Hello! Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you had a lovely day filled with love in all forms. I’ve been at a conference with colleagues this week, and despite not being at home, my kind spouse sent delicious treats to my hotel and I’m not sure I’ve ever needed chocolate more than after several days of keynotes about education. I am very inspired, and also very overwhelmed and tired, meaning this Substack After Dark ™️ might be slightly delirious and unhinged.
Reading
This book is one of the books on my reading list for this semester of my MFA, and the minute I read the description, I knew I would love it, and I was absolutely correct. In Sarahland, Sam Cohen has put together a unique, incredible collection of short stories, all with narrators named Sarah. Many of the stories feel vaguely familiar; however, Cohen reimagines these traditional stories in truly unique ways. There are stories that examine sexual violence and the traditions women are swept into, another that focuses on fan fiction, and one that re-imagines the Biblical figure Sarah as a trans woman. It’s queer, hot, and thought-provoking, both on a story level and on a craft level. The structure and adaptation of tropes and stories reminded me of Carmen Maria Machado’s In The Dream House and the queerness made me think of Lydia Conklin’s Rainbow Rainbow, which are both among my all-time favorites. As I write more fiction, I really enjoy seeing how people queer the form and this book was a compelling read. LOVE. Highly recommend.
Writing
When people ask me what kind of fiction I like, I am quick to respond that I like character-driven pieces. I want characters that I can fall in love with, people that feel real to me, complicated and imperfect humans who drive the story forward with their mistakes and victories. But recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about place, and how much I love a description of a place to latch on to. I think that when it’s done well, it’s so key to a story succeeding — it’s another way of inviting us into a narrative, of making you feel at home in a story. I promise (maybe) that I’ll shut up about Ann Patchett someday, but I loved Tom Lake so much, and in large part, it was due to the vivid descriptions of where the story took place. I won’t spoil much if you haven’t read it, but the narrative is delivered through a mother telling a story to her daughters, and the family runs a cherry orchard. Tom Lake is the other setting, and involves a theater company, and by the end of the book, I felt like I could picture every nook and cranny of the theater, and imagine the farm. I recently saw an article pitch in a Facebook group about how tourism to the area where the book is set is increasing, specifically because of the skill and beauty with which Ann Patchett described it! I don’t know if there’s a higher compliment to someone’s writing, than to make a fairly obscure place so compelling that people want to visit it, to the point that it affects tourism.
I also think about how frequently I’ve written things and realized that I have done zero work to locate the characters in space or time or environment. Writing place is essential, and writing place well is a talent. My favorite thoughts on the subject come from the brilliant Dorothy Allison, who wrote this essay about place for Tin House’s book of craft essays, The Writer’s Notebook (another great read). You can read the Allison essay here — I like to re-read it regularly when I need to consider how I’m involving place in my work.
Ranting
I suppose that part of the reason that I’m so fixated on place this week is that I am in Phoenix, Arizona. I grew up coming to this area frequently to visit my grandparents. Without going into the whole story, these grandparents have been mostly absent from my life for the past 10 years or so, due to their religious beliefs and my coming out. I haven’t been back since they moved to California when I was in middle school. While I’ve really only seen the inside of my hotel and the conference center because I’m here for work, I can’t help but feel a sense of sadness — of how once, this place used to be so special and meaningful because of all of my memories of visiting them here, and how now, I feel some things.
Let me tell you what else makes me feel some things: AIRPLANE BEHAVIOR. MY GOD.
The last time I ranted about airport behavior, I got into the largest internet fight of my life with some truly absurd people, but that’s a story for another day. Let me just say a few things that I think should be common sense while on an airplane.
Do not get up the moment the plane lands and try to push your way down the aisle. It’s rude and aggressive. On so many flights I’ve been on recently, I’ve literally had people bum rushing me from behind and hot news: if you cross my path on that plane and try to push while others are trying to exist, I will plant my ass in your pathway and pretend to be oblivious. If you have an emergency, just say that, but otherwise? Wait your turn. We all want to get out of the tin can. Let’s do it in an orderly fashion.
For the love of god can we please dispense with the eating of odiferous foods on airplanes? A man near me on a flight I took this summer brought out a TUNA MELT. When we flew to London over Thanksgiving, the meal was butter chicken, which was a strong smell while being served AND then two hours later when everyone began to digest it if you catch my drift. I understand that eating on a plane is something you might be forced to do; however, think inoffensive odors. A nice turkey sandwich? A bagel? Some pretzels?
To me, there is a small window for chatting with a stranger seated next to you, and it’s while people are boarding and ends abruptly when the safety instructions or video begins. After that, I want to put my headphones on and live in my bubble. If both people are into the conversation, knock yourselves out! But I loathe feeling rude if I don’t want to make small talk for the duration of the flight.
I’m sure I will think of 50 more things as soon as I send this out but MY GOD. We (allegedly) live in a society.
Recommending
Applicable to all of the above: Bose QuietComfort Headphones. I bought these from Olivia’s recommendation, and honestly, they are a game changer on an airplane and in general. I wear glasses, so over-ear headphones can be uncomfortable, but these are comfy, effective, downright delightful. 10/10, love. I have also tried the Sony ones but they’ve got nothing on these. If you, like me, enjoy being in your own little world, these are the way. Promise.
BYE!
Last January I screamed at a man (it's always a man) on an airplane because he bum rushed the aisles. And boy did he regret that, after he met the stone wall of human that was me and Chris (we both like to sit in aisle seats and that really paid off that trip, because we were a united force against this utter asshole. Anyway, as we deplaned, I heard the woman in front of me comment that, "they shouldn't have screamed at that man." UMM EXCUSE ME. He is not any more important than any one of us. We are living in a SOCIETY (allegedly, to your point) and we ALL FOLLOW THE RULES. I'm heated all over again, just thinking about it. I do love to get in a public fight with an asshole.....
You will be pleased to know that Brad also stands by those headphones (of course). And the thing I miss most about traveling for work & as a result gaining status on an airline is being seated at the front of plane so I can avoid all the chaos monsters who disrupt the orderly flow.