Back to school!

Well, it’s that time of year again. I’ve been back in the classroom for a week (thankfully just half days for the students), and my body is adjusting! I’m excited about my schedule this year, and things are going pretty well so far—though currently my productivity might be heightened by a hypomanic episode, which I’ve got to keep tabs on.

Meanwhile, my last poem for Knee Brace Press was published in August, check it out! (Also, an update on the last one: it turns out I have a herniated disk in my neck that is affecting nerves in my back on one side. I have a date set for a nerve numbing in a month which makes me nervous but it should help.)

On the Patreon, I’m continuing with Lucy Dacus’s first album and “Green Eyes, Red Face” and “Strange Torpedo.” (Free to read after paid members see it first!) September will be busy, but I’m hoping to get out some mini book reviews to paid members of the great coming of age books (and others) I read recently, so join if you haven’t.

I want to take a moment to plug the Patreon and Ko-Fi overall, as it was a tough summer and I am getting married in February, so gifts are appreciated!!

I finished up a class on literacy foundations for my Master’s in Special Education, and while I knew some of the basics because I did a reading license addition in undergrad, it was rather eye-opening and I’ve got some new strategies to try with my 8th graders this year. It was also my last 3 credits before hitting 15 grad credits, so I get to move up my union’s salary guide!

One last thing: my fiancée Taylor Tracy’s sophomore novel, Pasta Girls, a neurodiverse Romeo and Juliet remix about the daughters of rival Italian restaurants during The Feast of San Gennaro, comes out TOMORROW!! More info here. (And yes you can also order form the ‘Zon if you have to.)

Book recs!

I read some great books recently—and if you want more details, they’ll be going up on the Patreon this month!

• A Sharp Endless Need by Marisa Crane (adult)

• The Wicker King by K. Ancrum (YA)

• Spent by Alison Bechdel (adult graphic novel)

• Don’t Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne (YA)

• Pasta Girls by Taylor Tracy (MG)

• Leaving the Station by Jake Maia Arlow (YA)

• Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat (picture book)

Currently, I am reading The Husbands and still need to work my way through the audiobook of Hanif Abdurraqib’s There’s Always This Year…I’ve been really slacking on the audiobook listening this year…

Until next time,

Olivia

This newsletter is free. If you would like to support me further, you can visit my  Patreon and Ko-Fi.