was a New York Times, Sunday Times (UK), and #1 international bestseller, and a Good Morning America Book Club pick. It has sold in more than forty territories, and a limited television series is currently in development. Audrain previously worked as the publicity director of Penguin Books Canada, and prior to that she worked in public relations. She lives in Toronto, where she and her partner are raising their two young children. The Whispers is her second novel.
- For more information, or to purchase a copy of THE WHISPERS , pop over to my Bookshop.org
- You can connect with Ashley on Instagram
Browse my Bookshop.org see what I’m reading in 2023, and other titles featured on Insights|Musings & Meanderings …and more!
You can find me, Leslie Lindsay, on Instagram for more bookish news, book unboxing reels, artsy flatlays, and book talks.
Some Recently Published Interviews, Prose, Etc.:
- A double-interview featuring Cassandra Jackson and Jasmine Brown and their respective books, THE WRECK: A Daughter’s Memoir of Becoming a Mother (Viking, May 2023) and TWICE AS HARD (Beacon Hill, February 2023) ran in Hippocampus Magazine. See how and why I chose to pair these two titles and my connection to the material.
- I had the honor and priviledge of chatting with Priscilla Gilman, author of the memoir, THE CRITIC’S DAUGHTER (W.W. Norton, February 2023 for The North American Review. We talk about Guess jeans (with ankle zippers!), being the responsible older sister, challenging parents, and more. Gilman is the daughter of renown literary agent Lynn Nesbit and Richard Gilman, Yale School of Drama professor and theater critic.
- This poem, CLOTHES ON THE LINE was published in Abandoned Mine and was inspired by my fascination with ancestors. It’s speaker is a young girl in a dreamy, almost flow-of-conscious voice.
- A hybrid piece, AMERSAND & EPHEMERA was published in the latest print issue (vol. 16) of DASH Literary: Futurisms, and it’s a gorgeous issue all around. It’s a bit of a centro in which I cobbled together titles from spines of books on a shelf into a cohesive memoir-poetry-catalog.
- This piece, MODEL HOME: A Study Under Compression, in On the Seawall, is something I am so proud of. It was conceived in a craft store when I wandered down the model train aisle. At home, I already had the moss and tiny house and vials. I wanted to depict something with words and photography that would spotlight my family falling into disarray…my mother’s mental illness, the ‘perfect’ home, the family divided. This was my answer. It’s my first text + image publication. Here’s a sampling:
- I am bowled over by the reception my poem, CREVASSE, received by Luke Johnson in the Spring 2023 issue of Ballast. Check out our dialogue about one another’s work HERE. Also, that landing page! Swooning.
- Two pieces of poetry, TRUNDLE and HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS were published in Neologism Poetry Journal and both have to do with mental illness, one is particularly emotional; it has to do with my mother’s first psychotic episode when I was ten and Dad had to lock me in my room for safety.
- You can find some of my other poetry at Empyrean Literary Journal. This piece was conceived in a workshop at StoryStudio Chicago in which the prompt was to combine two totally different things with one’s childhood street. I chose my grandfather’s profession as stained-glass artist and the year 1989. The resulting piece is COLLAPSE.
- Thrilled to have this byline in LitHub! Here, I chat with 82-year-old poet Pattiann Rogers about her new collection, THE FLICKERING (Penguin Poets, April 2023).
- Speaking of Apraxia: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech, 2nd edition (Woodbine House, 2021) through some online retailers, your local library, used bookstores (it’s now officially out-of-print), and the audio edition is downloadable (with additional PDFs, resources) through Penguin Random House.
There’s more to this newsletter. Keep scrolling.
What’s Obsessing Me:
- Why we write. You might be wondering this, too. Is it silly to stare at a screen or blank page all day? There’s actually science behind this–we are wired for story!
- What it is about a particular story that keeps us reading, the juicy way we want to learn more, to not sit the book down. Thoughts?
- Past life trauma and how it shapes our present.
- A good hair cut.
What I’m Listening To:
I just finished listening to Ronit Plank’s podcast, Let’s Talk Memoir featuiring filmmaker Reed Harkness. His documentary, SAM NOW is streaming on multiple platforms. It touches on his step-mother’s disappearance and subsequent abandonment of his 13-year old half-brother.
You are reading Musings & Meanderings, a consistently inconsistent weekly newsletter about the literary life from Leslie Lindsay, and home of an archive of bestselling and debut author interviews. I’m also on twitter and instagram. I try to answer comments as best I can. Feel free to find my book suggestions on bookshop.org, and also check out the authors I’ve hosted in in-depth interviews HERE.
In the meantime, catch me on:
Reviewing books and talking about them with others on-line and in-person is one small way to engage with & support the literary community.
Thank you for letting me guide you on your bookish journey.
Let’s walk this bookish path together.
THANK YOU!!
Some of you have been reading my reviews, interviews, and meanderings for more than a decade now. That’s huge and I am so humbled. Thanks for being here.
More than 2,800 folks read Musings & Meanderings.
Wishing you much renewal & sunshine
Created by Leslie Lindsay. I’m a proud book nerd. Let’s connect on Instagram, and Twitter. See what I’m reading on Bookshop.org. Find my reviews & ratings on GoodReads. I’m also a Zibby Books Ambassador, part of the Riverherd with Riverhead Books, a proud supporter of the Between the Covers podcast hosted by David Naimon and produced thru Tin House, and an early reviewer of Penguin Random House titles. My book, SPEAKING OF APRAXIA: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech (2021), is available in audio only by PRHaudio.
Learn more HERE.
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Leslie A. Lindsay 
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