The Open Books Flare, Corona Reading, Interviews and Podcasts, Things Breaking Down, Heat Waves with Goldfinch and Hummingbirds

A Long Week of Ups and Downs – Readings, Podcasts, Interviews, Heat Waves and Health Emergencies

It’s been a LONG week since I last checked in. Had my debut Seattle reading at Open Books (in record-breaking heat), my interview and podcast reading with Writers and Books in New York, which will eventually be available on YouTube, my mother went into the ER with heart issues the day before Mother’s Day, I broke a tooth and our washing machine broke and had to be replaced, and someone else ripped the screen door off of our front door. Plus a scary-hot heat wave with day after day in the high eighties and nineties, absolutely terrible for those of us with heat-sensitivity and MS, and a dental appointment (to fix the tooth) and a bunch of blood work.

Billie, Open Books’ owner, me, and Martha Silano

Open Books Flare, Corona Reading

I’ll start with my Saturday reading at Open Books in Pioneer Square, the first time I’ve read at the new location. It was a day of record-breaking heat (and no air conditioning), so I doubly appreciated the people that came out, and the store putting out several fans. I also packed a cooler with water bottles (and sparkling rose) and boxes of macarons—because people need sustenance during a book signing.

The reading itself went okay—you can see the whole thing here on my YouTube channel—did you know I had one? Minus Martha Silano’s excellent introduction. (Hey, you have to be there in person for some parts!)

And a single poem, “In the Second Year of the Plague, I Plant a Fig Tree” is in the embedded video below. This poem also appears in the current issue of American Poetry Review.

And here are some pics pre-reading, including the Open Books “Parlor” all decked out with flowers and sparkling wine. Any reading where I can walk out with new books and a borrowed recording of Sylvia Plath readings is a good reading in my book, and it was a really good venue, especially the “Parlor” for afterwards visiting.

Goldfinch in fountain

A Week of Podcasts and Interviews (and Things Breaking Down)

Monday was my reading and interview with BOA Editions Publisher Peter Conners at Writers & Books in New York, which will make the entire thing available on their YouTube channel shortly (I’ll post the link when it’s up). I also had a radio interview yesterday with the Hive for a Santa Cruz radio station, which will go up, believe it or not, in November.

And here is an interview that went up today on Review Tales by Jeryan Main: An Interview with Jeannine Hall Gailey – Review Tales (jeyranmain.com)

But Things Break Down…
During this time my mom had a trip to the ER with dizziness, and they thought they caught a rare kind of heart attack on the ECG. She saw a cardiologist yesterday and is getting a full workup, but suffice it to say I was very worried (and the timing ironic, with Mother’s Day—and she was just here, looking as healthy as possible). I subsequently broke a tooth, which I had repaired the morning of the Writers & Books podcast, I had blood work the day of our book club (where we discussed Kelly Link’s White Cat, Black Dog) and our washing machine broke—and a service person ripped our screen door off of the trim and hinges, so it was a weird time for stress, breaking things, and oh yes, a record-breaking heat wave. There was not a day last week that felt comfortable outside—stifling nineties and high eighties in a town with little air conditioning, few pools or public cooling areas, etc. The summer flowers burst into bloom almost to start immediately wilting. At least my little fig tree—yes, I really did plant one last year—is enjoying the heat. My MS symptoms are at a high point—so today is a resting day. Writing this post, I realize a lot went on in the last week!

My next reading isn’t until May 31 at the Lake Forest Location of Third Place Books, so hopefully I’ll be fully recovered by then!

It’s a reminder that with good things – like a book launch – come bad things – like family health emergencies, broken appliances, and broken teeth – and it is my goal to survive and thrive through the good and the bad. But I appreciate any good vibes (especially for my mom.)

Sending you all good vibes for a wonderful beginning of summer…I’ll leave you with a pic of my book in the Appalachian Mountains, near where I grew up in Tennessee, sent from blogger and writer Kristin Berkey-Abbott. And a few goldfinches and hummingbirds from my backyard.