The Endless Demands of Chickadees, Take Two

New newsletter platform! If you got this one twice this morning, forgive me. I'm learning! Hopefully this one works.

Same newsletter, new look

(I’m learning a new platform! If you got it twice, I’m asking for your patience.)

If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, this edition might look a little different! More on that at the end of this email. Meanwhile, if you add this email address, amystewart@substack.com, to your contacts, it might help it show up in your in-box.

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Apparently I opened a restaurant for chickadees

I did not intend for this to happen. All I did was put a few peanuts out on the balcony railing, hoping to get a closer look at the crows hanging out in my neighborhood. The crows did in fact come by and grab the peanuts, so the next day, I put out a few more.

This time, a couple of black-capped chickadees showed up. The peanuts were much too large for them to eat, but they gamely wedged them into their beaks and flew away with them.

Then they came right back. You can see where this is going.

I picked up a bag of sunflower seeds at Trader Joe’s, figuring the chickadees would have an easier time with those, and now I spend most of my time setting seeds out on the balcony railing for the chickadees’ lunch. (You might wonder why I don’t put out a birdfeeder. Below my balcony is the roof of my downstairs neighbor, and I don’t want to make a mess on his roof, which I’m part owner of, this being a condo.)

When I don’t put any seeds out, the chickadees come by to complain. LOUDLY. They ask to speak to the manager. They threaten to post a negative Yelp review.

It’s amazing how quickly a few birds will just run your life, if you let them.

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Here’s my favorite new thing to drink

I’m on a not-drinking kick lately as part of my endless quest to get a good night’s sleep. (Every woman over fifty is probably nodding her head in sympathy right about now.) But it’s nice to have something to drink at the end of the day, other than water.

So here it is! Trader Joe’s Tart Cherry Juice, over ice, with a splash of fizzy water, maybe a wedge of lime, and hell, maybe even a dash of bitters, is a fabulous end-of-the-day drink. It’s a little like cranberry juice, only better. (Tart cherries, by the way, are actually just sour cherries, but I guess they didn’t think they’d be able to sell Sour Cherry Juice, so they came up with a new name.)

If you don’t live near a Trader Joe’s, you can find this at most grocery stores. Just be sure it’s 100% cherry juice and not adulterated with cheap grape and apple juice. And although I am not going to peddle any sketchy health claims about this juice, you’re free to google it and make up your own mind.

And honestly, if you are a drinker, a little splash of vodka in this drink would not be a bad thing at all.

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Asked & answered: How true-to-life is a character’s personality in historical fiction?

Every month, I invite you to ask questions, and I pick a question to answer & send the winner the book of their choice. This month’s winner is Pam in Charlottesville, VA who asks:

I just finished reading Miss Kopp Investigates (loved it) and throughout the book, I wondered if the difficulties Francis and Bessie faced were historically accurate. Reading the notes at the end, it seems that their financial struggles were fictitious, but gave the reader a distinct impression of Francis. How close do you think the personalities you create for the Kopp family are to their true character-or how close do you aspire to be?

I don’t have much information about Francis & Bessie’s life beyond the basic biographical facts. The family has told me that Bessie was not exactly poor. But in a novel, it’s interesting to put pressure on your characters, and to see how they respond. Money problems can be powerfully motivating, so I thought that was something I could use to help explain the real-life decisions that the Kopps made.

As for Francis’ personality, he was the big brother. He was obviously a responsible family man who tried to do the right thing. In those days—back in the 1910s, when women couldn’t vote and rarely had jobs or money of their own, it would have been perfectly normal for him to assume responsibility for his unmarried sisters. It didn’t make him a bad guy, exactly, but he certainly would have driven his sisters crazy.

I also know that he was just barely too old to serve in WWI. From reading newspapers of the day, I think men who were sidelined were often frustrated and felt like they were missing out.

So these were all guesses, based on the general history of the time. What I try to do is to imagine what kind of real-life pressure a character might face, and then come up with a plausible way they might react to that. From there I feel like I can construct a fictional personality that feels somewhat believable. (I very much hope that they were wildly different—and far more interesting—than what I’ve imagined!)

Ask a question, win a book!

Ask me anything! Questions about writing, art, what I eat for lunch…it’s all fair game! And if you’ve asked a question before, ask it again! I love all your questions and hope to get to them eventually. If I pick your question to answer in the next newsletter, I’ll get in touch with you to ask for your address, and I’ll send you the book of your choice.

The format’s a little different this time. This is my first time to use this feature, but I’m pretty sure you can just click this button and post your question:

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Here’s a sketchbook tour of spring

I made a sketchbook of the flowers I saw on my morning walk. This one started in January and went through early May. I used a Moleskine Japanese Album, which is an accordion-style sketchbook (also called a concertina sketchbook) on smooth, sturdy paper that can handle light washes of watercolor or ink. This time I used a lot of colored pencil, mostly Derwent Inktense, which are water-soluble, and Caran d’Ache Luminance, which are not.

These are not crazy detailed botanical drawings. They’re quick sketches based on photos I took with my phone as I walked. A long accordion sketchbook like this proves what I think is an essential truth about sketchbooks: Any individual drawing or painting might not look like much, but the overall effect of the whole thing is always wonderful. When I look at this now, I can’t even really remember which ones I was unsatisfied with at the time. The overall impact of it is what matters, and an entire book of anyone’s scribbly little drawings is always interesting.

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I adored this class. Maybe you will, too.

I took a class with Inma Serrano a few years ago in Porto. I love her loose, crazy style and all the different inks, paints, pencils, and crayons she brings together in one drawing. She has a new online class on Domestika that breaks down all the techniques she uses to create an image like this one, above. It’s in Spanish with English subtitles, but don’t let that put you off—it’s fun to just flop down on the couch and watch it all the way through just to get hold of the ideas, and then watch it again with all your art supplies in front of you. These courses are almost always on sale, so if you don’t like the price, wait a week!

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Now for a little insider newsletter talk

For those of you who care about the writing and sending of newsletters…I decided earlier this year to move from Mailchimp to Substack, mostly because Mailchimp charges a rather high fee for a lot of features I don’t use, but also because Substack (which is free) has a few things going for it.

For starters, the people at Substack are actually interested in writers and newsletters, and they work pretty hard to help writers find readers. I’ve never really made an effort to find readers for this little newsletter—I’m actually quite happy just sending it out to whoever happens to stumble across it and subscribe. But it’s nice that Substack is trying to help their writers find an audience. Mailchimp certainly doesn’t.

Also, Substack allows you, the reader, to post comments and likes. I like the idea that we can chat back and forth, right here on the page. You should see buttons at the bottom of this email that allow you to comment, like, share, etc., and I hope you will! I love hearing from you and this seems like a nice feature.

Substack also allows for paid subscriptions. I don’t have any ideas for anything I could possibly do that you’d want to pay for. This is still just a free newsletter as always. But if there’s another writer on here whose work you admire, consider chipping in for a paid subscription! I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

So…the decision to bail out on Mailchimp meant that I had to work through lots of little technical issues, which I kept postponing, and that’s why you haven’t heard from me in a few months!

Also, one thing about switching to Substack is that most writers on here are actually writing about something. Politics or cooking or health care or something. I don’t really know how to make this newsletter about something. (feel free to post your comments on this question, I’m sort of curious what you might say, those of you who read this far.) I spent a month or so dithering over that problem before deciding that I couldn’t decide and it was time to just forge ahead.

Anyway, I’m back. Thanks for reading.

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The bit at the end (almost)

I teach a lot of art & writing classes online.

I’ve written a bunch of books, which you can see here. Signed copies of some of them are for sale from my husband’s shop, Downtown Brown Books.

Occasionally I have small paintings available for sale.

My books, along with many books I’ve recommended in this newsletter, are available at Bookshop, where sales benefit independent bookstores.

You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

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What are you reading?

If you’re an Anne Tyler fan, you probably don’t need me to tell you that there’s a new one, French Braid. You probably also don’t need me to tell you what it’s about, because all Anne Tyler novels are about the same thing: the quiet yearnings and modest dreams of ordinary people living in Baltimore, MD. People trying to make sense of the world and of each other, and never quite getting there. If you’ve never read an Anne Tyler novel, you could start here, or start with her first one, or start somewhere in the middle, it won’t matter. They’re all after the same idea, and they’re all wonderful.

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