It’s just under a month until my book comes out, and I’m looking forward to my launch event at a remote resort with no internet or cell service, with four of my good friends whom I’ve never met in person before. We’ve been in a Slack group together for years. I’ve met one of the women back in 2013, but none of the others. It’s going to be a great time (if I can get my head around food for six people!), and I’m excited about it.
I thought I’d share profiles of my guests here, as they’re accomplished writers in their own right that you should really check out.
Antonia lives in Whitefish, Montana, and has written A Walking Life: Reclaiming Our Health and Our Freedom One Step at a Time. “Through our feet, we are reminded that the planet is a whole thing, and that we are animals evolved to traverse it with a sure step and elongated spine,” she writes. Antonia is also a contributor to various anthologies and other outlets.
She’s now writing a book entitled No Trespassing: How the Ancient Struggle for Ownership, Private Property, and the Rights of the Commons Will Shape Our Future, and writes about the commons and walking in articles and essays. If this sounds up your alley, subscribe to her Substack newsletter here.
I imagine we’ll talk about her Russian family history and work-in-progress book when we meet.
Kim lives near Kingston, Ontario in a net-zero house, and is the writer for a team of museum designers. She writes the tags that describe specific objects in a museum, and the text that summarizes museum sections. She started out as a nature writer, then took a museum job on the side. She’s been doing it ever since. This gives her a wide range of topics to learn and word usage to parse. She’s done a range of exhibits in both science centres and arts museums, and has learned the fine art of writing with respect for all people. Kim has a lot of insight into inclusivity, something we all need to be aware of, and will certainly talk about during our visit.
Melissa lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, and is a reporter for KNAU radio, an NPR affiliate. She has written three books: Under Desert Skies on the history of the Lunar Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona; Mythical River, which combines historical references to a nonexistent river with her own observations about water and the west; and Brave the Wild River, the story of two woman botanists who rafted the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon to collect botanical specimens from the region. Brave the Wild River has won numerous awards and accolades, and both the book and Melissa’s presentations continue to be in high demand since it’s publication in 2023. Melissa has also written essays and poems for various outlets. I hope we get to brainstorm ideas for her next book during our visit.
Erin lives in southern Ontario, and is a full-time writer. Her work has appeared in a range of outlets. Her first book, Unrooted: On Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science, came out in 2024 to wide acclaim. In it, she tells the story of her academic journey through the last throes of the dying science of botany. She shares the historical practice of botany by women, and the men who pushed those women aside once they decided botany should be professionalized. She also explores how difficult it can be to be a mother in science, and how she decided to become a science writer instead of an academic scientist. She’s working on her next book about plants, which I hope we’ll talk about at our get together!
Joining us in spirit if not in person is Kim Rogers. She lives in Hawai’i, but will be in Edinburgh when we have our party. She’s done a lot of conservation work with albatrosses, Hawaiian monk seals, and other sea creatures. She writes in a variety of genres and structures, from essays to flash pieces, both nonfiction and fiction. She’s also a world traveller, and constantly amazes me with her many forays off the Hawaiian Islands (I don’t travel very much). I’d hoped to have some conversations about her latest book project and the joys of writing flash fiction and nonfiction—maybe next time (there has to be a next time, this is such a great group!).
I’m really looking forward to my book launch with all these incredible friends who have made the time and effort to travel to BC to join me in celebration of my first book. Here’s to good friends and happy times.
I’m so sorry I won’t be with you and our team of intrepid writing women for your book launch, but, yes, I’ll be with you in spirit and cheering your accomplishment. You’re such an inspiration, Sarah. xo
Thanks Kim!
What an amazing group of friends!
I know, right?!
Wish I could meet your friends, Sarah, but maybe by reading their books I’ll get to know them.
They’re fabulous. So thoughtful. Kind of like your neighbours.