National Go Barefoot Day was celebrated on June 1. It holds two purposes:
To kick off (pun intended) the first summer month and warmer weather by going around sans shoes
To bring worldwide awareness that an estimated 300 million underprivileged children are forced to live barefoot because they don’t own a single pair of shoes*
🗺️ Write the places your feet have traveled
Visualize your life as a walking journey—where have your feet taken you, literally or metaphorically?
🌞 Remember a barefoot summer moment
Let a warm memory surface—can you feel the grass, the heat, the joy?
📝 Make a list of 5 things you like about going barefoot
Focus on the small joys—freedom, connection, sensory details, or even silliness.
🔍 Write what your (naked) bare feet expose about you. What makes you more vulnerable?
Bare feet can mean truth, exposure, and honesty. What do yours reveal?
⚖️ Write about the choice to go barefoot. What are the freedoms? What are the limitations?
Explore both the literal and metaphorical meaning—freedom vs. protection, vulnerability vs. boldness.
*Soles4Souls created National Go Barefoot Day after the 2004 Tsunami disaster. Visit the Soles4Souls organization for more information on how you can help bring shoes to children across the world.
Story Starter: Arnie the Doughnut Dog
Version 1.0.0
Friday, June 6 is National Donut Day. Laurie Keller took American’s love for doughnuts and wrote about it in her book Arnie the Doughnut. In the book, Arnie and Mr. Bing are both frustrated by a future that seems impossible—until they form an unexpected friendship that fulfills both of their dreams.
Read Arnie the Doughnut and begin writing your own story after the last sentence. What happens next to Arnie and Mr. Bing in “Arnie the Doughnut-Dog”?
Artificial intelligence is the buzzword of the moment. While we barely spoke of it five years ago, some now fear it’s on the verge of taking over our world. And yes, there are headlines that feed those fears—self-driving Teslas crashing into driveways, a young woman dating a chatbot boyfriend created through ChatGPT. It’s unsettling.
But if we think about AI as simply the newest form of technology, then history is simply repeating itself. Parents were convinced the introduction of the television into homes would destroy their children’s brains forever, turning them into mindless zombies. When computers became mainstream, access to the internet and frequent use of email became the concern d’jour. CNN wrote an article in 2005 claiming emails would damage our IQs “more than pot” (https://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/). Each of these innovations caused panic—and each eventually found a place in our lives. They didn’t destroy us, though they certainly changed the way we live.
Personally, I enjoy turning on my television and sending a quick email, and I’m not convinced either have made me less intelligent. Just last night I watched a hockey game with my family which was being played hundreds of miles away, and then we all watched the news at 11:00pm in order to track the storms in our area and to see if we were at risk for a tornado. This morning I communicated with someone through 6 different email messages, something that would have taken weeks via snail mail.
So here we are with AI—somewhere between excitement and unease. Don’t you think Henry Ford felt the same way when he sent his first Model T out on the roads?
Here’s my personal take on AI: it’s okay (even wonderful) if used as the equivalent of a calculator. But calculators are best used after you’ve learned how to do the math. They’re tools—efficient and useful—but not substitutes for understanding. The same should go for AI.
AI lives in a world of gray. All of us in the creative industry worry about how and when AI will produce creative projects that are our livelihood. Spines, a new company which promises to streamline the process for authors using AI to edit, format, design and distribute, is being met with much scrutiny. Writers and publishers are understandably skeptical, worried about quality, ethics, and the future of human-made stories. (Here’s a recent article that’s worth reading.)
And yet—true confession—I use AI as an author. Wait! Don’t sound the alarms. I use it as a tool, like that calculator I mentioned earlier. Let me explain.
Back in March, I went on a writing retreat, hoping to create a series of short stories based on a family who lives in a funeral home. I only had three days, and I wanted to crank out as much first-draft material as possible, so I made sure to do some brainstorming and outlining before I left. I knew I would need a number of names of old people who had died and were at the funeral home; I also knew that stopping to google while I wrote would be a recipe for disaster. Every good writer knows they are looking for a distraction, and too often we find ourselves falling down the rabbit hole of meaningless internet scrolling, all in the name of “research.” Knowing this danger that would possibly await me, I went to Chat GPT and asked it to give me a dozen “names traditionally associated with old people.” It spit out Harold and Hazel and Gladys and Eleanor and George and Henry and Frank and Francis among others. Boom. Done. During my writing time, when I needed to add in a new name of a deceased person, I went directly to my list, chose a name and continued typing. No time wasted.
After writing my stories, I had a fellow author friend inform me of another clever option from Chat GPT. I entered one of my short stories and asked it to find any plot errors or loopholes in my writing. To my surprise, it offered the perspective of a critical reader, informing me that I had written about someone breaking into the funeral home, but I did not write if there was a keypad or a traditional key and lock on the door. How would the individual break in? Did they find out the code? Did they have a copy of the key? Brilliance. Thanks to AI, I had feedback but still needed to do the revision work on my own.
AI is a slippery slope. We discussed at our family dinner table how AI is a great tool which gets abused in the hands of unethical or lazy people. But that’s true of many other things.
So here’s my final thought: let’s welcome AI, but cautiously. It’s just the new technology kid on the block. It will cause concern from those who fear it will take over the world, just as cars and radio and television and computers and the internet. And traditionalists will forever fight anything that is new and different in our world (I think they’re still solely sending out snail mail). But let’s use the most powerful tool we have–our brains–to critically examine it, to predict issues we might be facing, to avoid using it in place of our own creative work, and above all to hold ourselves to an ethical standard in which we only use it for the good and never for evil. And let’s keep doing the real work of creating, revising, and imagining ourselves.
I’ve finished my manuscript. I’ve had it read by a test audience and made significant revisions based on their feedback. I’ve launched a website, started a newsletter (hello!), and gathered nearly 300 subscribers. I just wrapped up my book proposal.
So… I should be all set to publish now, right?
Unfortunately, no. Traditional publication contracts are only made these days through a literary agent. And as of the writing of this newsletter, I do not have one. And in order to get one, I have to send out query letters—essentially, carefully crafted pitches that ask an agent to represent me and my novel..
There are over 1,000 literary agents in the United States, which might sound encouraging at first. But once I narrow the field to those who represent middle grade fiction (my novel’s category), the list shrinks dramatically. Many agents focus on adult fiction, and quite a few work with picture books. Middle grade and young adult literature often sit in the “forgotten middle”—another reason I feel so passionately about writing for this age group. This is one of the reasons I so passionately want to write for this age group, since I believe they should be offered quality literature which is neither below their reading level nor too adultish in their topics.
My number of potential agents is further reduced when I check the “accepting query letters” button. It turns out that many agents receive more query letters than they can handle, so they often close their own submission page to new applicants.
Of those still open, each has specific guidelines: some want queries emailed with no attachments, others prefer online submission forms; some request only a letter, while others want the first 5, 10, or even 50 pages of the manuscript included.
The query letter itself is fairly standard: a brief description of the novel (title, genre, word count), a one-paragraph plot summary (think back-cover blurb—teaser + summary), and a short author bio that includes credentials or relevant experience. This is also the moment to name-drop any noteworthy mentors, editors, or writing-related accomplishments.
The challenge, of course, is standing out. With dozens (if not hundreds) of submissions pouring in on a regular basis, how does one letter rise above the rest? What is the magical term, characteristic, plot detail, name that gets you noticed?
I don’t know yet. But I’m trying.
Since I had never sent out query letters before, I asked the internet how many queries a new author should send out. The consensus seemed to be that new authors should send around 30 query letters—enough to reach a diverse group of agents with a differing level of interest and amount of availability. However, more than 30 was noted as unnecessary. As one agent put it, if you’ve been denied by 30 agents, you might need to step back and reevaluate your project.
I recently finished sending my 30th query letter. Agents typically take anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks to respond—if they respond at all. Many say, “If you don’t hear from us, assume it’s a no.”
So now I wait.
Fingers crossed that one amongst the 30 notices my letter, finds something special in my synopsis, believes my novel to be a worthy publication.
If no agents accept me, I might send out a second round of query letters or I might consider taking the self-publication route. It’s quite common these days and is months faster than traditional publication.
But I’m not crossing that road yet.
For now, I’m holding out hope for one small “yes” in a sea of “no.”
I was traveling oversees with my family for two weeks during the month of June, which did not leave me much reading time. I’ll add what I read to my list next month, but for this newsletter, I’m giving you a highlight list of some of my favorite reads from a genre I created (I have yet to see it in a bookstore, although I would read every book in this section).
FAVORITE READS WITH QUIRKY NARRATORS
I love a good quirky narrator, and I find I’m drawn to one who is probably on the Autism spectrum. I love how they see the world in black-and-white and how they dissect everyday social behaviors as if it were a science experiment. My first book I remember reading in this genre was Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The plot was quite serious, but I was enamored with Christopher John Francis Boone and how we only read the story through his perspective.
Below are my top 4 favorite fiction novels and 1 nonfiction memoir with Quirky Narrators. As I mentioned in my introduction, this is not an official genre as far as I know, but I would love to see a turnstile or a small bookshelf with more of these stories. The world needs more quirky narrators.
1. The Rosie Project
Version 1.0.0
Author: Graeme Simsion
Length: 295 pages
Published: June 2014
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult
Summary
Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver. Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don’s Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.
Susan Green is like a cactus: you can’t get too close. She likes things perfectly ordered and predictable. No surprises. But suddenly confronted with the loss of her mother and the unexpected news that she is about to become a mother herself, Susan’s greatest fear is realized. She is losing control. Enter Rob, the dubious but well-meaning friend of her indolent brother. As Susan’s due date draws near and her dismantled world falls further into a tailspin, Susan finds an unlikely ally in Rob. She might have a chance at finding real love and learning to love herself, if only she can figure out how to let go.
Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live
Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.
Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.
One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.
Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than…. fine?
Unremarkable legal assistant Gary Thorn goes for a pint with his coworker Brendan, unaware his life is about to change. There, Gary meets a beautiful woman, but she leaves before he catches her name. All he has to remember her by is the title of the book she was reading: The Clementine Complex. And when Brendan goes missing, too, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Clementine to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to find some answers and hopefully, some love and excitement in this page-turning, witty, and oddly sweet story with a cast of unforgettable characters.
Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on. After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a “real” job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be “normal” and do what he simply couldn’t communicate. It wasn’t worth the paycheck.
It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself—and the world.
May is known for many things, but one that stands out in particular is Mother’s Day. While Hallmark has shaped it into a day of joy and celebration, for many, relationships with their mothers are more complicated. The day — and even the days surrounding it — can bring joy, grief, gratitude, longing, or confusion — sometimes all at once. Write using one (or more) of the following statements as your first sentence and see where your thoughts take you from there.
💗 Loving & Supportive
“She was my biggest cheerleader — even when I didn’t believe in myself.”
“Every recipe I cook has her voice in it.”
“I never doubted her love, even when we disagreed.”
💔 Grief & Loss
“Mother’s Day feels like a spotlight on what I’ve lost.”
“I still find myself reaching for the phone to call her.”
“Grief doesn’t always feel sad — sometimes it just feels empty.”
🌱 Complicated & Evolving
“We didn’t always understand each other, but I think we tried.”
“I’m still learning to forgive her… and myself.”
“Our relationship got better when I stopped expecting her to be someone she wasn’t.”
🌈 Chosen Mothers & Mentors
“She wasn’t my mom, but she showed up like one.”
“Love doesn’t require blood — she mothered me with her presence.”
“I found a mother in someone I never expected.”
🤷♀️ Strained or Distant
“It’s hard when people talk about their moms like best friends — I don’t relate.”
“We keep conversations surface-level because it’s safer that way.”
“Some years I skip Mother’s Day altogether.”
🌤️ Healing & Hopeful
“We’re both learning to do better, one conversation at a time.”
“I’m building the kind of mother-daughter relationship I wish I had — with my own child.”
“She tried in her own way — and I’m finally seeing that.“
Story Starter:
Countdown to the Unexpected
“With only ten days of school left, everyone in Mrs. Carter’s class was counting down — except me. Because I knew something was about to happen that would change everything before summer even started…”
