Chchchchanges
an invitation to think together
Hey friends! Paid subscribers!
Let’s think together.
When I started this substack I offered you a glimpse behind the curtain as I worked through the final edits of the book. Things that had been taken out or left in and my thought process around those things. I’m now reflecting on the chapters themselves. July will be chapter 8, building relationship. August will be chapter 9, solidarity. And then September will just be a reflection on that whole process and looking ahead to what it means to talk about a book that in some ways already feels like somebody I used to be.
So what’s next?
I’ll keep writing the weekly essays about books that I’m reading and while I appreciate that your support allows me to do that I’m also cognizant that you should get some additional content.
So what would you like me to write about? These will be monthly essays because in the midst of (what I hope will be) book launch chaos I can’t promise any more than that.
Do you want to ask questions as you read the book and have essays that respond to those questions?
I don’t know. I’ve had meetings all day and as much as I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve spent time with I’m a little brained out at the moment and will probably go watch Thor for the rest of the afternoon. I could write essays for you about that. Revisit XFiles and Supernatural or why Thor: Ragnarok is the decolonial movie we didn’t know we needed.
Have a think and post your ideas in the comments.
Have great weekend and do be kind to yourself.
patty
I don’t subscribe for extra content. I do it as a way of respecting the words you write. I love your posts about what you’re reading.
As an author, I’m also really feeling the weight of asking you to talk about a book that’s already someone you used to be :). I like the words from who you are now, the tangle and insight and discomfort that happen on the edge of becoming.
You don’t owe me anything. Become. Share as you want to. Your words matter.
On another topic, since you brought up Thor: Have you watched Ms. Marvel?
While my wife isn't a superhero fan (she has no idea why I like scifi/fantasy, and my complicated relationship with Doctor Who), she looked over my shoulder and started asking questions. Her parents are Bengali - from West Bengal, the part that remained part of India after Partition, with East Bengal becoming East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. My in-laws, who live just across the street from us, survived partition.
No spoilers if you haven't watched, but there is more non-Western history/culture there than I expected in a Marvel production.
I have my personal opinion about Dharmic and Abrahamic cultures, and the over-prominence of other Abrahamic cultural references within European/Christian media (like in Canada/USA), but this was better than I expected.