Jennifer Steil's Blog

Questions for author Zoe Zolbrod Name: Zoe Zolbrod Where you live: Evanston, IL Details of website and social media: zoezolbrod.com, @zoezolbrod Published works: Currency (novel, OV Books/Dzanc 2010) The Telling (memoir, Curbside Splendor 2016) I adore Zoe Zolbrod’s beautifully written memoir, The Telling, for so many reasons it is difficult to know where to start.... View Article

Don Bredes Wheelock, Vermont I met Don Bredes in his home state of Vermont, where he was kind enough to attend one of my first book events for The Ambassador’s Wife. Not only is he an accomplished and critically lauded author, he also has a keen social and political conscience. This informs much of his... View Article

A few months ago, I was idly scrolling through Twitter when I saw there was a contest to win a free copy of Tawnysha Greene’s new novel, A House Made of Stars. I didn’t know much about Tawnysha Greene, only that my brilliant friends, Jeni and Daniel Wallace of Burlesque Press, had decided to publish... View Article

New Mexico August 10 to August 16 I was sitting in the Albuquerque airport, frantically trying to catch up with email and my journal, when I looked up to find myself surrounded by women. Women of many ages and colors and sizes. Women lugging books and backpacks and laptops. Women looking excited, anxious, and travel-weary.... View Article

I met the brilliant and accomplished author Nicole Galland among the red cliffs of New Mexico, at a writing retreat held by the A Room of Her Own Foundation. Not only was she brimming with contagious energy, but she was also warm and approachable. I am honored to include her on the pages of my... View Article

I met the brilliant and accomplished author Nicole Galland among the red cliffs of New Mexico, at a writing retreat held by the A Room of Her Own Foundation. Not only was she brimming with contagious energy, but she was also warm and approachable. I am honored to include her on the pages of my... View Article

Saturday, August 8 New Orleans A wild euphoria overtakes me every time my plane lands in New Orleans. It’s not that I’m naïve. I know about the astronomic crime rate, the grinding poverty, the history of natural and man-made disasters. But despite it all, I always sense an electric thread of joy running through the... View Article

Nashville, August 8 None of us had ever been to Nashville, so we were pretty excited. Some of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met live in Nashville, so we were pretty excited to see them too. One of them, my lovely and brilliant friend Ruth, whom I met at a writing festival in... View Article

Things I have lost so far on book tour: A coffee mug given to me by a bookstore The ability to sleep past 5 a.m. My favorite black cardigan My second-favorite black cardigan Two feather pillows Five pounds One paperback book One package of organic cheddar cheese All bodily pain One package of organic string... View Article

I wrote captions for all of these photos, but they vanished when I posted them. So I’ll put them here. Photo One: is my friend Tobias with me at Politics & Prose bookstore. We met in Yemen! Photo Two: Theadora, Tim, and I go to the Spy Museum and learn how to keep secrets. Photo... View Article