Three things I'm excited about this week

Lynda Barry (always!), book news, and the promise of a future feast

It seems like every creative newsletter I open these days begins with a disclaimer: I know the world is a giant mess, I’m thinking about it nonstop, I feel awkward writing about happy things but I wanted to share some news about…

And boy, do I get it. Can we all agree to take it as a given that writing about what is good and beautiful doesn’t mean we’re not worried and angry and advocating fiercely in other very important parts of our lives?

(For example, you know I’m fuming about the RFK autism thing. Just…not right here.)

There. Consider this my semi-annual disclaimer and now I’m going to write about what I started this Substack to share: things I’m enthusiastic about!

April enthusiasm number one: asparagus

Last spring I dug a bed and planted three asparagus crowns. I was positively giddy about it. They flourished and grew a dozen or more stalks each. Of course you can’t cut and eat them in Year One—establishing asparagus is a long-term project—but I rejoiced over each spear and dreamed of a wee feast sometime around 2027.

Except…this year, spring arrived, but the bed stayed empty. I came back from our Virginia trip in early April absolutely certain I’d find some baby spears peeking up from the soil, but nope, nothing. By this week, everything else in our garden was looking lush and lively, but the asparagus bed remained bare. Hopes dashed.

Yesterday I lamented this fact in a Note—and then just hours later, there it was, a short, fat purplish-green spear thumbing its way out of the dirt.

And today? It’s already three times taller.

A proper spear, proud as you please

April enthusiasm number two: book news

I should clarify that these bursts of excitement are in no particular order. Asparagus is pretty darn exciting. But having two new books is the works is…even more so?

I’ve already shared the news about my novel-in-progress, The Swimming Pigs of Licorice Springs, which will be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers right around the time I get to enjoy a dish of homegrown asparagus. (Fingers crossed.) It’s a middle-grade novel set in the summer of 1980, and if you’re wondering if I chose that time period because it’s the summer Xanadu came out, you’re spot on. I’ve dug out my old Smurf collection and finally got myself a Trapper Keeper. I might even make some ribbon barrettes.

But also! I’ve just gotten an offer on a picture book that I’m very very very excited about. It hasn’t been announced yet, so that’s all I can say for now. More to come soon!

April enthusiasm number three: Lynda Barry

Okay, listen. Lynda Barry is hardly just an APRIL enthusiasm. I’ve been learning from her books and examples ever since she published Syllabus in 2014. I took her in-person Writing the Unthinkable workshop in 2019—one of the highlights of my decade. She’s a truly magical teacher. 10/10 would do again, as often as possible.

In her amazeballs book What It Is, Lynda shares a detailed step-by-step guide to the memory-retrieval process she taught us in her workshop. She calls this her X-page activity and let me tell you, it WORKS. Better yet, let Lynda tell you herself. In this video, she guides you through the whole activity. You can follow the steps over and over to create a pool of vivid memories that may become stories, poems, pictures, journal entries, or anything you like.

My dedicated project notebook for Swimming Pigs (that’s it at the top of this post, alongside its pocket-sized travel companion) is a container for X-pages and Lynda’s daily diary practice, as well as research notes, maps, candy wrapper drawings, pig facts, and whatever else I feel like collecting as I work my way deeper into this novel.

Whenever you need a creative reset or energy boost, run to Lynda Barry. Her Instagram is an inspirational delight. Her books are the best hands-on creative practice manuals I’ve ever encountered. And she’s an antidote to preciousness and insecurity. I adore her. What a gift to the world she is.

How about you?

What’s lighting you up this week? I’m all ears!