Send My Love to Anyone | Issue 29
with Meghan Greeley and Kirby
Hello friends,
Here’s a little update.
To be honest, I had a pretty rough summer. Between a family member getting scammed and some health issues, it was a bust.
So I’m glad the summer is over, and things are somewhat better.
In happier news my husband David Poolman collaborated with several musicians over the past couple of years, and in August released an instrumental album Any-Angled Light, which I absolutely love and listen to every day!
“Recorded by visual artists and musicians in Montreal, Toronto, and rural Ontario, these songs were constructed in a call-and-response fashion with audio sketches, drawings, photographs, text, and video sent back and forth between the players - a conversational process that began during the winter of 2020 and continued off and on over the next 2 years.”
You can get it on all streaming platforms and there’s vinyl too!
As for me, I’ve been gearing up for the release of my debut story collection, Anecdotes, which was published on September 19th by Book*hug Press. They call it a book birthday, and I like that!
This month for Send My Love to Anyone, I wrote about my mindset change when it comes to self-promotion. I was inspired by Chen Chen’s IG post last January about self-promotion, privilege, and finding your readers, which really stuck with me. For Anecdotes, I decided to lean into self-promotion instead of dreading it, and I’m trying to have fun. So far it’s working.
One thing I did that I find personally difficult was walk into a bookstore and ask to sign my books! I know writers do this all the time, but I never have and it was hard! It was Munro’s Books, and they were so nice about it! Check out the article to find out more about my self-promotion journey. I hope it helps writers who find self-promotion as difficult as I do.
I’m getting into BookTok and engaging with a great literary community there. Later this fall, I’ll be posting about my experience on BookTok. I’m mostly ignored, have low views, and many of my videos are silly, but there’s so much freedom in being ignored. More importantly you can build a community there—just block the trolls like the dude who thought he would become a New York Times bestselling author by reading a book by a woman author every day. There’s quite a bit of drama on #BookTok which I also love! And I’ve made friends on BookTok! It reminds me of the old days of Twitter when I made online literary friends all the time.
Anecdotes got some early love before its release. It was listed on the Toronto Star, Frieze (yes, that Frieze art magazine from the UK!!), 49th Shelf, CBC Books, The Hamilton Review of Books, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. This fall I’m touring the book and co-launching with these wonderful Book*hug authors—Sandra Ridley (Vixen) and Michael V. Smith (Queers Like Me). I may even add an east coast tour. Details to come.
And now for Issue 29 of Send My Love to Anyone!
SMLTA columnist Kirby has a stunning piece about the courageous act of continuing and Meghan Greeley shares an excerpt from her debut novel Jawbone (Radiant Press) which also has a gorgeous cover!
For Gatherings this month, I recommend Lindsay Wong, The Silent Partner, an article about Literary Friendships, Casey Plett’s book On Community, The Victoria Authors Festival, and more!
In unrelated news, I think I have figured out the perfect length for a timed writing prompt, and it’s seven minutes!
I’m teaching a short fiction class where we do writing prompts, and I’ve discovered that seven minutes is the sweet spot—a long enough time to get something written but also short enough to keep you on track. Here’s a new writing prompt from my other newsletter Where Do I Start?
Lastly, you can now follow me on Bluesky!
Kathryn
Send My Love to Anyone | Issue 29
Meghan Greeley | Issue 29
Excerpt from Jawbone by Meghan Greeley 1. The vocal cords do not atrophy. The larynx is a multi-purpose room. Of course, I swallow still. I clear my throat: a habit now, an empty signal. The vocal cords look like a vagina. I have seen a video of this. They are fleshy pink bands slapping together. I once read about a man in the Ozarks who woke from a ninet…
The First Time "Prissy" | Kirby
The First Time “Prissy” by Kirby | Send My Love to Anyone Shall I rewrite or revise / My October symphony? / Or as an indication / Change the dedication / From revolution to revelation? — Pet Shop Boys Is she off a cliff? She’s utterly lost. She misses future thinking
On Self-Promotion | Issue 29
Another reason I decided to go all in on the self-promotion was that this is probably my most personal book to date. My debut story collection Anecdotes comes out with Book*hug Press on Tuesday September 19th. That’s the official book birthday, but it’s already in
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Keep up the amazing work, Kathryn!