Greetings, writers—
For a full decade of my life, whenever I blew out birthday candles, I wished for a horse. An Arabian or a Palomino if possible—but really, absolutely any horse would do. I knew what a ridiculous wish it was, but I made it anyway, again and again. I couldn’t erase all hope; plus it felt important to keep registering my deep and abiding desire with the universe. Maybe, someday, a horse would appear.
It will not surprise you to learn that a horse did not appear, and eventually I gave up on my dream of a Godolphin Arabian lookalike, and it was fine.
These days the great wish—the horse-level wish—has been to write another book that’s mine. And I make it over cakes like it’s something someone else can give me, when obviously it’s up to me and only me to make it come true.
Today is my actual birthday, and if there’s a cake tonight, I’ll stubbornly and stupidly make a version of that same wish. I can’t help myself. But I’ll also make a stronger commitment to getting back to work on The Book, which was going pretty well until I set it aside to begin my latest collaboration with James Patterson. There are enough hours in the day if one uses them well enough, aren’t there? Aren’t there?
If you’d like to help me celebrate my birthday, you can do so by sharing a little about the writing project you’re working on. (Or the one that you’re hoping to start working on. Or that you’re taking a break from working on. You get the idea.) Just let me know what you’re up to in the comments. I actively wish to hear about it!
In closing, in lieu of a writing prompt, I offer:
—A short, sweet video in which a master palindromist waxes poetic about his “26 faithful and steadfast collaborators” and discusses his 40-year love affair with reversibility.
—And this gorgeous 11-minute documentary about a Scottish shipyard welder who became a poet.
—And finally, somewhat randomly in that it has nothing to do with writing, here’s a story from Monday’s NYT that I just discovered: “An Eagle Who Adopted a Rock Becomes a Real Dad.” 🥲
Happy watching/reading/writing/being—
Emily
Happy belated birthday! (sorry I missed this prompt!) Hope it was delightful and included much cake and some John Waters' inspired flamingo balloons.
My current project is slogging through the final copyedit on Thorn City, and trying to get back to working on part two (Thornier City?).
And it's never too late to make your dreams come true. My pal Jessica takes her daughter here and says that it's lovely. https://www.megdunnetraining.com/contact-6
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, Emily! (And shoutout to a fellow Aries.) I was dogsitting, then traveling, then sick AF and totally neglected my writing habits for the past several weeks. (Excuses excuses, I know!) But I'm finally sitting down today to dig back in and it feels good. I went right to my inbox because I knew that I needed an "Emily prompt" to get me started. I'm still working on a detective novel/ghost story and my only goal today is to just get words on the page. Any words. The bar is low.
Thank you for all you do for us and best wishes on The Book! <3