I remember thinking I would send out a newsletter once a quarter to update anyone who was interested in what I’ve been doing. That totally didn’t happen lol. But I wanted to send out at least one more this year in the hopes that, most importantly, it might inspire you to write back and let me know what you’ve been doing too! And, I think next year I’ll begin experimenting with more frequent updates. Maybe!
So! I basically didn’t spend more than a consecutive month in my own apartment this year, I think? Some of these trips were not so fun (family emergencies, the boring but stable consulting work that keeps most of my bills paid), but several were life changing.
The highlights:
In February I went to the San Miguel Writers’ Conference, more or less on a whim, because I figured it would be good to see what a writing conference might be like and this one was a $30 three hour bus ride from home. I ended up meeting some incredible people and getting a hell of a lot out of the workshops I took, particularly some workshops with crime writer Howard Shrier that gave me some actionable, concrete tools for structuring and plotting my own crime-adjacent novel and some sessions with Courtney Maum, whose no-nonsense deconstruction of the industry blew my mind. I am planning on being there again in 2026, why not, it’s so close to home!
In June I went to the Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara with a new creative friend, also more or less on a whim, and we had a blast. We saw some incredible films (Hot Milk was our joint #1), got to know each other better, and connected with so many other incredible talents in the Mexican film scene. I couldn’t make it to Morelia this year, but I hope to make it back to FICG and FICM in 2026.
I had a three-day turnaround after FICG to pack and get my butt to Portugal for Disquiet International at the end of June. I love Lisbon and it was a real treat to have a working excuse to spend more time with friends in the city, but I also had my ass kicked in the best way possible through the workshop itself. I’d never done a proper formal fiction workshop, and it’s definitely a gauntlet. I felt extremely lucky with the chemistry of our fiction group and the energy and care that Adam Levin brought to every conversation. And what a gift to spend two weeks in the sunshine, eating freshly grilled sardines, drinking vinho verde, and talking about literature with so many talented writers.
I went straight from Disquiet to a two-week stay at Joya in July. It was incredible to have time off the grid to digest and draft after the intensity of Disquiet. I think I drafted something like 25k words in those two weeks, a pace I have yet to reclaim! The space is beautiful, the people are amazing, I definitely recommend it if you want a proper natural retreat for your work.
I spent the last two weeks of September in Berlin to run my third marathon, my second time running Berlin. My pace was well below Harry Styles’, but it was as exhilarating as a marathon always is. Someday I’ll write an essay about how training for a marathon while having about a million other things going on in your life is actually good and can keep all the other things on track, I swear. After the race, I had some time to check out some literary events with friends, which came into play again later in the year....
October was another crazy turnaround, I had the amazing privilege to attend Turning Points in New Mexico at the end of the month, again getting more time with Courtney Maum’s always incisive advice. The retreat felt like a strange dream – every day surrounded by intense natural beauty, incredible local food, and some of the most intellectually and emotionally challenging conversations I’ve had about literature all year. As with all of the events and workshops I attended this year, the real gift was the new connections, new friends who I can see as part of my creative life for as long as I’m still truckin’.
November was a stressful month personally (I had a real wild mess of sorting out my permanent residency in Mexico, which could be a novel unto itself), but I had some exciting publication opportunities fall into place for some stories I am pretty proud of. My story “My Roommate, the Emperor” was published in VOLUME 0, and “I Jump for You” was snapped up by ARTWIFE. I’m extremely grateful to these editors for supporting my work. These two wins felt like a sweet shot of ginjinha at the end of the year.
And now I am rounding out the year, back in Berlin to do a two-month residency at Lagos. I am hustling to finish a passable first draft of my novel, incorporating all the feedback and guidance I’ve gotten this year, as well as all the new inspiration of this urban labyrinth (I’ve only gone the wrong way on the Ubahn twice). I’ve been running around to every open mic and reading I can find, and have found the local scene to be pretty fucking great. I got to read a creepy Christmas horror story at Funeral Sandwiches’ end of year event, and I’m looking forward to collaborating more with my new Berlin connections in January.
Holy hell, what a weird long year, and that wasn’t even the half of it. I’m grateful to have met so many wonderful people, and to have somehow managed to maintain a creative practice in a world that sometimes seems so hostile to anything gentle or funny or sincere. I hope you are well, and I want to know what you are doing, what you are feeling, how you are staying sane in these weird, heavy times!
<3
Martha