There's a joke about Jamaican immigrants, that we generally have more than one job going at once, and it's a little bit true about me.
1) I'm still editing for the magazine. They even put me on the masthead recently, which makes me a little nervous, because I think that when magazines decide to cut staff, they go down the masthead deciding who stays and who goes. I wasn't on the masthead when they furloughed three quarters of the staff last summer, and I suspect that might be why they missed me. Or maybe not. I had started as a freelancer, working from home, and then they put me on staff just before Covid locked everything down, so maybe they thought I was useful, or maybe they wagered I'd be a willing workhorse. They say that in the absence of knowing a thing, always choose a more personally empowering interpretation. I don't always manage that.
2) I've been editing books for a wonderful agent. This woman is so very passionate about exquisite writing and socially conscious narratives, and I love her with my whole heart. Her parents were Holocaust survivors, and after the war they settled in a mostly Black, mostly poor neighborhood in Philly, and raised their children there. Her parents never learned how to read, or to speak English fluently, so she was their interpreter, their link to the world. This child of illiterate parents would grow up to become a book agent. In her youth she was part of the vibrant music and art scene in New York City's Greenwich Village. Later, as an agent, she would bring us the work of Audre Lorde, Jacqueline Woodson, Saeed Jones, Lemony Snicket and so many other critically important and beloved writers. She's brushed shoulders with the artistic greats, has stories that should be part of our literary history, and yet she has no desire to stand in the spotlight herself, and scoffs when I suggest she should write her life. I end up being so passionate myself about the work I do with her, though I do pick and choose the projects. Two of those projects, which consumed my summer, were submitted to publishing houses this week, so I am on tenterhooks, praying for editors to love these books as much as I do.
3) My cousin started a boutique publishing house to help people self-publish their books, and I am a silent partner. My cousin is a devout and lovely Christian (a real Christian, not like those hateful Trump evangelists), and will likely only publish books that have some socially redeeming message or wholesome purpose at their core. They don't have to be Christian books—we're currently shepherding a science-driven book for teens on pushing back against climate change, for example—but my cousin likely won't ever publish a Harry Potter-esque fantasy novel with witches and demons, no matter how brilliant. I work with her in the background. My name is nowhere on her website, because I don't want people to think I only do a certain kind of book. I want to be engaged by all kinds of writing, with many different sorts of messages. I do believe in God, but not in her born again way. The God I pray to is synonymous with Love, is Love, and I entertain the possibility of a wide range of spiritual laws, such as past lives and reincarnation, angels among us, a karmic universe, the validity of all belief systems rooted in kindness, anything really that is born of Love. Even so, I could not be closer to this cousin if she were my sister. We actually do call each other sister, as we are the only girls among our multitude of first cousins who do not have a sister by birth. She is a beautiful writer with gift for vivid scene-painting. She also has the kindest soul, doesn't proselytize, and has a wicked-fast sense of humor. We laugh a lot. And we help each other how we can. We just published my niece's delightful children's book, The Land of Look Behind. It went live on Amazon this week!
Come to think of it, the joke about Jamaicans applies to my cousin and my niece, too! My cousin is a government lawyer, and has a nonprofit summer program to help Native American kids from her husband's reservation in Montana, get into college and get through it. And my niece is a dentist, but now she has written a children's book with her childhood friend, who is a doctor. And she already has another children's book in mind, and texted me last week that she's going to put "Children's Book Author" on her LinkedIn profile! Ha!
4) Last, but definitely not least, the memoir—this is my main work, the book I have been contracted to write for someone with a platform, who is too busy to write her own story. I'm in the flow of it once more, finally being consistent in my engagement with the narrative. My goal is to write 1,000 words each day. I achieved that on only three days this week, as magazine stories needing to be edited were flowing to my computer in a rather continuous stream. And so Saturday and Sunday will be writing days for me, as I have a book contract to honor. I am the daughter of a lawyer, which means that in my understanding, a contract is inviolate.
All this to say, sorry I've been a little scarce in these parts. I've missed you.
I'm pretty sure almost all immigrants hustle. I work with a lot of Phillipino people and I have never met a lazy Phillipino person and they always send remittances home. It must be difficult.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up my dad always had at least two, sometimes three jobs. He didn't want his children to grow up in poverty like he did. He succeeded.
Sounds like you're busy and happy. I've ordered your neice's book. I have a friend whose daughter is always losing her things, she's only six, maybe it will help:)
Pixie, I do think you are right. Another cousin of mine is a political science professor who has done research on immigrants. She says not only does it take a certain kind of resolve to pick oneself up and move to an entirely new land, but once there, the immigrant needs to make a success of things in order to justify the uprooting. She says immigrants (obviously not just Jamaican ones) are a powerfully motivated group. Makes sense to me. And thank you sooooo much for ordering my niece's book! She will be thrilled!
DeleteI dreamed of you last night! It was an anxiety dream but it was a relief for you to be there. So I thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteLady- you do not rest on your laurels, do you? You just work hard and create more laurels! You amaze me. I love you so.
Ms. Moon, I love when we meet in dreams! It worries me that I often work because I don't know what else to do with myself.
DeleteOh Woman, you are just not busy enough are you? Jamaica me tired!
ReplyDeleteLinda Sue, Covid has gifted us all a lot of time at home. There are only so many distractions. I've begun to miss the world at large, even though, to be honest, there are still many days when I open my eyes and am secretly grateful that because of the pandemic, I can be forgiven for making no plans.
DeleteIt is lovely to get your update. Your niece's book has a unique and intriguing premise! When I read (4) I thought for a moment it was YOUR memoir, and my heart leaped for joy. Have you ever thought about doing one, if not now, eventually? You do have a drive to work, that's clear from anyone who reads here. I admire that greatly. Good luck with your various jobs, and, yes - choose the better interpretation when you can. Why not? We would do it for anyone else if they were in the same position, why not ourselves? (I know, easy to say, hard to do :))
ReplyDeletejenny_o, having written other people's memoirs, I no longer feel any particular drive to write my own. I feel rather boring to myself, though a memoir about extended family members does still intrigue me. There are so many stories within large families.
DeleteIt seems to me that the multiple task description is apt for many women, not just Jamaican ones. Or at least in my generation. My daughters and their friends are more likely to have a single, engrossing vocation. Which is to say that things have opened up for women somewhat since the 1960's. For some women. Um, better quit this before I get bitter.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the way you write here. Excellent and engaging.
Mary, I take your point fully to heart, it is indeed true that women through time have been obliged to multitask. I do hope our daughters will have more choices, though it's hard to know given the state of the world. A single engrossing vocation, in some way I have that, though I do it on more fronts that one, so perhaps I am a lucky one. I do feel I have been lucky in this life. I also avoid adding up the times when said luck didn't hold, and that helps haha.
DeleteBoth my daughters have made good in their vocations, in spite of chauvinist male piggishness. What I see you as having is an amazing skill that you can use to get at least some of the valuation you are due. My girls are white Canadians and so have had a much easier path than you and yours. But none of us has reached this shelf of life unscathed.
DeleteWhat a lot of involvement and hard but wonderful work. Remember to take a breath now and then.
ReplyDeleteSabine, it is hard work, I mostly love it when I'm done. As for breath, the pandemic has given me leave to take many deep breaths, as I am in a part of the country that takes it seriously. Life has slowed down a lot. Some days, I like that. Some days, I climb the walls.
DeleteI should really get this book for my 39 year old son as he is still always loosing things. Mabye I'll do it by getting it for his son or daughter.
ReplyDeleteKristin, I think your son's children, and maybe your son too! would enjoy the book. It's a simple story about a strategy that is somehow quite effective.
DeleteI want to read every book you've described here. I want to read the poetry. I am taken aback by the amount of work you get done, all the deep editorial reading. I feel like I've accomplished something if I get a blog post up once or twice a week, and maybe go for a nice long walk. You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleterobin, thank you for that kindness, but you know, if I lived in a place where nature frolicked all day as it does where you are, I would probably spend more time exploring it too.
DeleteYou do have a prodigious output of work. That was a beautifully written post. The words and thoughts just flow.
ReplyDeleteAlison, thank you; writing on the blog is a kind of freedom, as I don't have to please anyone here. I think of it as a chance to check in with my friends, as well as to set down a record of sorts. It's also good practice, a habit that helps banish writer's block in my work.
DeleteYour cousin sounds like the kind of lady I'd love to know. I am a born again kind of Christian. :D
ReplyDeleteLL Cool Joe, you would love my cousin. Everyone loves her, they can't help it. She is such a pure soul. As are you, I feel. Thank you for appreciating her.
DeleteDid you ever watch the TV show "In Living Color" back in the early '90s? They did a (possibly recurring?) skit about a West Indian family and everyone had multiple jobs. I loved that show at the time, but I wonder how the humor would play these days! Anyway, I think it's amazing how you keep yourself organized with all that exciting stuff going on. :)
ReplyDeleteSteve, bingo! That's exactly where the joke originated, and Jamaicans took it to heart, made it a point of pride, and spun further jokes from that original characterization. I was going to link a skit from In Living Color to explain the source of the joke, but didn't go searching for it in the end. I too wonder how their comedy would play now.
DeleteCongratulations and why is it you fear not having enough work??? Catch your breath now and then!
ReplyDeletee, thank you! It's the angst of the freelancer! You never know when, where, of from whom the next job will appear. I have been lucky, and I don't take it for granted.
DeleteWriting is clearly one of the joys in your life and so many benefit from what you write and edit. Suddenly I see your life as a writer as a beautiful dance, turning this way and that with grace, caught up in the challenging intricacies of editing and writing while being fully engaged with your family and friends near and far. I've asked our public library to purchase a copy of The Land of Look Behind and look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteI do believe, as it says on the cover of your niece's book, that anything lost can be found.
am, writing is a joy for me in the sense that it helps keep me sane. I know many people think that is overstatement, but it is really not. Even so, it is a hard job, especially when you are trying to capture the voice and meet desires of other people. It might be why I write about writing so much here, to process the stress and uncertainty, to stay sane.
DeleteEnjoyed listening to the interview with your cousin that I found on the website for the publishing house:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wgts919.com/sites/default/files/breakawaypodcastkarenwalkingeagle.mp3
am, how wonderful that you listened. She is a special soul, my cousin. And thank you for having your library order my niece's book! I am so grateful for your kindness and support.
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