Everything is about me

An update feat: auto-fiction, meeting your heroes and I'm afraid to say, learning.

What the hell I’ve been up to:

Honestly, thanks so much for asking. I’m aware it’s been a while since my last newsletter. I’ve been deep into editing not one but two different projects, neither of which I’m allowed to talk about but will be revealed in the fullness of time. I have also been refreshing my emails (mindfully) and doing gym classes that leave me covered in bruises but with no energy left for staring blankly into the void or enjoying penning an existential journal entry while listening to old Lucy Dacus albums…

Or so you’d think! Obviously I’m joking, friends. I will always have time and energy to put into the screaming void.

I went to see one of my favourite authors and artists Alison Bechdel speak at Foyles last weekend. She is a bit of a hero of mine. I have always tried to get the balance right between sentimentally, humour and dare I say it, intellectualism (I dared) in my own writing but Bechdel seems to do it effortlessly. Her novels have made me laugh, cry, rendered me speechless.

Something she mentioned in passing really struck a chord and got me thinking about my own work - that every character from ‘Alison Bechdel’ to the most minor player in Dykes to Watch Out For is not made up, is not based on anyone even - they are all her.

Since then I have been reflecting on my current work as well as my previously published work and seeing it in a different light. Have I just been writing myself over and over? Am I the antagonist and the protagonist? Am I the person in the corner shop, the person asking for help, am I the chickens in the yard who make a break for it?

This is not yet a fully formed thought but I would love to hear from other writers. I always known that an inevitable amount of myself would be poured into my work, more probably that I will ever even realise but I wonder now, as I read my Work-In-Progress - have I just created Laura-land? (TM.)

source: @xoxoposhipgirl

What I’m enjoying:

• I have been reading Alison Bechdel’s new graphic novel Spent as well as re-reading her book The Secret to Superhuman Strength which among other things is about exercise, grief, addiction and transcendentalism. I highly recommend both.

• I am enjoying a break from long, intense runs every weekend. I had not realised how much those were taking their toll. Having said that, I am running the Transcend 10K in Hackney on July 20th. There’s loads of places and all for a fantastic cause so if you’re around and able, I highly recommend signing up.

• I went on a tour of Highgate Cemetery with my Dad which is obviously, a hugely Dad activity. I learned so much and I realised how long it had been since I’d taken the time to stop and learn something rather than simply walking past an exhibition or a building or a painting and saying ‘so nice!’ before moving on. I have resolved to make an effort to do more learning, to be more interested. Perhaps it would be nice to look outside of Laura-land every once in a while.

• I visited the Hackney Wick community sauna for the first time and witnessed the little flower pot hats everyone wears. I laughed but I know myself very well - one more visit and I will own seven flower pot hats and will be starting a new substack called you’re hot and you’re cold: a newsletter about the rise and fall of Katy Perry told through the lens of community saunas (TM.)

What I’ve been eating:

• Gelato. Specifically the Pistachio gelato from Badiani. Please for god’s sake get one.

  

Any other business?

• It is the first Pride month in a while that I don’t have a novel coming out so I guess I’d just better promote the ones I’ve already got? You should buy them maybe! Thanks!