give it a name, call it a club, and I'll be there!
I've been: seduced by a novel, in a dreamy workshop, and alone in the kitchen with an aubergine
I am so happy you’re here with me! 💫💫💫If you like this post, will you please hit the ❤️ at the bottom? It really helps to spread the word! 💫💫💫
Hi Hi!
Humans are clubby. We all want to belong— to something. We’ve got book clubs, bike clubs, supper clubs, writing groups, mom groups, church groups. There are clubs I would hate to belong to, for example, there is a club for people who have been ejected out of a plane! And completely obscure clubs… The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists! And there are clubs I’d love to belong to, for example the EGOT club.
I have gleefully participated in regular Game Nights, and when the plants were drooping with the weight of fruit screaming to be eaten, an All-The-Tomatoes-Feast was a momentary thing. I’ve been in a Caesar Salad-off with pals who insist their dressing is the best (ahem, I won!), and a Cake-a-Month project.
Give me a name + an activity or food + festive booze/wine and I can’t get enough! My pal
recently threatened to host a Potato Chip Tasting. A new friend who sold everything and moved to Italy attends an English Monday Club at a bar in her small Italian village.Somehow a good brand name breeds fun and interest. We used to host, Wine and Wire Sundays back in the day when we couldn’t wait for the next episode. Once, during a heat dome in Portland we lay around on the floor (somehow it was cooler on the floor? heat rises or whatever…) sweating, swilling gin and tonics, while binging two seasons of Hacks. Maybe if we’d branded the event, Sweating and Swilling Club it would have been something we’d choose to repeat every year in the dog days of August?
Winter is coming and I’m all in for starting up a regular Knitters in Quitters Club (quitters = sweatpants). What about you and yours? Do you have a brand for a beloved repeated event? Does even saying the name let loose a little spark of anticipation?
In the after-party🎉 below you’ll find my caesar salad recipe.
read:
Not only have I been on the beach, reading a book from cover to cover in one day, (more on TRAIN DREAMS, in our upcoming r.w.e. book group) but I’ve also been trudging up steep hills, listening to an audio book that snuck up on me until I fell in love.
THE GUNCLE, by Steven Rowley, surprised me with its humor and wisdom. I will admit, as I listened to the first few chapters I was not in love. It felt a bit too snarky, maybe stereotypical, the jokes felt pat, sitcom worthy. I don’t know if hard hill climbing makes one vulnerable, but I fell in love with the characters as I climbed.
The Guncle, or Gay Uncle Patrick, is called into caretaking duty for his young niece and nephew after their mother has died after fighting cancer for years. Their father must do a stint in rehab as pills are how he made it through the pain and difficulty of his wife’s illness. Guncle Patrick is ill-suited for the responsibility of children, but well-suited for their emotional turmoil due to his own struggles with grief, which he knows all too well. His boyfriend was killed by a drunk driver years ago and he is still reckoning with the loss. The novel is funny, and yes, smart. I wish I had quotes to share, but as I said it was all I could do to crest the mountain, let alone take notes. THE GUNCLE won the Thurber Prize… now that is another club I’d like to belong to!
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If you’d like to spend a minute with me talking about reading with a writer’s eye, you’re in luck! I have paired up with the terrific people over at The HerStories Project/
to bring you an hour long conversation!In Reading with a Writer's Eye, we will take apart the clock, jumping into texts with an eye toward how the writer did it! We will deconstruct how the characters come alive, how setting enhances tone and story, how vivid scenes snag us and keep us reading, how dialogue rings true. During the workshop we will discuss terrific writing samples and leave our time together with specific craft skills to apply to our work and our reading life. Whether you're an experienced writer, a newbie, or just love a good book, come ready to read, chat, laugh, and make new friends.
I’d love to see you!
We have zoom r.w.e. book group! Next we will be discussing TRAIN DREAMS, by Dennis Johnson, and Wally Lamb’s, THE RIVER IS WAITING. We meet on 21 September @ 9:00a PDT.
The book group is a perk for paid subscribers and let me tell you we are a lively bunch!
Go ahead, upgrade to paid and claim your spot among friends. I hope to get to know you better!
I've made a read.write.eat. Bookshop where you will find many of the books I've recommended. Buying books from my shop is another way you can support my newsletter.
write:
This week, for the third year in a row, I’ve been teaching at the COME TO YOUR SENSES retreat in the South of France. Mon dieu, I wish you were here! There’s much to gain from making time, from giving your nervous system a break, from talking and doing, thinking and learning with other writers. We write each day. We talk about scene, and sensory details, imagery, emotional lens, plot, structure… all of it, and we’re in France. We also swim, visit the market, taste wine, check out the musée d’Art Moderne de Collioure, and have a karaoke fête!
The retreat is chock full of delightful people — participants and faculty, organizers and chefs. The food!
This wee jewel of a village, Collioure, is a lovely place to treat yourself to time away, to speak to your writer self, to say, I believe in me and I’m giving myself this gift. I’m putting myself on my calendar.
Next year’s workshops are open. I absolutely encourage you to come. Why?
The world is hard right now… give yourself time away to soften and relax
Your creativity, your writing, is something to be cherished and nurtured
Writing flourishes from new experiences. This retreat is an opportunity to step away from your screens. Make time to be in the world.
And, I’ll be here again! In late September, absolutely the best month!
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In the after-party🎉 below you’ll find a prompts to get you writing now!
eat:
The market is full! So many tomatoes, and eggplant, peppers, and parsley. Of course I’m making caponata…
Caponata
2 globe eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut into ¾-inch pieces
2T kosher salt, plus more
1 fennel bulb, cut into ¾-inch pieces
¾ c neutral vegetable oil
½ c walnuts, diced
¼ c olive oil
1 med red onion, thinly sliced
2 med sized red bell peppers, halved and then thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1t paprika
2 pints fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
½ c red wine vinegar
2 T sugar
1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves chopped
Grilled or toasted country-style bread (for serving)
fresh ricotta
Toss eggplant cubes with 2 Tbsp. salt in a colander set over a bowl; let sit for up to 3 hours, honestly, a good hour is plenty.
Gather the eggplants in a kitchen towel to squeeze out excess liquid. Combine eggplants, fennel, and vegetable oil in a large heavy pot set over med-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplants are golden brown and fennel is soft, 20–25 minutes. Transfer vegetables to paper towels to drain; let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, toast nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, tossing often, fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Cook onion, red bell pepper, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, 6–8 minutes. Stir in paprika and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add nuts, and eggplant mixture. Toss until heated through and glazed; season with salt.
Scatter generously with chopped parsley.
Let cool; serve with bread and a bowl of fresh ricotta for dipping.
after-party🎉:
If you’re already a paid subscriber, Giant THANKS! And please, skip ahead.
Below the paywall you’ll find:
Prompts to get you writing
Stanley holding forth at dinner
my winning caesar salad recipe
And, if you’re not ready to hop on, please do give the ♥️ a tap, or leave a comment 💬, or share ↻ with a friend. It matters in the substack universe and in my heart!