Introduction from Amy
I can’t tell you how many authors, at some point in their writing journey, message me because they’re worried about revealing too many personal details—whether it’s about themselves or someone else, they’re nervous about being too honest, too vulnerable. Sometimes it’s a memoir author and they’re divulging details about their family. Understandably, they don’t want to hurt anyone, they don’t want to tell “secrets” that aren’t theirs to tell. They also don’t want defamation lawsuits. Other times it’s the general worry of oversharing and having it last forever, in print. We’re so used to ephemeral content that we’re intimidated by permanence.
I was working on a book that has sensitive details about people involved, so I asked a prolific non-fiction writer how she deals with it. She told me that it just takes time getting used to, and that if you want to be an author you have to make peace with upsetting people from time to time. She always gives the people in her books a heads up that they’ll be making an appearance, she often shares the material with them ahead of time (though does not accept suggested revisions), and she will do her best to mask their identity if the writing reflects them in an unfavorable light. Once, her neighbor disagreed with the way she was portrayed so she stopped speaking to the author. Call it a casualty of a good book.
Because, really, who wants to read a safe book? A safe book isn’t a good book.
Jenna Matecki, the author of Parea’s first book, The Hours Before Dusk, dug deep into journal pages from the early days of school, into her most vulnerable memories that she hadn’t shared publicly. She put her heart on 300-something pages for the world to see. Below, she shares how it felt, and how it feels now when someone asks her what her book is about. Hopefully this gives you the encouragement to be brave, get uncomfortable, push the boundaries of what feels normal. If you do, you’ll find a whole bunch of readers who love and appreciate you for it, as Jenna has.
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Written by Jenna Matecki
it’s a little obvious but…
“What’s your book about?”
“How long did it take you to write this?”
“What was your favorite city?”
No one ever tells you how hard it is to talk about your own work.
Every time I answer questions like this I feel myself hiding underneath the words that I say.
“Um, it’s about ‘life,’ I guess?!”
“It depends on when you start counting -- the first journal I ever wrote, the poems I wrote for Postcards from Jenna, or when I started compiling all the pieces for the book?”
“Um… I guess if Tokyo and Barcelona, as cities, created their own kid-city?”
The other day, a few hours into a conversation, I likened the process of writing The Hours Before Dusk to, well… something like this:
“Look, it’s like taking a little butter knife and slicing off pieces of your soul, gluing those pieces to pages, and then showing them to EVERYONE and saying ‘HEY THIS IS SO MUCH OF ME, INTIMATE DETAILS ABOUT HOW I SEE THE WORLD, SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND PRECIOUS AND MEANINGFUL MEMORIES FROM MY LIFE!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!”
How intense.
I guess you could say that I feel really exposed these days.
But simultaneously, I feel so, so seen.
Some of the reader quotes on Goodreads have me reeling:
“Matecki’s written work is like being stuck in a reverie, both lyrical and reminiscent. A perfect book to read in your 20s” - Phoebe
“I felt younger when I read this, more alive, idealistic again. Or in a different way. Time travel.” - Rick
“She doesn’t overly romanticize the people or the places, she just turns them into parts of her art. This collection is so inspired and full of life and I loved it so much.” - Dylan
You must know that every time I hear or read the reviews I self-combust a little. Get a little teary.
So when you ask me about the book, my answer is honestly going to not be the full picture.
Because, like I wrote in the afterword:
“Thank you for inviting me to hang out in your precious mind.”
At a certain point, I’ll never be able to fully describe what the book is about.
Because what matters is what the book is about, for you.
Love,
Jenna