Burning the blue candle
Updated: Mar 29, 2021
Today my first copies of Parallel arrived in the mail. It was a day I'd been anticipating for a long time. Since the manuscript was accepted in March, yes, but in a way, much longer than that. This is the work I co-wrote with my 15-year-old self via journal entries and recorded dreams, the culmination of a lot of thinking and feeling. I'm glad it arrived on Halloween. A spooky, unusual day.
The copies are handmade and hand-numbered. ANC values the book as a material object, and having that individual touch means a lot to me.
Atticus Review generously published a review of the collection by P.J. Dominiski yesterday, which you can read here. I'm extremely grateful for these kind words.
While writing these poems in the summer of last year, I burned a batch of blue tealight candles. Doing so helped me ritualize writing and set it apart from the rest of the day. I saved the last one, though--partially burnt--once I found out the manuscript had been accepted. I decided to hold onto it until the day the collection arrived on my doorstep as a gesture of gratitude and closure.
So, today, I'm burning the blue candle.
Happy Halloween! <3