My heart is full.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jahzerah Brooks to talk about my novel, The Eight Mile Suspended Carnival. We talked for hours. Jahzerah asked fabulous, insightful questions. She understood and articulated things about my novel that I hadn’t seen. She helped me understand what I had done (consciously and unconsciously) among those pages. Our conversation opened new vistas for me. Jahzerah is a brilliant, thoughtful reader and writer, and it was my great fortune to spend time with her.
And today when I read what she made of our conversation, I got teary. (The hybrid interview—part essay and part Q&A—was published at Craft Literary.) Writing this novel took me a long time, and so much of the work was done without any notice or attention. Sometimes I felt like a feral weed, reaching into one little shard of light in order to keep writing. It’s hard for me to put into words the gift Jahzerah has given me with her time, care, and gorgeous writing. I am so grateful.
Thank you, Jahzerah!
Rebecca Kuder 