This was a great read, I love this book and I am really chewing on this: "I learned I could not replicate the author I was in that moment in my creative history and that I would have to be careful to distinguish between what was raw and what was rough and revise accordingly."
It's so easy for us to tell ourselves we shouldn't indulge in the creative instincts we had when we were younger-- but a lot of those instincts were spot on. Discerning which ones to let go of and which ones to hold tightly is hard work.
I was on Talking Scared the other day and I had mentioned how you learn to write books as you are writing them and like... I don't think we pause and think about that enough!!! What an actual book reveals!!! What we present to the public to parse!!!! It's kind of amazing we're all out here throwing that at people in real time while we try to figure out what to make do with it ourselves, esp as we expand within our craft!!
"It is not my expectation to change the world. I want to change my life." Thank you for sharing your father's words. I love his way of viewing the world and his place in it.
I’m so excited to read your new version and the new additions, and deeper excavations of your characters!!! (I always wanted to know more about Lily’s story). There is so much trauma in this book, both pre and post apocalypse and how it develops, internalises or destroys each character is going to be devastating and amazing to discover. Should you wish to, I hope you have the opportunity to do this with all your stories. Thank you so much for sharing your insights and thoughts with us all. 🩷🩷🩷
it was a gift to revisit the text and even more so with the knowledge that it gets the privilege of a reader like you, and I genuinely mean that emily. i hope it doesn't sound like lip service but i do not take for granted the thoughtfulness and kindness that you have approached these stories & your perspectives and insights on the larger issues driving them have always been so gratifying to engage with. THANK YOU. 💖
A generous writer, a generous person! So proud of what you have accomplished ... it has involved a lot of hard work on your part to get here. I would love you even if you weren't an amazingly talented author (but you are💯) Congratulations on your latest accomplishment🥰🥰
The decades of memories in this shelf are imprinted. I love so much, and am still confounded by the randomness that led me to know your books. To understand their history. To have them continue to mean so much. That TINAT (DE) will soon join them. That there is a movie !!!! And that they were ever written at all [abh/abl].
i’m about a quarter through reading the definitive edition and loving what’s changed since the first so far — a nice realization was that i’ve read the book so many times that i’m able to quickly pick up on what’s changed. i’ve found that each time i re-read there’s usually something different that resonates with me, especially over the years as my perspective evolved and i grew older in relation to the characters. i was thirteen when i first read the book and now i’m twenty-five, the age when you wrote it. sloane’s trauma as well as her relationship with grace is hitting me so much harder this time around. i’m so excited to see what else this edition of the story has in store for me. congrats again on the movie and this recent publication! your stories were so formative for me in understanding my own relationship with womanhood and how women are treated/perceived in society, and i hope new readers (especially any teens!) also have a similar experience.
i have to tell you i have read this comment multiple times since it hit my inbox because it's never not gonna be monumental to me that the book has been read with so much care, and thought--then and now--by you. 13! 25! what!!!! and you're still here & it's such a privilege as an author to have you here, raile. to know that the way it resonates with you is evolving, that you recognize those changes--hard to describe what a gift that is. but i appreciate it. it's a real privilege to be read in such good faith that those stories could give something back to you. thank you.
I’m so thrilled and excited for you Courtney and cannot wait to read the relist. How special that the book dedicated to your father gets a second life, a bigger life now.
this got me emotional 🥹 thank you, bidisha. for being here all this time, and for recognizing my dad here. it means a lot, especially from someone who knows. 💖
This was a great read, I love this book and I am really chewing on this: "I learned I could not replicate the author I was in that moment in my creative history and that I would have to be careful to distinguish between what was raw and what was rough and revise accordingly."
It's so easy for us to tell ourselves we shouldn't indulge in the creative instincts we had when we were younger-- but a lot of those instincts were spot on. Discerning which ones to let go of and which ones to hold tightly is hard work.
I was on Talking Scared the other day and I had mentioned how you learn to write books as you are writing them and like... I don't think we pause and think about that enough!!! What an actual book reveals!!! What we present to the public to parse!!!! It's kind of amazing we're all out here throwing that at people in real time while we try to figure out what to make do with it ourselves, esp as we expand within our craft!!
"It is not my expectation to change the world. I want to change my life." Thank you for sharing your father's words. I love his way of viewing the world and his place in it.
Thank you for the moment you gave him here. This means a lot to me, Megan. 🥹💖
I’m so excited to read your new version and the new additions, and deeper excavations of your characters!!! (I always wanted to know more about Lily’s story). There is so much trauma in this book, both pre and post apocalypse and how it develops, internalises or destroys each character is going to be devastating and amazing to discover. Should you wish to, I hope you have the opportunity to do this with all your stories. Thank you so much for sharing your insights and thoughts with us all. 🩷🩷🩷
it was a gift to revisit the text and even more so with the knowledge that it gets the privilege of a reader like you, and I genuinely mean that emily. i hope it doesn't sound like lip service but i do not take for granted the thoughtfulness and kindness that you have approached these stories & your perspectives and insights on the larger issues driving them have always been so gratifying to engage with. THANK YOU. 💖
A generous writer, a generous person! So proud of what you have accomplished ... it has involved a lot of hard work on your part to get here. I would love you even if you weren't an amazingly talented author (but you are💯) Congratulations on your latest accomplishment🥰🥰
You know what I always like to say . . . I learned it from you 🥰💚 thanks for getting me through it every step of the way
The decades of memories in this shelf are imprinted. I love so much, and am still confounded by the randomness that led me to know your books. To understand their history. To have them continue to mean so much. That TINAT (DE) will soon join them. That there is a movie !!!! And that they were ever written at all [abh/abl].
😭😭😭😭😭💖💖💖💖 [ash/asl] i'm so glad we were and are on this same rock at the same time damon!!!!!!!!!!
You hold grief in a way that allows us to feel seen. Such an honor to be a small part of this evolution. Happy pub day!
not a small part at all. INSTRUMENTAL. WE DID IT!!! 💖💖💖💖
i’m about a quarter through reading the definitive edition and loving what’s changed since the first so far — a nice realization was that i’ve read the book so many times that i’m able to quickly pick up on what’s changed. i’ve found that each time i re-read there’s usually something different that resonates with me, especially over the years as my perspective evolved and i grew older in relation to the characters. i was thirteen when i first read the book and now i’m twenty-five, the age when you wrote it. sloane’s trauma as well as her relationship with grace is hitting me so much harder this time around. i’m so excited to see what else this edition of the story has in store for me. congrats again on the movie and this recent publication! your stories were so formative for me in understanding my own relationship with womanhood and how women are treated/perceived in society, and i hope new readers (especially any teens!) also have a similar experience.
i have to tell you i have read this comment multiple times since it hit my inbox because it's never not gonna be monumental to me that the book has been read with so much care, and thought--then and now--by you. 13! 25! what!!!! and you're still here & it's such a privilege as an author to have you here, raile. to know that the way it resonates with you is evolving, that you recognize those changes--hard to describe what a gift that is. but i appreciate it. it's a real privilege to be read in such good faith that those stories could give something back to you. thank you.
I’m so thrilled and excited for you Courtney and cannot wait to read the relist. How special that the book dedicated to your father gets a second life, a bigger life now.
this got me emotional 🥹 thank you, bidisha. for being here all this time, and for recognizing my dad here. it means a lot, especially from someone who knows. 💖