Last night I joined the Lemonade Book Club to visit about The Same Moon, play some koto music and rediscover my long-forgotten love of Boursin cheese.
->-> Quick time out for this amazing recipe — we practically inhaled it:
mushrooms
Boursin cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash mushrooms and remove stems. Replace stem with a chunk of cheese. Place cheese side up on baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until Boursin begins to brown. Enjoy! (Thanks, chef Melissa Tomlinson!) <-<-
It was a JOY to be with a book club in person and, on top of that, to be hanging out with the group I was a member of more than twenty years ago! It’s the latest of many moments in which life has come full circle with our move back from Washington state.
As we visited about my story, I talked about how I’ve always felt that Japan rescued me from a rough first run at adulthood. Then, when the conversation turned to the writing process, I shared that I wrote much of the book during a particularly hard time of life — when I was struggling as a new parent. On the weekends, my husband, Jon, would tell me (in the kindest way possible) to get out of the house and write. So I did, and I think it saved me.
And that’s the moment when one of the Lemons observed, “Interesting. You say Japan rescued you as a young adult, and then, later, writing your book about Japan rescued you.” (She probably said it more eloquently.)
I had never put that together before. The Same Moon is the story of a double rescue.
This is why I write AND why I encourage others to write. There’s something about putting our feelings and experiences into words and then looking at them in black and white that can be nothing short of healing.
And when we put those words out in the world, they sometimes come back to us in new and surprising ways.
If your book club is reading The Same Moon, please contact me to share a photo … or to schedule a visit! You can find discussion questions and photos of past book club gatherings — where else? — on my book group page.
Feeling the urge to get writing? Check out this take-anywhere writing prompt, which was recently described as “a breath of fresh air” by a university student.
Sarah Coomber 
Ooooo shivers. Perfectly profound. Love it!
Sent from my iPhone
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Aw, the shivers — yay! ❤
Have always envied people like you who get catharsis from writing. I myself just see it as work, no matter how interesting the project is. My joy from writing comes from having done the work, but even that is a tall ask. I don’t know why I write sometimes, lol. I just do.
That’s so cool that you’re part of a book club, and that they decided to talk about your book! I wish the same for myself, so we’ll see, eh? Anyway, thanks for sharing!
Stuart, your comments always make me think. Interesting that your joy comes from the *completion* of the work rather than the *doing* … if I’m hearing you correctly. I think I get that too, especially some days when writing feels like just a long slog. Lately I’ve been asking myself if it would be possible to quit writing. The answer? I can’t. But some days, despite the catharsis, I wish I could …
Wishing you all the best in your writing! If you were to embark on a book … what would it be about?