March 2023

Hello friends, thank you once again for subscribing to my newsletter. This comes to you on the cusp of spring. I know that for many of you, spring has a special connotation. It's about rebirth, growth, and depending on where you live, the seasonal allergies that go along with growth and rebirth. 

I do think of those things, of course, but honestly, I can’t help but think of Geoffrey Chaucer first and T.S. Eliot shortly after. I am sure you are saying “what the actual” fill-in-the-blank curse word here. I know. It is just that I am a huge dork. Let me explain. 

The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales in the original language begins thus:

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote

The droughte of March hath perced to the roote, 

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendered in the flour

Loosely translated it says that when April arrives, it rains and the drought that was March ends, nourishing the roots and making flowers bloom. 

Some translations go with this:

When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced until the root

And bathed each vein with liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower

Either way you read it, it sounds like spring, doesn’t it? So, while you may be thinking about rebirth and growth, I am too, just in a slightly different way. I’m just thinking of it poetically. So, I wasn’t the only person in the world who thought about spring and Chaucer because American-born, British-raised poet T.S. Eliot wrote at the beginning of his own epic The Waste Land:

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

Oof. I know. What a downer. I mean the poem is called The Waste Land (the spaces between Waste and Land are part of his title). Obviously, he has some takes on the state of the world that are quite a bit different than his poetic counterpart from 500 years prior. 

Here’s the thing friends, I think they are both beautiful. One is a love letter to spring, and to steal from another British writer and poet, A.A. Milne, seemingly written by Pooh and one is written by Eeyore. Both though, are expressing themselves in a compact and powerful way. 

Poetry is essentially journalistic fiction. You get in, you tell everyone what is going on, in a succinct and powerful way, and you get out. Novelists, like me, are always happy to use 50 words where 10 would do (as is evidenced by this essay in this newsletter). Poetry allows the writer to get to the heart of the matter. A short poem can break your heart or make you laugh. It can sit with you for hours, days, or a lifetime. An epic can take you on a rollicking journey and leave you full of joy or sorrow or both at the same time. 

You may, Dear Reader, be saying, “Meh, I don’t like poetry.” To that, I would say two things. First, that is your choice, and each person should totally like or dislike whatever they want. Secondly, I would ask you if you listened to music with words or if you only listened to classical music. If you answered that you do listen to music with words, as I suspect you do, then I would say, I suspect you actually do like poetry. I can think of many songs that drive me to tears or bring me joy, or both. 

Sara Bareilles’ “I choose you” gets me every single time (I’m not crying, you’re crying). I dare anyone to feel bad after listening to Jon Batiste’s “I need you.” Let’s be honest, Prince’s “Purple Rain” is heartbreakingly beautiful and musically incredible. Every time I hear it, I think about the pain he expressed by writing something so perfect, and yet, I feel joy that he brought about a lot of healing for a lot of folks, himself included, with that song.

So, Friends, as we approach spring and April, which is Poetry Month, please take some time to read some poetry, or listen to some music with new ears. Art Heals you, inspires you, makes you laugh, or makes you ugly cry. No matter what, let the words move you. 

Let me know what your favorite poems are and why. I would love to hear from you!

Happy Spring and Happy Poetry Month. 

Notes from my Bookshelf:

This month I’ve been reading a lot of advanced reader copies from NetGalley and First Second Books. It is a privilege that people give me early copies so that I can review them. Free books! These books are all out now so I can finally share my thoughts.

If you are into historical fiction and you don’t hate vampires, check out The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland. It is emotional and sweeping. It isn’t perfect, but it is good. It felt like a love letter to the nearly perfect vampire book from 2005 by Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian. 

Jenn Granneman and Andre Solo wrote a book called Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World. They essentially dropped a mic on how to write compelling non-fiction. I really felt seen here. 

If you are into something completely different, I would highly recommend Dan Santat’s exceptional Middle-Reader graphic novel The First Time for Everything. It is his true story of going abroad as a young person during the 1980s. It takes place at a time when there were no cell phones or adult supervision. As a Gen-Xer, I again, feel seen. The art is exceptional and the storytelling is for folks of all ages. 

Notes from my Keyboard:

I had spring break recently and that allowed me to do a ton of writing on That Other Dashwood Girl, Book Two of my forthcoming Austen Chronicles series. I am closing in on fifty-thousand words. One day, I went into a bit of a trance and wrote 1800 words in less than two hours. For perspective, this newsletter, which is mercifully coming to an end soon, is around 1200 words. It felt great and I feel that the book is coming together.

If you are interested in some other work I’ve done and if you would like to hear from some of my creative friends, please subscribe to a new podcast called The Sonic Salon. Every two weeks you will have an original auditory nugget dropped into your ears. In fact, there will be a bonus episode that comes out on April 1st in honor of Poetry Month. Spoiler alert, I wrote a poem just for that episode and I read it live. You will hear some amazing work from some other amazing folks there too. 

Finally, and most importantly, you can pre-order my novel Welcome to Mansfield now. It is so exciting!

Thanks again for subscribing friends. 

ARF