The Write Stuff

Boldly going where most writers have gone before

Issue 13/52

“Is this seat taken?” I mouth/whisper the question to a blonde girl on a bench. The other end of it is the only empty seat in the bookstore.

“No,” she mouths back, waving me in with her hand as the publishing workshop continues at the front of the store. I slide in, silent and surveying.

I’m an hour late, and I hear the last of the question and answer session with this editorial assistant from Penguin Random House who is talking at us on Zoom from her bedroom in Manhattan. It’s Saturday morning and I wish I’d had time to stop for a second cup of coffee. Even as I listen to things I already knew from a college course on publishing, I am mostly here in search of community, and I scour the room for vibes. I’ve dropped in on writing groups before, but none have ever included people who write what I write: timid romances and flowery nonfiction. Having close peers, both in terms of content and geographic location, is a dream of mine.