Let’s tinker in the guts of books! Welcome to Part 1 of a series called Gears & Ghosts, in which I cozy up with a stack of novels and figure out how they work, like a curious mechanic poking around various well designed haunted house rides. If you’re wondering why anyone would want to do this, …
Cover of “Across the Universe,” by John Lennon Vocals: June • Guitar: Rob • Chirping: local crickets I used to share music here regularly—just humble home recordings alongside little reflective essays—and I don’t know why I stopped. Pandemic, I guess? (77 weeks as a working-from-home mama? Revising my novel before sunrise, lesson planning at night?Chaotic mélange of …
tl;dr for the Quite Busy: I’m the author of a coming-of-age novel, just released in June. I’m doing some class visits this year, virtual and in person. If you’re interested, email june.gervais.writer@gmail.com. Dear Teachers and Educators, Hi there, and happy here-comes-another-school-year. I’m June: a writer, occasional teacher, mom trying to raise good humans, and author …
“If I’m going to tell you the story of how I lost two people who were closer than blood to me, I have to begin here in Dennett, Texas, during the summer between the sophomore and junior years of my life. This story begins as it ends, with me, Cirilo Izquierdo, waiting for what all …
NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Never done it! Going to try it. For six weeks now, I’ve been creating these little meditations on how to return to center when we’re distressed, dispersed and distracted. Writing fiction is a centering practice for me. I start to feel weird and cranky when I’m not doing it. Which is …
In eleven days, an election. You know, just a little run-of-the-mill, things-have-been-pretty chill-up-in-here election. (In seriousness: If you wanted a quick primer on the specific things at stake in the midterms, I liked this handy 5-point summary from Vox.) By the way, this is #5 in a series called Center. I’m writing this for you if «•» the news …
What—another rough news week? (Gosh, I am shocked, shocked.) So it turns out we’ve got twelve years to get serious about climate change. In other words: My little boy just started pre-K, and by the time he reaches tenth grade, we need some serious environmental come-to-Jesus. Everybody registered to vote? ℘℘℘ On the subject of listening …
For you who are feeling distracted, drained off, distressed, dispersed. Tough news day, yes? (I’m writing this on Sept. 28, 2018—the day after the Senate testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh—but it feels like that could describe a lot of news days.) Tough news day. In which I found myself thinking, again: What can I …
Excerpts from my review of Alice Mattison’s new novel Conscience, just published in Consequence Magazine. Consider: A man sets his baby on the sidewalk, walks a short distance away, and sets himself on fire. Does the fact that he’s brought his child to his self-immolation prove he is out of his mind? Or is he …
“Tell me what you’ve been thinking about lately,” I said to my husband. (This is—a friend pointed out to me recently—a classic June question. I like to hear people’s deep thoughts: what they’re wrestling with, who and what they love, what they’ve always wanted to do with their lives. You’d be amazed how deep you …