Berkeley Cafe Reading Recap

My teams are winning. In more ways than one. The reading at the Berkeley Cafe was a success. Elisha and I drove from Durham to Raleigh together and talked about ways to support one another on the way. We both have things we're dealing with, and part of the balance in any relationship and in any piece of art is what people want and how they can get to it. RAPTURE READY involves a young man trying to reunite his family. Surprises are in store for him when he eventually does—he gets what he wants, but like all of us, he doesn't necessarily get it in the way he expected. That's a lesson I learned from life, having written my first novel in 2015 and begun the querying process in 2016. It's been a journey where I've had to celebrate little victories and take the life lessons and experiences as just as valid as the end goals like publishing a novel and landing a coveted creative writing teaching position. I want those little victories to add up to the kind of thing that will allow me to take care of people. And I've done things in the meantime to try and fill the gap, including taking a job bartending and applying for fellowships. I signed a contract for one of those fellowships this week—thanks Durham Cultural and Public Arts Program! But along the way, I've had to ask myself about and answer for the way that art can be consuming—the way it can absorb your time, attention, and energy with no guarantees or timeline for when you'll see a return.

I'm thankful for the people that have supported me along the way. I'm thankful for their patience and the fact that they've put a value on my art and on me as a person when they could choose to value other things or people. The reading at the Berkeley Cafe showed me that I'm growing. My fellow reader and supporter Katy Munger said as much. It also showed me that the community I'm a part of is growing too. We went from reading in Wilson, primarily to each other, to packing out a bar—even when there was a Carolina Hurricanes game going on at the same time with a watch party at the stadium just down the street. The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup this year, and Arsenal won the Champions League. How lucky can a guy get? Both teams experienced long droughts and close calls. After my first book died on sub, I know the feeling. But it seems like something is changing. Something is in the water.

I was nervous about this reading, like I sometimes am, because it included themes that run counter to some of the religious teachings I grew up with. I didn't really invite anybody or post about this reading. I kind of just wanted to see what would happen if I got up and read the segment from the middle of RAPTURE READY. People listened and complimented me afterward. Even more surprising, some people who were at our last reading in Wilson (which I didn't post about here) remembered details from the opening of the novel and connected the dots between that part and the part I read. That was almost a year ago. And they still remembered the characters and circumstances—the way it all fit together. If that isn't affirmation that this manuscript has promise, I don't know what is.

Thanks, Rob, for the invitation to read at this new iteration of our series. Thanks, Dr. John Kessel, for your kind and encouraging words about the future of this manuscript. Thanks to everyone that came out and everyone that's ever had a reason to be impatient with me or my work but has decided to give me time and trust anyway. It means a lot, and hopefully you'll see why soon.