Hello book friends! I’ll be donating my May royalties for Principles of (E)motion to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. (Go to Nami.org to learn more about the important work this national, grassroots organization does.) If you haven’t already bought a copy, now’s a good time! If you have, grab gift for a friend or request it at your local library. My favorite outlets are Bluebird & Co. (where you can order a signed, personalized copy) and Bookshop.org, but it’s available at all the places you normally buy books.
I did a lot of thinking about mental illness/health as I was writing Principles of (E)motion. My father (born 1931) coped with severe anxiety in an era when there was tremendous stigma and terrible options for medication. Things have gotten a lot better. I’ve struggled with some pretty serious bouts of anxiety and depression, but with therapy, a supportive family and good meds, I’ve weathered it. But even now, there is still stigma and silence around mental illness. I wanted to do so many things with this book, and one was to write a character that lives with mental illness, but isn’t defined by it.
Doctor Meg Brightwood—the protagonist—has suffered from debilitating anxiety and panic attacks her whole life. Isaac Wells, the ‘love interest,’ has a history of childhood trauma and abuse. Their relationship isn’t easy. But the one thing they know how to do—and this is absolutely key for anyone, let alone those of us who deal with mental health issues—is love each other exactly as they are, right here, right now. Not after you get your shit together, or after you get “better,” or because you perform some work of genius (Meg), or because you stay out of the fucking way (Isaac). But because they are human beings, worthy of love and belonging as they are.
I thought a lot about what it means to be “strong.” My siblings and I have talked over the years about whether our father “did the best he could” to manage his anxiety. It’s a complicated question. But I do believe that a person’s strength is relative to the burdens they carry. And some of the heaviest burdens are those we carry in our hearts and minds. Meg doesn’t think of herself as strong, but Isaac sees how much struggle and resilience it takes just for her to exist in the world. And she sees the same in him.
It was really important for me to get the mental health part right in this book. I dug deep into my own experiences and those of people I know and love. I listened. I felt my way in. And I’ve had incredibly touching conversations with readers who said they saw themselves in these characters. That it felt real.
And most important of all, I wanted to write a story where the woman with a mental illness doesn’t have to get “fixed.” Again—worthy of love and belonging as she is. Maybe instead of trying to conform to a world where she doesn’t fit, she’ll create a world where she does.
If you buy from a major retailer or Amazon, I’ll be able to see the numbers. If you buy from an indie or request your library get a copy, let me know or post a photo and tag me so I can count it! I’d love it if you’d help me spread the word so I can write NAMI a big check on June 1.
“A panic-prone mathematician on the brink of a field-defining discovery falls for a second-chance romance in this thoughtful novel with traces of Lessons in Chemistry. In a genre too often dismissed as frothy, author Sara Read is game to tackle serious topics—mental health, legal troubles, family trauma, grief—while spinning a no-less warm and inviting tale of unlikely love.” —Elle Magazine, on Principles of (E)motion
TSNOTYAW Podcast Interview!
While I was in Finland last month, I had the pleasure of chatting with Bianca Marais on the popular writing podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. This show is a big deal in the writerly world! Bianca was lovely, and we had an interesting talk about process and how writing is rewriting. The episode will air May 9 wherever you listen to podcasts.
What I’m Reading: The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin
Yes, I’m kind of a tarot nerd. I don’t think of it as occult or divinatory or anything. It’s more a way to bring order to my supremely cluttered thinking. When I have that vague feeling like something’s wrong and it’s nagging at me, but I can’t pin it down (hello, low-level anxiety), doing a tarot reading gives me a change to put things in neat boxes and see how they go together. It’s a kind of guided meditation if you will. Crispin’s book approaches tarot from the point of view of creative work. She brings in examples of creative people from history. And she demonstrates that she knows the creative process from the inside out.
From the Craft Bookshelf
If you are a writer, you might enjoy my other Substack, Creative Work (Is Real Work). Approximately weekly opinion, commiseration, tools, tips, links of interest, and community.
I hope you enjoy my newsletter. It will come about once a month. I'd love to hear any questions or thoughts about what you want to hear about in the future. Thanks for reading!
Unsubscribe at any time. Though I'll be sorry to see you go, I get it.
.