“I was born in a hatbox on a train in the past, when there were dining cars and menus and bud vases and chaperones and dandies. I was born as sweet as that and if I am too sweet for your tastes then just clamp your mouth shut and spin on your heels. I can’t add sourness to my sap just to fit onto a menu in a restaurant for wimps.” - Jenny Slate
Our film premiered at Sundance this week. Octavia Spencer gave me a high five. Ira Glass and I had a conversation. I had my photo taken by the LA Times. Is this real life?
Today I got my copy of Issue 134 of The New Quarterly. It also happens to be the home for my first-ever published short story! Holding it in my hands, I felt like I was able to see it (just for a moment) as a reader, not as the writer. Which was both brilliant and terrifying. Even my name looked different to me. It was a really special moment, one I'm sure I'll carry with me forever.
If you're interested, you can grab a copy of the issue from your fave [indie] bookstore, your library or you can even read it online.
It's a weird thing to be building an online presence for yourself. It's like an extended opportunity to make a good (or extra bad) first impression. And because I'm a bit of a perfectionist (on the Friends spectrum, I'm about as 'Monica' as they come) I've bumped up against the usual barrage of self-critiques when making the tiniest of decisions. Is this pink too pink? Am I unconsciously infantilizing myself? Is that picture too showy or not showy enough? Is this bio wholly representative of the very essence of me? Am I trying too hard? Or trying to not try too hard, too much?
I'd say it's a lot like a first date, but I don't really know how those go because all my first dates tended to roll right over into second dates (breakfast) and third dates (lunch), and then relationships, and marriage proposals and Viking River Cruises. You know how it goes.
Rather, I imagine this is the way rich girls feel picking out a dress for their cotillion balls, only with more PNG resizing and looking up if 'ubertalented' needs a hyphen, and less crying because your wild-card Dad got laid out by a business client, and now the whole fucking evening is ruined. YES I WATCHED THE O.C. WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT?
In truth, I'm staking a claim on this little piece of virtual earth because I want a home-base, where I can get excited about stuff, share work with people who may be interested, and be opinionated in a way that's more respected (Insider's Tip: people accept more sass from you if you have your own URL, because then you are a professional, who by giving Squarespace money, now has an inalienable right to manufacture cheekiness.)
You can expect those kinds of insights and oh-so-much-more if you come on this journey with me. I'm even saving you a seat.
Yours,
Shannon