Hello to new subscribers and welcome all to another edition of This Week’s Miscellany. TWM is full of my favorite things from around the web, typically trending literary.
Travels are Over! Normalcy on the Horizon!
As I anticipated, I had to take a short break from this Substack while surviving the second half of July. It was indeed a whirlwind. How to begin in telling you about it (and avoid making this post far too long)? Let’s try it in quick takes:
ONE
The University of St. Thomas in Houston MFA program is amazing. I got to spend time with kindred spirits including long time internet friends like Dorian Speed!
I gave a lecture for the Summer Literary Series and taught a seminar for the MFA candidates. And I managed to sneak in some great Tex Mex (because Tallahassee, FL does NOT have it) over lunch with the lovely Katy Carl!
Top it all off with a quick book signing and an evening with dear friends and then I was off on a super early flight to NYC.
TWO
I navigated my way from the airport to Grand Central Station to Beacon, NY. The train ride along the Hudson River is lovely! And then I spent three days with the good folks of Plough Quarterly at the Bruderhof’s Fox Hill community for the Plough Writers Weekend. I think this event was designed in a lab to be everything I love most. It was a weekend of incredible conversations, fascinating people (publishers, writers, scholars, thinkers), and amazing food in a beautiful setting. I’m still unpacking all of the goodness and inspiration, but a highlight was definitely getting to personally deliver a Spark author’s forthcoming book to him!
This gem of a book by Alexi Sargeant is releasing September 18th!
THREE
I headed back on the train to meet my cousin, Tara, at Grand Central.
We dropped my bags at her place in Brooklyn and then she took me to fancy dinner and we went to see Camelot with Philippa Soo.
The next morning we were Very New York drinking coffee and having bagels in Prospect Park. I went to Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph which was glorious.
Then we went to the Strand to get lost in books and grabbed a snack at a little patisserie before I had to fly back home.
FOUR
After three days at home I was on my way to Minneapolis for the Chesterton Conference. It was a great experience, but the whole trip was worth it for the hour I got to spend with these treasures.
My talk was on the final day of the conference (hate it when it happens like that!) but while I waited (I always get anxious leading up to speaking events) I got to attend wonderful talks by Dale Alquist, Bishop Barron, Teresa Caldecott, Joseph Pearce, and Fr. Spencer Howe. I sneaked in a visit with lovely friends in Minneapolis before catching a super early flight home!
FIVE
My brain and body are still recovering from everything! But things have been busy on the home front, too. The girls have been planning a lemonade stand for weeks and our friends, the Souvas, made their dreams come true.
We also had a little family birthday party for Hildie’s 5th birthday!
SIX
Since this post is all about travel, I wanted to share that all the details are in place for next summer’s pilgrimage with Fr. Harrison Ayre to Belgium and Germany.
Registration will be available soon—I’ll let you know when it’s up and running!
SEVEN
I needed a July break from the Year of Jane Austen reflections, but we will be back in business very soon! Stay tuned this weekend for the details for Sense & Sensibility. Go ahead and grab a copy of the book or start listening to the audiobook.
What’s ahead for this Substack?
The classic This Week’s Miscellany of great reads from around the web will be back next week along with The Year of Jane book club posts. I’d also like to turn my talk at the Chesterton Conference into a Substack post (or two) so if you’re interested in thoughts on Chesterton and detective fiction, stay tuned.
And that’s all folks! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. This email is free to receive but time-intensive to produce, so a huge thanks to Schmidt for upgrading to a paid subscription. This is a reader-supported newsletter so if you value these emails, please consider supporting this Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription with the button below.
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Thanks for reading!
Haley
(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)
Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns
Hildie's unicorn cake is AMAZING!! Did you make that?!
SOfun!! That Cathedral is breathtaking and that whole day sounds like a dream! Would LOVE to see some posts on your Chesterton Conference talk!