On the road

A Spotify playlist for Duet for One!

Reader, I launched it.

Since May 6, I have been in a whirlwind of travel, excitement, emotion, good weepies, amazement, and yes, exhaustion. In short, I’m verklempt. DUET FOR ONE got born, and I’ve loved meeting readers in Washington DC, New York, Wayne PA, Boston and Wellesley.

Signing at Wellesley Books.

There aren’t words to describe talking about characters who have lived only in your head for 20 years. When they begin making their way among readers they spark fascinating conversations.

I’d love to come to your book group, either in person or on zoom.

At Wellesley Books, I was in conversation with Joan Wickersham about her stunning book NO SHIP SETS OUT TO BE A SHIPWRECK. Although we’d never met, we’d read each other’s books. We had plenty to talk about! Wickersham uses the Vasa, a Swedish warship that sunk right after its launch in 1628, as a jumping off point to explore different kinds of loss. There’s plenty of hubris surrounding the boat’s sinking as well. If loss and hubris seem very 2025—that’s what’s great about books. Although written in one context, a truly good book will resonate no matter what the time period in which it’s read.

Music holds loss as well, and is a way to access emotional truths that are too difficult to express in words. The big news this week is DUET FOR ONE’s very own Spotify playlist! You can now listen to every piece in the book. I’d love for readers to hear this glorious canon, so I hope you’ll check it out.

Speaking of listening, next weekend in Berkeley we’re putting on a reading and concert with pieces that come directly from DUET FOR ONE. This program is extremely dear to me, as I’ve been working with a beloved college friend and exquisite pianist, Gwendolyn Mok, to create the program with musicians in the Bay Area. Please join as at 3 PM at the Hillside Club on Sunday June 8.

May I renew my request to consider reviewing DUET on Amazon and Goodreads? This helps enormously, but to be perfectly crass, that’s true only if you are comfortable giving it a high rating. This numbers game kills me, as books are not a fungible commodity. But there you have it.

Republic of Cruelty

I am not alone in drowning in the firehouse of badness and insanity coming from Darth Vader.

Here’s something to help stanch the assaults on workers and unions. The AFL-CIO has set up an enormous network of of lawyers from around the country to provide legal defense for workers. Check it out here—Workers Legal Defense. If you are a lawyer who can volunteer your time, or are in between jobs, please consider volunteering. If you are not a lawyer or cannot volunteer please donate here.

On June 14, protests are being organized around the country for “No Kings Day,” to let Darth Vader know how we feel about his deranged military “birthday” parade. Indivisible has resources, as do other organizations. Please show up, the more of us, the better.

Let’s not despair, together we are more than the sum of our parts.

Love,

Martha

P.S. ICYMI, here is last week’s Substack/newsletter, “Zeal.”