I’ve been opening for David Sedaris on his tours for about five years now. Last fall, standing backstage with David in Poughkeepsie before the show started, he looked at me in the dim blue light and asked, “Do you like show business, Cindy?” He was grinning because
Holy cow, Cindy! I needed to hear this so much. I'm in this weird holding pattern where I've finished my first book, a upper middle grade novel based heavily on my childhood, and waiting for my agent to read it and send it out for publication. I've been thinking about my next project and this question, who do want to write for? What do I want to say? How deep do I want to go with my own essays? And a thousand other questions have been swirling in my head for weeks. I have about 15 essays written, most published in various national pubs, and ideas for about 30 more. Snippets from my life that meant something to me, hard dark stuff, parts of my life where I struggled with my worth as a woman because I didn't look like everyone else, other parts where I desperately wanted to belong and would do ANYTHING to be liked, accepted. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how reading your substack was what I needed to push me to think through my next steps. Sending a big hug! :)
Rebecca, you are always such a questioner and deep thinker. Even just on twitter, I have marveled at the way you process so intentionally. Good luck with all of your projects, which sound incredible. Thanks for stopping by.
I write for my friend Blaire because we do something similar with sharing and editing each others' work, and though I've never met him, I also write for David because he's always been a guiding light for my writing voice. Grateful to have been introduced to your work through him and glad you're here on Substack!
Holy cow, Cindy! I needed to hear this so much. I'm in this weird holding pattern where I've finished my first book, a upper middle grade novel based heavily on my childhood, and waiting for my agent to read it and send it out for publication. I've been thinking about my next project and this question, who do want to write for? What do I want to say? How deep do I want to go with my own essays? And a thousand other questions have been swirling in my head for weeks. I have about 15 essays written, most published in various national pubs, and ideas for about 30 more. Snippets from my life that meant something to me, hard dark stuff, parts of my life where I struggled with my worth as a woman because I didn't look like everyone else, other parts where I desperately wanted to belong and would do ANYTHING to be liked, accepted. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how reading your substack was what I needed to push me to think through my next steps. Sending a big hug! :)
Rebecca, you are always such a questioner and deep thinker. Even just on twitter, I have marveled at the way you process so intentionally. Good luck with all of your projects, which sound incredible. Thanks for stopping by.
That means a lot to me, Cindy! Thank you. :)
I write for my friend Blaire because we do something similar with sharing and editing each others' work, and though I've never met him, I also write for David because he's always been a guiding light for my writing voice. Grateful to have been introduced to your work through him and glad you're here on Substack!
Tyler, thank you for this. And he's a great person to write for. I'm so grateful you're here.
An utter delight, signed up for substack just for this! 🫶
Welcome... so glad you're here!
Welcome to Substack!
Love this.