Keplerians,
Have you noticed that our greetings feel more sincere and literal than before? How are you is no longer a platitude. It’s a question. And these days most people will await the answer. This deep care for one another is something I’ve not seen a whole lot of in America, although I notice it every time I visit sub-Saharan Africa. I do hope this genuine interest in each others’ wellness outlives our time of sequester.
I am surprisingly busy as I try to pivot from being an author-on-the-road to a creator-of-online-writerly-content. And it’s kind of cool that I can do it in my flannel PJs or workout gear. While my speaking engagements have fallen off a cliff, I’m ecstatic to announce that I have both a title and a publication date for my next book. (Which doesn’t mean I’ve finished writing it. AT ALL.) But it shall be published, so please do a little drumroll on whatever surface is near you as I announce the sequel to How to Raise an Adult, which will be called It’s Your Turn: The Real How-To on Adulting and will be out on April 6, 2021!!! In this book I stand shoulder to shoulder with young adults (18-30) who may be a little unsure about adulting or are downright struggling. I open up about the stuff I’ve been through as an adult, interview people about their own journeys, and offer advice. I hope it reads like “Yup, you’re right, it’s confusing and at times terrifying but it’s also amazing, and it’s your turn. So let’s go.” I hope you’re gonna like it (enough to buy it for your kid)! And as ever, I will turn to our amazing Kepler’s Books to help me launch it. Which assumes we’ll be out of this mess by this time next year! Oh please oh please oh please.
In the meantime, I want to share with you a gorgeous new poetry collection from National Book Award Winner Nikki Finney. It’s called Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry and I was fortunate enough to get an early copy from the publisher which I’m savoring as we speak. It’s her first collection since Head Off & Split (for which she won the NBA) and it’s a delicious collage format - Finney calls it a “performance” - which I think might invite you to be curious about some of the artifacts of your own existence.
Be well my neighbors and friends. Together + apart we shall prevail!
-Julie Lythcott-Haims
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