June 19, 2023

A question I’ve started asking people when getting to know them is this: What do you do creatively?

I like the question for the broad scope it encompasses. So far, I’ve gotten answers about ways that might seem most obvious or common by sharing that they write, draw, knit, or do photography. I love finding out these kinds of things about others.

About a year and a half or so ago, I asked this question of one of the custodians I work with at my elementary school. He told me he was a cartoonist! A cartoonist who works at an elementary school. My eyes lit up. I asked if he had any of his work he could show me. Out came his phone and what fun to see this side of him! I told him students and staff would enjoy seeing his stuff and maybe he could post a couple on the door to the custodians’ office?

“You think so?”

I tried to not be aggressively encouraging, but still, I said, “Absolutely! The kids especially would love it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I haven’t thought about that. Maybe I will.”

But then he didn’t. Which, you know, was totally okay. Sharing your creations of any sort can be really hard! Vulnerability lives there. But we talked a lot about our creative outlets.

“Did you do some writing this weekend?” he’d ask.

“I did! It’s going well! What about you?” I’d reply.

“I spent some time doodling some ideas. I’ve been spending a little more time with it.”

At least one other time I mentioned showcasing his work. “Yeah, maybe I’ll put something up.”

About a month ago, I visited a classroom for some kind of tech repair/investigation and saw this on the whiteboard:

I was so happy. And naturally, I found out later that the kids, of course, loved coming in the morning to see what he might have created for them.

A couple of weeks ago he left this note on my desk:

As I finish packing up my office for the summer this week, I plan on leaving my whiteboard markers behind and maybe he’ll leave a creation for me to find next August.

QOTW: What do you do creatively? I’d love to know…and if you are willing to share an artifact, I’d love to showcase your creativity in my next newsletter. Alternatively, what is a fun creative side you’ve learned about someone? I’d love to hear that story, too!

Did you see the cover for my new book, yet? (I mean, if you were subscribed to my newsletter before now, obviously you did, but whatev.)

Pre-order details will be available super soon! If you follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or even Twitter, I’ll be posting there first, but I expect next month’s newsletter will also have the info.

In the meantime, I have two asks:

1. Are you someone who posts reviews in Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, or elsewhere? If so, perhaps you’d like to request an e-ARC of As Though You Were Mine? Let me know using this linked form.

2. Have you or anyone else listened to the audiobook of All I’m Asking? If you have–or know someone else who has–perhaps you can leave a one-line review/rating with Audible or wherever you listened to the ebook? I might not directly ask, only, it’s not just for me. The narrator for that book did an amazing job (especially with a potentially challenging format) and I would love for her to get the kudos!