Once More Unto the Breach (also, a book release!)

Hey Internet,

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I had a whole month to recenter and to get my head on straight prior to the insane crush of the start of the school year. I took the time to get lost in the woods, to check in with myself, to check on my friends, to build healthy habits.

Well, the start of the school year is here, and with it, many, many things to fill my time. I’d say too many, but any of you who have been around here awhile know that “too much” is sort of my M.O. when it comes to school. So, what am I going to be up to?

I started a Master’s program in History this week. I’m so excited to be on campus and learning in person again—I’ve missed real interaction, especially in the context of education. Nervous, too, but my whole department is vaccinated and the grad students as a whole seem to be pretty responsible about masking. And at the end of the day, I think I have to make myself okay with things like meeting people for coffee or a drink again. Making new friends in the era of vaccinated-but-still-worried-about-Delta is hard, but necessary. I will say, I’m beyond thrilled to be back in a classroom, challenging myself, being challenged by people who know more than I do. I hate being the smartest person in the room, and here, I’m not. I get to learn every day from people who know more than I do, while simultaneously becoming more confident in my own skills and knowledge. It’s glorious.

I also started a new job—a grad assistantship, actually. I get to do research on behalf of the largest public history institution in the US. I get to look for and uncover stories that people aren’t talking about—stories that prove multicultural interaction, stories that talk about women and indigenous people and LGBTQIA+ people—anything I can find the evidence for. And then, if I’ve done my job right, it gets put into an exhibition created by leaders in my field (who I’m lucky enough to call my direct supervisors). I genuinely can’t believe I got this position. I’m already trying to figure out a way to do this full-time one day, when this MA program is over. It’s everything I love about each of the things I majored in as an undergrad, and it’s really everything I love about history and historiography. It’s truly my happy place and I’m just So. Excited.

And yes, as those of you who follow my social media know, I have published a book. All the Way Home came out at midnight last night, under my pen name, Gemma Tate. It’s a sports romance—more of a rom com than anything, really. In a lot of ways, it’s the kind of book I spent my summer craving– it’s sweet and snappy and full of witty banter and Southern small-town charm. I like to think of it as a story about finding dreams again, and learning to have faith in oneself. It’s the story I needed, coming out of a year riddled with setbacks—COVID, virtual school, blocked research opportunities, cut funding, writer’s block, cancelled trips, the end of my diving career, rejection letters. Writing it was a reminder that the path we’re on might not be leading where we think it is—and that’s okay. Dreams can change, people can change, and happy endings really do happen.

Feel free to access it here, or see the rest of my books and where to purchase them here.

In other news, I made a TikTok account for my pen name, Gemma (I’m gemma.tate.author on both TikTok and Instagram, if any of you are inclined to give me a follow). Weirdly, the process of doing so has reminded me to do two things:

Romanticize life a little bit. It’s 100% okay to take the time and make something aesthetically pleasing and set it to a whimsical acoustic soundtrack. It’s okay to make meals look Instagram-perfect, or to pretend that life is a happy montage set to Studio Ghibli music. Obviously, life isn’t always perfect, and obviously montages skip past some of the hard work. But for me, romanticizing the everyday and taking the extra moment to make it feel perfect genuinely makes me appreciate the little things—like pouring my tea, watering my plants, running on a dew-dappled trail at dawn, eating a cinnamon roll, doing my homework. Does this make me a cliché? Yes, absolutely. And you know what? I might be basic and predictable, but it makes me happy, and that’s all the defense I need.It’s okay to be a complete dork. I’ve never been particularly comfortable with myself on video—I’m the kind of person who will pose for a photo ten times to pick the best shot, who cringes when watching a self-tape play back. But apparently my alter-ego-pen-name-self likes to let loose a little bit and dance on camera, makes funny faces, and doesn’t care quite as much about appearances. Maybe it’s the relative anonymity? For whatever reason it works, and I think I could learn a lot from her.

So there you have it—my Wednesday Writer Updates, or whatever I’m calling these now. I dunno, y’all—I’m feeling pretty darn excited about life these days. I hope you guys are feeling some of the same.

Sending good vibes to all, and signing off here. Happy Wednesday, everyone.