Oslo

After traveling for a week, I desperately needed a day of silence so I didn’t go out today. Ordered a pizza, did some laundry, took out the recycling bin even though it’s full of my neighbor’s trash. Watched a silly plane crash murder mystery and then queried a couple more hosts; I’m casting a wider net because the places I liked in Toronto and Montreal haven’t worked out. I’d rather not live in someone’s basement but beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll miss this sunny seat beside the window here in Liverpool, but not the barking dogs or the crying baby next door. No place is perfect but I’ve enjoyed my time here and yesterday afternoon I joined a reading group at Calderstones Park. We read excerpts of Never Let Me Go, then went into the sunny garden and read some poetry. Very informal, and very nice.

Oslo was also sunny and warm—it’s a beautiful, walkable city. Seeing Margaret Busby at her book launch was definitely the highlight of my week, but I also did some Viking research and learned about a ship burial that contained only two women…I’m sure I can work that into my story somehow! I tacked on an extra day in Dublin and then arrived Thursday night and just wanted to go home. But I did a little online research before my laptop died and discovered a surprising article—I was working from an advertisement that offered a Black girl for sale in 1768 but then her enslaver’s descendant published an account proving she wasn’t sold after all! That changes my plot a little but not much. I went to the Dublin Central Library the next day and the staff there was amazing—they gave me a library card so I can access their databases from here, and that morning I managed to find the couple who trafficked the child into Ireland from South Carolina (much to the dismay of their Irish family). There wasn’t enough time to get up to Carrickmacross but I will try to get there before I leave for Toronto on May 17. On Thursday I head to Birmingham for one more walking tour and from there will do a day trip to see the Cotswolds. I need to organize my London trip and my author copies finally arrived so I have to find a way to share all these books—I did buy a little carry-on bag but there are just too many books to bring back. Greenlight Books in Brooklyn invited me to join their Juneteenth celebration on June 12th and I’ll see if there’s any interest in Toronto.

I’ve got two puzzles left to complete, and then I’ll donate all of them to the library here that does a weekly swap. If my landlady doesn’t want the clothes rack, cushions, and coasters I bought, I’ll need to take them to a charity shop. I offered my copy of Never Let Me Go to another workshop attendee yesterday and asked a professor in London if she’d like some of my picture books and YA novels. Time to purge! I bought a couple of spring shirts in Dublin but have been really good about not accumulating too much stuff. Found an interesting talk online by Pema Chodron—she thinks Alice in Wonderland is a good role model because of the way she handles “groundlessness.” It’s hard to fall with grace or faith when you don’t know when or where or how you’ll land. But I’m trying…