How You Too Can Book-gie Down in Spite of Election Anxiety

Hello Beloved!

​It’s Election Eve and I’m about to get on a plane and fly from Boston back to San Francisco after an epic weekend of book launching. I’m usually a news junkie, especially during the election returns when I love nothing better than to steep myself in liberal jubilation or distress, but this time is different. I’m going to read Middlemarch and maybe watch a bad romcom and eat chocolate instead of driving myself crazy holding out hope and rehearsing despair. 
The truth is, we may not know which way our corner of the world is tipping for days, weeks…or a decade. Whoever “wins” (I put that in air quotes because we know how the Republican party has gerrymandered, lied, cheated, propagandaed, sued and especially this season: bought elections) in the midterms, we will have to keep fighting for our democracy, loving our enemies and standing with/speaking up for our most vulnerable friends and family. 
In the meantime, in my own little world, life is pretty sweet! I just did 4 events in 3 days, had a little time with my dad who seems to be doing better and better after surviving 5 strokes this summer, and am now heading home to gear up for the big West Coast Book Launch/Disco Party this Sunday at 5pm PT! 
The crowd at Brookline Booksmith was amazing! All but 3 of them were people I personally knew and *that’s ok.* Some were folks I hadn’t seen in 20 or 30 years! And they came from all the parts of my life, hugged me hard, and bought the book. It meant the world! There's something about seeing people who have known you since your callow youth, and looking in your eyes, and affirming you that is like a fairy tale key going into the lock of a rusted-shut cabin or castle, and turning with a satisfying clink, opening to treasures long unseen.  

Co-author and interviewer extraordinaire Ellen and I then hit the road and went to see church camp friends at their house in the woods overnight, then I preached and we gave a parenting talk about Bless This Mess–about how it’s a basic human need to feel like we have mastery over our worlds, and that need for control can make us controlling…even fascistic, and regress us to the morally infantile position of turning the world into good guys and bad guys. Sound like something makes sense in other arenas of our life than parenting? 
Ok, time to shlep from South Station to Logan, so I’ll leave you with some links and some calls to action: 
Come to the BOOK LAUNCH this Sunday! You won’t regret it. You can RSVP here. If you’re not in the Bay Area, it will livestream. Click here at 5pm PT.  
Amazon is shipping the book early! You can have it in your hot little hands by this weekend.  
As a reminder, BOOK REVIEWS REALLY HELP authors who aren’t already famous, like me. Please review the book at Goodreads and Amazon (even if you didn’t buy it from Amazon. Sometimes you have to try more than once), and then post your review on your favorite social media or email it to a few friends who you think might enjoy the book too.
There are two more spiritual snack mini-concert/book readings coming up, including one with progressive Christian pastor/rapper J.Kwest tomorrow. You can watch them (and see the ones that already happened) on my FB. 

Favorite thing this week: this conversation between Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert made me laugh and cry. We really don’t know how to grieve in our society. These two will help. Promise. 
Alternative Advent Calendar: if you love and look forward to the advent calendar I make every year, get ready! It’s coming late next week, via this newsletter. Now is a good time for friends to sign up if they need a good grounding ritual to keep them from flying off into the outer darkness where there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth in these sometimes terrifying times.
Finally, go and vote! If this adorable guy named George Phinney who is 79 and just had a whole bunch of strokes can go in person to vote, what’s your excuse? 

Love,
Molly