Walking past a bookstore on the West Side of Manhattan a few weeks ago, a paperback called out to me from the window display. I hurried past; but two days later, it was still whispering my name. I returned and asked the clerk to retrieve it. His style was hipster studied casual: skinny trousers, shirt tails, ironic eyeglasses. That it would take some gymnastics (climbing over book carts, shimmying into the window) to reach the book seemed vaguely annoying to him. But, when he handed it to me, the book was electric and almost stung my hands. I knew this one was for me.
Home again, engaged in the tasks that fill my days, I've felt pulled back to that book, Giving Up the Ghost, Hilary Mantel's memoir. I'm about a third of the way in, swimming in her stories of early childhood in the East Midlands of England. Mantel's memory, and her prose, is stunning:
"...in talking about memory we are inclined to use geological metaphors. We talk about buried parts of our past. I don't think memory is like that: rather that it is like St. Augustine's 'spreading limitless room' ...where all the memories are laid side by side, at the same depth, like seeds under the soil."
I had spent the three days prior to first walking past that bookshop writing about memory, and then Mantel's book called out and chose me. What a mystery.
Below, I'll note other excellent books and websites I've recently found as well as events I'd love to share with you. I hope Spring has arrived where you are and that you will be able to put something into the ground and that it will sprout and flower and bear fruit.
May 2, 2015: Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Prairie Path Books
I will give a reading from Wholehearted Living (one of Prairie Path's bestselling books) on Saturday, May 2nd at 11 a.m. and will be helping in the store and talking about favorite books with customers throughout the day.
Prairie Path Books is located at 303 E. Front Street in Wheaton, IL. Enter the main doors of the Toms-Price building or come in the back door at the corner of Wesley and Scott Streets. Register for this free event here.
May 27, 2015: Come to a panel discussion of Disquiet Time at the University of Chicago
At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27th, a few of my fellow Disquiet Time contributors (including Katherine Willis Pershey, Anthony Platipodis, and Victor Conrado) and I will take part in a panel discussion at Rockefeller Chapel at University of Chicago. Co-sponsored by Brent House (Episcopal Campus Ministry), Lutheran Campus Ministries, and University Church.
Since the beginning of January, I've edited three works of nonfiction (for publishers and authors), written about "false nostalgia" and Laura Ingalls Wilder for her.meneutics, and had a few speaking engagements. I've traveled to Laguna Beach, CA, for a book event, attended a two-day seminar with Rob Bell and Richard Rohr (so brilliant and thought-provoking!), took two of my children on college visits in the DC area during their Spring break, and I recently returned from a writers retreat taken with my dear friends, colleagues, and fellow INK: Creative members Rachel Marie Stone, Amy Julia Becker, and Ellen Painter Dollar. On that trip, I began serious work on a novel that I've been planning and sketching out for more than five years. It was a rich time, and I encourage you to click on my friends' names and visit their websites. Read their work; they are truly excellent thinkers and writers (and human beings).
I continue to grow my editorial services and consulting business and fill in my speaking calendar for 2015-16. Contact me for more information about working together on your manuscript or to learn when I will be in your part of the country.
Kids in the House
If you are a parent (or guardian or auntie or uncle or grandparent), check out Kids in the House, the largest parenting video library in the world. Featured on NBC (and endorsed by Maria Shriver and others I admire), the site "aims to help parents and caregivers become better at parenting by educating, inspiring and entertaining. This resource contains over 8,000 videos from 450 leading parenting experts." It's a gift.
Also, in honor of Mother's Day, read about two other resources for parents: Amy Julia Becker's new book Small Talk and my second book, MOMumental. The latter can be purchased for less than a cappuccino -- actually, less than a styrofoam cup of gas station coffee -- but, in it, I say just about everything I want to say about raising kids ages 0-13(ish). The "raising teens" book must wait until my four teenagers are much, much older...
Click on the covers, above, to learn more, read reader reviews, or to order. If you've read any of my books and can spare a moment, please add star-ratings and reviews. In the unpredictable and, honestly, too often disheartening world of publishing, such things make a difference to writers like me. Thank you friends!
Jennifer Grant is the author of four works of nonfiction, caretaker of two (rescue) dogs, okay-enough mother of four teenagers, and the happy wife of one husband.
She speaks to groups and at retreats about topics including parenting, faith (and doubt), and the writing life.
As an editor and consultant, she works with authors and publishers to help writers produce their most clear and engaging work. Her collaborative projects have included children's fiction, newsletters and annual reports for nonprofit organizations, white papers, and much more.
She is hopscotching her way through Mark Bittman's most recent book, How to Cook Everything Fast, and is fond of the fancy and delicious salads, especially the ones on pages 110 and 126.
