I think often of escaping from noise. Wherever I am, I like to sit by windows, doors. I like knowing how to get away when I need to get away. I’m easily startled and I hate loud sounds. I don’t mind natural loud noises like thunder or rain or wind; I love the deep rattle of a summer storm, the drip and birdsongs afterward in rainbow light. There is a cocky rooster a couple houses down from us and I love hearing him—that’s a Kentucky, country kind of quiet I love. Can I find the away-from-the-city, Kentucky quiet I’m used to when I’m in a busy urban area like Atlanta? Virginia? North Carolina? South Carolina? Arkansas? Tennessee? Anywhere? Everywhere?
W&R AND THE BY AND BY AND BOOK FEST EVENTS!
I got my box of W&R hardbacks in the mail and they are SO BEAUTIFUL! !!!
I'll be reading & signing @ Carmichaels in Louisville on March 8!
I'll also be attending the Greensboro Bound Book Fest in May!
I try my best to keep track of events here!
OTHER W&R NEWS!
-Book Riot's 10 March New Releases To Put On Hold @ The Library Right Now
-Book Bub's 17 New Books for Jodi Picoult Fans Coming in 2018
-Alternating Current/The Coil's Books We Can't Wait To Read In 2018
-African Book Addict's 2018 New Releases to Anticipate
-Vroman's Bookstore's Most Anticipated Books In 2018
-Book Bub's 17 Heartbreaking Books Coming In 2018
-Book Bub's 23 New Books You'll Be Dying To Talk About
-Princeton Book Review's Books To Read Next
-Geekster's 10 Books To Look Forward To In 2018 (in Dutch!)
-SheRead's 2018's Books By Diverse Writers
EXACTLY ONE MONTH FROM TODAY WHISKEY & RIBBONS WILL BE FOR SALE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD! XO
W&R on some more lovely lists!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS is listed on The Millions MOST ANTICIPATED: THE GREAT 2018 BOOK PREVIEW! Thank you so much to Nick Ripatrazone for including me!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS is also listed over @ The Book Riot 10 MARCH NEW RELEASES TO PUT ON HOLD AT THE LIBRARY RIGHT NOW! Thank you to Liberty Hardy for including me!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS is listed over @ Texas Book Festival 2018 Reads! Thank you Julie Wernersbach!
And thank you to Steph Post for including WHISKEY & RIBBONS in her Great 2018 Spring Book Preview!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS is an OKRA PICK! And another lovely list!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS is a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance OKRA PICK for WINTER 2018 which is super-awesome! And W&R was also included on this lovely list over @ The Rumpus WHAT TO READ WHEN 2018 IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!
WHISKEY & RIBBONS! LISTS! EXCITEMENT!
EXCITEMENT! WHISKEY & RIBBONS on some amaze lists! Entertainment Weekly and Electric Literature!
AIN'T HALF BAD
The Oxford American KY Music Issue Launch was amaze and so much fun! I loved everylittlething abt it. And the next day, Sturgill Simpson tweeted @ me abt it which was just icing on the cake. Thank you, Sturgill. I LOVE YOU. You can read my essay AIN'T HALF BAD @ Oxford American. Longreads featured my essay over on their site which was a real treat! And so did The Sunday Long Read! Thanks y'all! Also, I wrote abt my writing space over @ the Split Lip blog and I wrote abt Otis Redding over @ Memoir Mixtape! Pls do sign up for my TinyLetter so I can send you loveletters abt books and words and and. Only abt THREE MONTHS until WHISKEY & RIBBONS is out in the world! <3
JACK JONES LITERARY ARTS & GERMAN TRANSLATION OF WHISKEY & RIBBONS
SO STOKED to be working w/Kima Jones and her team @ JACK JONES LITERARY ARTS re: Whiskey & Ribbons. !! Read more abt the beautiful books in the current campaign and more abt Kima & Allison &&!
AND! Also stoked to announce that W&R will be translated into German (print and audio) and published by Bastei Lübbe, the largest indie publisher in Germany. And both of these things are dreams come true for me! EXCITINGGGG! <3
TO LOOK FOR AMERICA: A ROAD TRIP, A SOUNDTRACK
I wrote TO LOOK FOR AMERICA: A ROAD TRIP, A SOUNDTRACK over @ The Rumpus abt driving cross country w/my fam this summer!
South Dakota severe thunderstorm warnings and Culver’s. Minnesota car snacks and coffees. Wisconsin cheeses and my Green Bay Packers shirt. Arizona heat, the Milky Way and billions of stars above the Grand Canyon, one of the treasured “dark skies” in the country. The Pacific Coast Highway, California mornings, perfect Utah nights, Rocky Mountain Colorado, my favorite pungent Nevada sage, and lakes. Chicago traffic, etc. Miles and miles and miles. Train whistles and church bells. America.
I wrote abt Sturgill Simpson for the Kentucky Music Issue of Oxford American!
What a beautiful cover and what a sweet dream come true for me! YOU CAN PRE ORDER A COPY and there's a CD and it's a KENTUCKY MIXTAPE LOVEFEST!