Quote of the week:
“Possibly, then, writing has to do with darkness, and a desire or perhaps a compulsion to enter it, and, with luck, to illuminate it, and to bring something back out to the light.” ― Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead
What I’m reading:
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster –really liking it
What I’m listening to:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara — so very long, so very good
Jon Batiste‘s new album, “We Are”
What I’m watching:
Q: Into the Storm (docuseries about QAnon)
Mental Health: The Impact of Anti-Asian Racism (EducAsian live stream episode featuring my dear friend, Dr. Huong Diep)
Writing news:
All the Love: Healing Your Heart and Finding Meaning After Pregnancy Loss released on Tuesday. We had a great online event to talk about the book and support people going through pregnancy loss. We celebrated by donating $200 to SHARE: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support.
A couple of my essays went live this week:
“If Men Had Miscarriages” (Ms. Magazine)
“How Not to Hate Your Husband After a Miscarriage” (Scary Mommy)
My co-author, Meredith Resnick, and I wrote this piece for Writer’s Digest: “Writing a Book with a Friend: How to Merge Styles Every Step of the Way“
My other co-author, Dr. Huong Diep, wrote this amazing blog post: “Just Keep Working Hard: My Thoughts on Writing a Book and AAPI Hate“
I also had a couple podcast episodes go live this week:
“Life After Pregnancy Losses” (And Then Everything Changed podcast with Ronit Plank)
“Multiple Pregnancy Losses: Impacts on Mental Health and Subsequent Pregnancies” (Mom & Mind podcast with Dr. Kat)
Whew. It’s been a BUSY week.
Your usual reminders:
- People Who Knew Me will be re-released on May 11
- No Hiding in Boise will release on June 15
Also…
Novel #6 is coming in 2022. I just signed the contract this week. This one is a very special book to me. I can’t wait to share it with the world.
What I’m talking about:
- Expanding vaccine eligibility. It looks like I’ll be able to get my first shot SOON. I am so excited!
- New Zealand’s revolutionary legislation granting bereavement leave for pregnancy loss–WE NEED THIS HERE (read here)
- The Colorado shootings. I saw something on Instagram this week: “If guns aren’t the problem, people are the problem, then why would you give the problem guns?” The facts are simple–less guns, fewer deaths
- The Equal Rights Amendment (it’s 100 years old at this point and STILL not a part of the Constitution…. though we may be getting closer–read here)
- The fight for equal pay in women’s sports (read here)
- The opportunity for pandemic posttraumatic growth (read here)
- Making room for grief in a post-Covid world (read here)
Interesting things I learned this week:
- There will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 (mentioned by John Oliver in his latest episode)
- Americans gained an average of 2 lbs per month during the pandemic (CNN)
- Gun violence kills as many Americans per year as vehicle accidents and breast cancer (about 40,000 people, respectively) (New York Times)
- Italy is known for tomatoes, but they originated in Peru. Thailand is known for chilies, but they originated in Central America. Germany is known for sauerkraut, which started in China (James Clear‘s newsletter)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
Shrimp tail in cereal. (I had to look it up after hearing about this on multiple news programs. You can read about here).
What I’m grateful for:
I’m so grateful to all the people who showed up to our online event for All the Love on Tuesday. I was reminded yet again of how pregnancy loss is the worst club with the best members. I’m so honored to be part of this community, even though I’m sad about the reason we are connected.