Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 2

trial and error

I’m still struggling to finish my projects but I did make some progress on my puppet this weekend. She probably won’t get clothes till the summer if I keep working at this pace! She’s not done and she’s far from perfect but it’s still satisfying to keep plugging away until the raw materials start to resemble the vision in your mind. It helped that I’ve had a few days with no migraines and started physical therapy last week; my leg still hurts but hopefully it will start to improve over time. I’m walking less and reading more—lots of witchy novels about women reclaiming their power. Fitting for the times we live in…I’ll be gathering to celebrate Black women at the Chicago History Museum on May 21st; you can register for a free ticket here. Being in Las Vegas last weekend for the Henderson Reads Book Festival got me ready for warmer weather and that’s what’s heading our way here in Chicago. Today I learned that I didn’t get one of the two grants I applied for; will wait to hear about the second and then make plans for the summer. Gotta keep moving forward…

The Witch of the Woods read by the author

For Earth Day and any day! Find the full story on YouTube. (apologies for cropping some of the illustrations!)

 

March

My 2025 reset might need a reboot…I haven’t blogged in over a month and my writing projects have stalled. I discovered this book on my shelf while searching for something else and finally sat down to draw a wreath earlier today. I’m not doing NaPoWriMo for the first time in years, I haven’t finished my hand puppet and class ends Monday, The Map of Doors needs just two more chapters but I’ve let it gather dust, “The Night Butterfly” isn’t finished but I did work on it a bit this week and I went to NYC in early March to see the “Nordic Utopia” exhibit before it closed. I also went to Springfield to attend a friend’s award ceremony but mostly I’ve been home. A lot.

Mostly I’ve been reading loads of books and watching too much TV. I sent postcards of support to librarians fighting book bans in Utah. I had my annual mammogram and got a referral for physical therapy since my persistent leg pain might be an injury and not menopause musculoskeletal syndrome after all. I can’t see the specialist until July and going off the Pill has left me with more than a week of migraines. But mostly I’m okay. Just sort of stuck and realizing that this slow spring might make summer tricky. I have two gigs later this month and will be participating in the Bay Area Book Festival at the end of May but that leaves me with a lot of open squares on the calendar. I should be writing. I’ve ordered some books to help me finish the Amish novel; I find out in May if I got either (or neither) of the two grants I applied for to cover the cost of travel back to Central PA. Chani says June will be spectacular for my career and September will be even better—I can expect almost a full year of growth and recognition. But you have to “work with” the astrology and that means getting a lot more motivated than I have been recently.

A friend keeps asking how the chaos is affecting me and I keep saying, “Nothing’s changed.” I’m one of the lucky few who’s not directly impacted by the dismantling of the government and endless executive orders. Yet. Will I have trouble crossing the border when I go up to Toronto in May? Who knows…for now, I’m just grateful for my health, and my home, and what might be my last year as a full-time writer. Matthew Winner asked me to record a message of hope for The Children’s Book Podcast; you can find mine here. I’m definitely trying to follow my own advice!

February blahs

Mars has been retrograde for SO long but it’s finally stationing direct. I’m hoping that means the feeling of sluggishness that has slowed me down this month will soon dissipate. I wrote 10K words in a week and then went down to 5K and then barely wrote a word for the rest of the month. I’m chipping away at The Map of Doors now while listening to Samara Joy. Finished reading a long, rather tedious novel on Sunday and hope the next Murderbot novella will soon reach my local library. Stopped binging crime dramas for a while and then fell back into my old habits when the polar vortex descended again. The temperatures have risen dramatically this week so I’m trying to get outside more often; met up with some friends, went downtown to see Fat Ham and walked just a few blocks to tour the Black Creativity exhibit at MSI. I know what I need to do to manage my mental health but fall off the wagon sometimes. It’s always hard to transition from winter to spring, giving up the security of bulky coats and clunky boots. I’ve been invited to a friend’s award ceremony next month so suddenly had to think about dresses and pumps and purses I don’t have or rarely use. It’s good to step outside your comfort zone but I often need a nudge.

With all the chaos in the world today, it’s tempting to seek comfort in favorite foods and activities (like watching foreign films about kid witches) but I often worry about becoming too comfortable…am I growing? evolving? or am I stuck? That’s the title of a book I heard about on NPR recently. Apparently one in four Americans used to move *every* year but now we’re down to 1 in 13 because the cost of housing (and moving) is just too expensive. My NYC friend asked where I was heading after Chicago and I honestly don’t know. Watched a couple YouTube videos on renting in D.C. and was dismayed to find the prices mirror those in New York. $3K a month for a tiny one-bedroom apartment? No way. Cities have more opportunities, especially for single professionals, but few people can afford the most popular urban centers these days. I *really* don’t want to get a car but that would make more places possible. If I sell my condo here in Hyde Park once the Obama Center opens next year, I’ll probably never be able to afford this neighborhood again. So I need to be sure that I’m ready to let go and move on…

Trying to stay present for the time being. Less screen time, more writing! When I finish this dragon tale, I want to work on my Dublin novel. But that would require me to write in the style of Phillis Wheatley…neoclassical verse…ugh. Definitely outside of my comfort zone!

Author responds to backlash by publishing new children’s book

WKRN covers the publication of my picture book Chicken…Wonders Why? Watch the full report here.

“moonscape”

On Saturday I had a chance to speak with Sarah J. Donovan, editor of the open access anthology Just YA. One of my poems was included and after reading it aloud, I explained my motivation for writing “moonscape.” I don’t know how anyone could look at the devastation in Gaza and think of the moon, but when a reporter called the war zone a “moonscape,” that poem took shape in my mind. You can find the poem and this interview over at EthicalELA.com.

 

The Map of Doors

Yesterday I watched an odd Welsh series about a boy who accesses his ancestral magic by knowing how to cast spells in his indigenous language…an hour later I was hammering out the outline for Book 7 and by the end of the day, I’d written over 3000 words! I think deactivating my Facebook account was a good idea and I’m no longer surrendering my whole day to half a dozen streaming platforms (canceled or paused Netflix, Britbox, Apple+, and Prime, which leaves Acorn and Hulu). Is it too late to reclaim our brains? My friend in Toronto sent me an article about the reverse trend towards “old-fashioned” flip-out phones because people are realizing that smartphones are interfering with the way we want (and used) to live our lives. AI is the worst, I think—last night on the news there was a report about AI “hallucinating” and making up phrases (including racial terms) when used to transcribe medical notes. MS Word now offers an AI icon on every document that you can’t get rid of, though you can stop them from scraping your content by changing your privacy settings. Things seem bleak…why do so many people NOT want to use their minds to generate original ideas? A principal recently shared that a 5th grader asked why he should learn to write an essay when the computer can do it. If our society is structured around productivity and saving time, then of course it will be hard to impress upon students the value of creativity and originality—because those things take time and can’t always be monetized…

As a writer, I enjoy solitude but I see how social media creates the illusion of community; for this introvert, it’s helpful but not necessarily healthy. Getting involved in the community where I live takes more effort but I’m going to try. I’m sticking with Instagram for now but will try to just post events there and blog here more often. I finished this puzzle last weekend and decided to try a 3-month subscription to Completing the Puzzle. My first puzzle should arrive this week and hopefully I can pace myself instead of standing at the dining room table for hours on end until my knees and neck ache…once I’m done, I return it in the same bag and they send me another puzzle. Seems environmentally sound and a good way to save money since most puzzles cost $30 or more and you’ll likely only complete it once before storing it away.

Am I in denial about what Trump is doing to our country? No. Writing and puzzling can be forms of escape but mostly I’m trying to keep my mind sharp. Now is not the time to get lulled into complacency…

peace at last?

I woke up this morning to an email letting me know my latest collection of poetry is now available (it’s on Amazon and should be on Bookshop soon). Later in the day, news broke of a ceasefire deal in the Middle East. News reports this evening show Israel is still bombing Gaza but there were also scenes of people celebrating in the streets. I want to feel hopeful. There’s a lot of work ahead but if we could, at the very least, have peace for a few weeks…the healing process could begin.

I won’t say I’m proud of this slim volume; editing it certainly revealed to me my limitations as a poet. I used to say I only wrote poems when I was angry and I spent a lot of the past two years in a state of rage. But I now know that it’s possible to reach a point where you can’t even find words for your fury. The title of this collection is one of many poems I choked on…

I’m not sure how much poetry I’ll write in 2025. I have a couple of gigs this weekend, including an author panel on Sunday (register for the link here) but I also quit a couple of kid lit groups earlier this month. I’m hoping to turn back to writing for adults this year and submitted a grant application that would enable me to finish one of three unfinished novels. I’ve requested the foreign rights for Books 1-3 in the dragon series from Random House so it’s possible that those books will have a second life overseas. And it’s also possible that the publisher waited too long and missed the “middle grade moment” in foreign rights. Not going to worry about it now. I need more peace in my life, too.

 

Happy Holidays!

I just listened to my weekly horoscope and Chani encouraged us to use this week’s winter solstice to reflect upon the most humbling moment of the past year. Might need to journal about that because there were quite a few! But I put myself out there recently and applied for a long-shot opportunity instead of hemming and hawing over the very slim odds. Found out that I didn’t get the arts fellowship in Helsinki and soon it’ll be time to set a writing agenda for 2025. Not giving up on my Viking novel but will need to find another way forward. My friends from Toronto visited Hyde Park last week; I baked while they were here (gingerbread bundt cake, left) so I could send them home with treats and now there isn’t much left to do…send a few holiday cards, figure out Xmas dinner. I got a new puzzle at a local museum so will give that some of my attention when I’m not writing. I feel lucky to end the year this way—coasting at last after a year that felt very uphill.

My latest newsletter went out yesterday; you can read it here. Not sure I’ll post again until 2025 so wishing everyone a peaceful holiday!

no pity parties on Thanksgiving!

Most of yesterday was great—I baked the cornbread, I met with yet another new doctor who seems on point, and I exceeded my step goal by walking home (and getting a little bit lost). But in the middle of the day, I had an unfortunate encounter with a gatekeeper in NYC that made me think for the hundredth time that there’s no future for me in the US publishing industry. Of course, I haven’t yet found another arena to operate in so that leaves me feeling stuck. But last night, instead of surrendering to self-pity, I started thinking about projects I could finish before the end of the year: my Danish fairy tale “The Night Butterfly,” the final dragon book The Map of Doors, and a new collection of poetry. Then I sat down and wrote for the first time in months! That energy has carried over to today and since it’s supposed to be quite cold here in Chicago, I’m looking forward to spending the weekend glued to my laptop.

I haven’t had a proper cold since before the pandemic but this one dragged out for two full weeks. I managed to do a few things at the start of each day—shopping or baking for the holidays. On one outing I picked up this puzzle and thoroughly enjoyed being screen-free for several hours. The situation in the Middle East has seemed hopeless for so long but there is now one peace deal and there may be another for Gaza. Peace on Earth might yet be possible…

Next week I have my last gig of the year. If you’re in or near Oak Brook, please join us at the Barnes & Noble for a conversation about banned books. December 3 is Giving Tuesday; like me, you’ve probably already been blitzed with requests for donations but if you grew up with a library in your school, I hope you’ll consider helping this school build a library filled with social justice-themed books. You can make a donation here.