The joys of playing in dirt
Literal or otherwise
💻 what I'm up to 💻
I haven’t gardened much in my years on earth. My relationship with tending plants usually involves getting herbs, putting them in pots, forgetting to water them or bring them indoors before winter, and then things die. I thought you had to have this wealth of like, instinctual knowledge to get green things to thrive under your care. But no. Most of us are getting instructions from someone at a nursery, a family member, a plant’s tag, or Google. You experiment and plant and learn.
To that end, I’ve been playing in dirt more–several hours one day last weekend, actually. I took my time planting some new things, mixing some organic soil in with the dirt in the yard, crumbling clay clumps, picking out rocks, being mindful of the many earthworms just living their lives. I was in the moment.
(A groundhog already came through and chomped that leafy coneflower plant down to nothing lol)
I realized I should be playing in the dirt more often, figuratively speaking. I mean, literally too. I so often rush from thing to thing and lose sight of the joy in what I’m doing. I wrote a book on mindfulness and yet I forget about the value of practicing it and the opportunities to practice it all the time. But sometimes a little thing, like spending a day putting plants in the ground, reminds me.
Here’s to all of us playing in the dirt more.
📘 my book things 📘
I'm staying busy this month with writing but also trying to use some of my morning writing time to do things like update my website (soon, I swear) or tending to emails to avoid writing burnout. Still, I have a few things going!
I just started an IP project this week that I'm excited about.
I'm drafting my adult cozy fantasynovel (3500 words) and trying this thing where I actually put in names as I write instead of using "TK" placeholders for everything. Future Amy, please appreciate this!
I’m collecting notes for revising my middle grade fantasy (thank you, beta readers!).
I’m very ready to focus on a thing I can’t announce yet.
Over at my dayjob, I recently spoke to the wonderful Sean Gunn (KIRK! GILMORE GIRLS!) and was totally chill about it. We discussed acting, Gilmore Girls, Guardians of the Galaxy, and cats. It was lovely.
📺 what I'm watching 📺
Geography of Bliss (Peacock)
Look, I didn’t know much about Rainn Wilson outside of The Office, which I don’t love (I know!) so I wasn’t sure about this. It’s based on the book of the same name by Eric Weiner. It’s about visiting various places, looking at their spot on the world happiness ranking, and talking to people who live there. Obviously it’s a documentary so it’s not spontaneous or anything BUT even given that, I was surprised by how profound the show was, triggering a positive existential crisis that I’m going to be working through for a while. It just… makes you think. A lot.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (theaters)
The MCU is kind of an endless machine that always leaves us on the precipice waiting for the next movie or saga or whatever. But Guardians 3 closes a chapter and 1) it’s nice to have an ending in the MCU and 2) it was really frakking good. This movie made me cry so much between the emotions and Rocket’s brutal backstory that it gave me a headache and I don’t know if or when I can watch it again, but it was a wonderful ending for these Guardians.
📚 what I'm reading 📚
Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy
Last month I talked about how my husband and I were rewilding our backyard and we’ve been continuing those efforts. This book focuses on native plants and how crucial they are to our ecosystems and how easy it is to incorporate them into whatever space you have–maybe it’s a lawn or maybe it’s a few pots on a balcony. Tallamy’s work is accessible and actionable and I am fully on the native plant train.
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
I adore a witchy romance and there’s been no shortage of them on shelves these last few years. This one takes place in the magical town of Thistle Grove and our protagonist, Emmy, has come home to fulfill a family duty but has to reckon with her past, her family's legacy, a competition, and an attraction to one of the most talented witches in town. It's a book that calls the protagonist out for her mistakes, which I always appreciate, and has a delightful amount of magic.
🐳 something whalesome 🐳
I like wholesome things and the whale emoji is cute so: whalesome!
I really like the concept of combining fandom with learning, so I think Momentus is pretty rad. Maybe I'll see you in this Signs of Pride class next month?
🍃 creativity corner 🍃
Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.
I recently picked up Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum. Yes, I’ve published several non-fiction IP books (Star Wars, etc) but those aren’t the same as pubbing your own material for many reasons, including that all my work so far has been work for hire, meaning I was paid a flat fee (no royalties or anything). So, I’m curious about what it’s like to publish your own books. I bug my agent with questions too, but this book was very helpful and very practical and realistic.
If you like Creativity Corner, good news! I’m spinning it off into its own newsletter SOON and you can subscribe now.
📃 quote of the month 📃
“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
I finished my reread of The Hobbit and there are so many pieces of this story I carry with me, like this line about how everything is always changing.
If you feel so inclined to drop by Ko-fi, I have signed bookplates and also a mail option in my shop.
Comment or reply to let me know how you’re doing, what you’re reading and watching, or anything at all. I hope you’re thriving.
Hi Amy. I've been out in the garden too a little bit after coming back from my holiday. A bit of a family crisis has stopped me from watching much but in some downtime I've been reading a George Lucus biography, and that's been very inspiring to hear how he started and how he changed the world. I want to give beta reading your book dedicated time so once things have settled a bit that will be my main computer focus. I'm excited to begin that journey!