Berkeley already feels like a lifetime ago but it was a pretty magical weekend. My friend Laura found me a lovely backyard cottage in nearby Oakland and I spent a fair bit of time there recovering from the journey and then my introvert overload after two back-to-back panels on Saturday. Unfortunately, Covid reared its ugly head; I tested negative and brought home only great memories and the positive energy of being with my West Coast friends. We talk once a month but it’s rare for us to all be in the same place. Laura thinks I should move to California but it’s WAY too expensive and I need a walkable city…the gardens in Berkeley were gorgeous, I do love the architecture, and I’m proud of the protestors standing up for immigrants’ rights right now. Not sure where I’ll head after Chicago but I’m pretty sure the West Coast is out.

Travel can be disruptive and I’m looking forward to spending the summer at home. But on the plane to San Francisco I finally finished my fairytale about the paintings of Walter H. Williams! I closed the file when I got back to Chicago and was ready to move on when I realized I needed to add an author’s note. Then I finished the author’s note and closed that file, too, only to realize I needed to say more…so will open that file again once I finish my lesson plan for Saturday’s workshop: “Magic & Memory: Reframing Trauma in African American Historical Fiction/Fantasy.” We’re focusing on the NYC Draft Riots of 1863 but there are plenty of parallels in the news today. I heard the first Black mayor of Tulsa talking about his reparations package for Black residents and how important it was to stop calling the massacre a “riot.” Sports fans win or lose a championship and they riot, tearing down lampposts and turning over cars. But when a White mob lynches Black people and drops bombs on a thriving business district to preserve their supremacy—that’s something else. Most of the protestors in LA are peaceful but a handful of extremists prompts a heavy-handed response from the White House—but that didn’t happen when law enforcement was under attack on January 6. What’s happening in Northern Ireland is appalling, xenophobic, racist, and has nothing to do with “protecting” women and girls. Lately I keep hearing the voice of Ida B. Wells in my head—she was so right about overreach…groups seeking impunity create fictions that simply aren’t supported by the facts. “Nobody…believes the old threadbare lie…” Back then she was writing about the myth of the Black rapist but there are many ways to apply that logic today. Call someone a rapist or a terrorist or an insurrectionist—regardless of the truth—and it automatically puts them beyond the pale and strips them of their rights and humanity…

I have to believe this chaos is creating conditions for growth or rebirth or revolution. Wildfires in Canada are once again making the air hard to breathe here in the US. Walden Pond Books ordered copies of THE WITCH OF THE WOODS but they didn’t arrive in time for our panel on self-publishing so if you’re in the Bay Area, stop by to get a copy. Marcus Books, which is about to celebrate its 65th anniversary and is the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the country, had copies of THE ORACLE’S DOOR for our panel on MG fantasy. They asked me to sign the remaining copies so please, be sure to support them! I’m pretty sure you can order both books from both stores in person or online.