Let's talk about Sex of the Midwest

And other great books coming from our community

Before we begin…a survey

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I’m sick of myself so let’s talk about books

Maybe I tempted fate in the last issue of Spark. I wrote about Taking The Win, or celebrating the progress of my book when I made certain trade-offs. I actually wrote this line:

“I’ve seen that no one falls apart when the appliances don’t work or the sheets go a few extra days on the bed, and that I can let go of the less important in favor of the most important. I have said no to even to things I love to do in order to say yes to myself and this book. I have been reminded that all the things I’ve postponed will eventually get their turn. I have, when I look at even a partial list of all the things undone, that I have a good life and have lived it as well as I could.”

But, the summer is not quite over yet and apparently had more to teach me. A few days later, as I tried to print out my book in order to make the next round of edits, the printer refused to work. Then, after eight hours of working on and off to appease the thing, it produced a copy of my draft. I couldn’t wait to start work the next morning. Instead, I found myself in the ER, tears involuntarily streaming from my eyes every time I tried to lift my head or otherwise use my neck. Pinched nerves. Muscle spasms. Damage from a 20-year-old boogie boarding accident. Age-related deterioration of my spine. In other words: a seething swirl of combustibles just waiting for the right trigger to explode.

One of those triggers may well have been all the hours I sat at my computer without the break we all know we need to take. Turns out the body of a writer doesn’t like the word “no” even when the head and heart are totally into the process. The relationship of our bodies to our work and our art is something I’d like to explore in a future post. If you’ve read something good about this, I’d love to know about it! Or, if you have your own experiences to share about how your body has contradicted your mind or desires, let us know how you have made it through?

In the meantime, I am sick to death of myself so I thought I would share good news and good books from around the Spark community along with a fun opportunity for some of the essayists among us to get their work out there.

First up: Coming soon from a bookseller near you

Robyn Ryle received a rare starred review from Kirkus for her novel Sex of the Midwest to be launched on October 12. I just grabbed my copy off of NetGalley so I could see why and had to tear myself away to write these lines. I was first grabbed by the pitch on Robyn’s website, “Olive Kitteridge meets The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. Loved both of those books and the blurb offered by Stewart O’Nan (Emily Alone, ) resonated with me. He writes:

‘Ah, the Midwest, home of flatness and reticence. Like the people of Winesburg, Ohio, the residents of Lanier, Indiana, harbor their hopes and fears privately, afraid no one else will understand. Robyn Ryle knows her small town inside and out, celebrating the strange and mundane equally. SEX OF THE MIDWEST isn’t about sex so much as love and loneliness, and, ultimately, belonging.’ —Stewart O'Nan, author of EMILY ALONE

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Andrew Merton has sold his new memoir with the working title, Gloria Steinem Blurbed Me (And Other Miracles) An autobiography in poetry and prose, to Accents Publishing. The publication date has yet to be announced. In the meantime, he provided this week’s very distinguished Moment of Zen.

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Jim Ruland’s latest book, a collaboration with musician and former frontman of the Lemonheads titled Evan Dando called Rumors of My Demise, will be published by Faber & Faber in the UK and by Gallery Books in the US on October 7, 2025, and is available for pre-order now. This will mark Jim’s third collaboration with a star from the world of punk rock and his fourth book of nonfiction that explores that world. Find more about these and also his novels and short fiction on his website and check out his profile on Spark’s author page.

Next: A book to grab right now…

… and bring with you to wherever you will be spending the last week of summer because, as far as I’m concerned, everything after Labor Day is fall.

Amran Gowani’s novel Leverage (click to see my take on it) launched this week and has earned praise from readers all over the book world including People Magazine. Check out this interview he did with Leigh Stein which probes the links between his real life and the fictional world he created and uncovers the hard work a debut author must do in order to get their book in front of readers.

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Jim Ruland, in addition to announcing the soon-to-be-launched Rumors of My Demise, observed the twentieth anniversary of his first book, Big Lonesome, a collection of his short stories that I continue to re-read just because I love the man’s fiction. It’s fun. It occasionally nips and bites. It leaves me thinking. To celebrate, he made copies of Big Lonesome available with free shipping and you can find details of that deal and fun summations of all the stories in his post, “Still Lonely After All These Years.”

Everybody’s got at least one thing: write about it

That’s the idea behind the Object-ives series of short essays for Open Secrets Magazine which is accepting submissions these essays through September 30. They don’t have to be long — just 500-999 words. They focus on the things, the tangible objects we own and have a relationship with even if we can’t explain it. If you’re interested, take a look and join me in submitting a short essay. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Paid Call for Submissions for Personal Essays by Humans About the Human Experience (No AI Writing Allowed)

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Ciao for now!

Gratefully yours,

Betsy

P.S. And now, your moment of Zen…the most interesting hound in the world

Introducing Baguette who knows how to chill with style. (Submitted by Andrew Merton.)

Photo: Rachel Merton

Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”:

What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.

Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed.

I can’t wait to see what you send!

And remember, if you like what you see or it resonates with you, please share Spark with a friend and take a minute to click the heart ❤️ below - it helps more folks to find us!