Believing it

Dear Friends,
I’m here with NEWS!! In a downright dazzling turn of events, after so many years of mornings spent quietly writing in my pajamas, something extraordinary is happening: 

A BOOK! My first book. My first book!

My debut book is a charmingly yellow, rascally collection of mixed prose poetry and flash narrative nonfiction called marmalade, that has just been released (June, 2023) by Spuyten Duyvil Press (“SPY-tin DYE-vuhl”, Dutch for in spite of the Devil!) in New York.

Can you believe it? 
I can’t believe it!

Can you believe it? 
I don’t know WHAT to believe anymore!

I’m all fizzy and ruffled and have rainbows coming out of my ears. And those good eggs at the press let me design the cover, to boot – and I love it so much it makes my fingers tingle. Believing.

marmalade  is filled to bursting with portals to the heart’s far-flung places where I call things crocodile-petaled or winterpink or like fish asleep in a long blue nap, and say things like my imagination is a museum and i am the curator!  Or, becoming means blooming because it happens in a loop. You’ll find all manner of weird snaps and happenings within its enchanted pages: dandelion-eyes, swishing cinnamon feathers, a wish that tunnels out with a teaspoon, a strawberry heart with a spring, and even, on one occasion, an x-rayed ribcage with a cricket inside.

You’ll also find a variety of:
USEFUL INSTRUCTIONS: “save your whinnying, your whine, shine, and whimper. let it wing a whistle like a flushed song. . .”
PLUCKY DEMANDS:  “don’t pretend to be a flower if you are a flower.”
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: “is this yours?”
THRILLING EPIPHANIES:  “with all these berries, i may never have to eat an apple again!”
GENTLE SUGGESTIONS:  “sip new pennies flicker-winking in a fishpond of wishes you’ve nipped from stars. . .”
HELPFUL DISCOVERIES: “numbers may be useful: 100, for instance. diems to carpe, men to seduce, all-time slices of cake captured. . .”
UNCALLED-FOR ACCUSATIONS:  “you and your vigorous reimagining!”
and lots of VERY PECULIAR ADVICE: “all you need is that bright seed at the center from which everything spins.”

Do you want it? Will you read it? I mean, who knows what else you might find in there!

marmalade is now available to order directly from the press, and will soon be available to order through Phoenix Books or your other local independent bookstore. Please feel welcome to check out what a few of my favorite people are already saying about it.  Or even visit with some of my other work while you wait!

Sending all the yellow petals and light of my heart in every direction to everyone at once.
xo, ali