All Writing is Political
And Reading (Books) is Activism.
Fun update: My page finally has the reading feature on the Substack app. If you’d like to listen to this, open up the app and click the play button.
Baby Saliva
A few weeks ago I was walking around Academy with N and E.
E, being 15 months old and perpetually ungovernable, refused to be carried and so was ping ponging around while I attempted to find whatever I was looking for while simultaneously blocking her from knocking things over.
As we turned the corner to the water bottle aisle, her eyes sprang open wide and she toddler-sprinted to the shelf. Before I could reach her, she began grabbing the bottles and knocking them back with the desperation of someone stranded in the desert.
As I picked her up and carried her to the next aisle, she stretched her arms as far as she could reach them over my shoulder, cry-screaming back toward the empty bottles. Onlookers stared — probably concerned about the clearly dehydrated child.
When I set her back down, she was still (mildly) distressed. N turned to her and in a calm but authoritative biggest sister voice said “Now E— Customers don't want a water bottle with baby saliva on it.”
“Saliva?”
The word had surprised me from my 7-year-old.
“Yes. I think it's a better word than spit.” she told me matter-of-factly.
I agreed. “Where did you learn that word?” I asked
“In a book, of course.”
E moved on but the moment lingered for me.
On Tyranny
This week I listened to On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder through my Libby account. I finished it in less than two hours. It is a tiny book. I immediately ordered a print copy and then read it again when it arrived a few days later.
Lesson number nine in the book is — Be kind to our language.
The introduction to the chapter says:
“Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey the thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.”
The chapter expounds on the idea that language is essential to resisting authoritarianism.
Snyder explains that political regimes manipulate language through clichés, slogans, or straight-up lies. When we repeat these words and phrases we erode our ability to think critically. When we stop thinking critically we lose everything.
While the book is alarming— each chapter offers a solution. An action we can take.
My takeaway from this chapter?
We can inoculate ourselves from the disease of fascism— by reading.
Dreams of becoming an author.
I have always admired the written word. I can (and do) spend hours shaping and re-shaping sentences.
As a kid, I dreamed of becoming an author.
But for whatever reason I went to medical school (and then policy school) instead.
While medicine is an incredibly meaningful career and one that I truly love — I’ve never stopped writing. And I never stopped dreaming of becoming an author.
My book project — a long road
I started working on my current book project in earnest when I was on maternity leave with E — just over a year ago.
I had a rough outline that I had made a few months before she was born. I signed up for a writing class and held a tiny E in my arms during zoom workshops, hashing out my ideas with my classmates.
In those first few months I wrote hundreds of pages— and then deleted most of them. Constructive feedback from my classmates, and then my writing partner (hi Susan!), forced me to think and rethink my ideas and my arguments.
E grew and my book project matured.
After hours and hours of writing and editing, I completed a book proposal.
I queried.
I got an agent.
I re-wrote the book proposal again to my agent’s specifications — and now she is taking it out on submission to editors.
I have made huge strides toward realizing my dream of becoming an author. But I still have a long road ahead of me.
Right now, I am waiting to see if there is an editor interested in buying my book, or rather my book idea based on my proposal. I’m told it could take as little as a few weeks, but more likely many months before I hear anything back. I could get multiple offers— or none.
If I manage to land a book deal, there will be several rounds of edits which could take anywhere from 18 months to three years to complete.
If the book comes out before E starts pre-school, that will be “fast”.
I spoke with one published author who told me it took him a year just to write his proposal. Another professional author told me her first proposal was rejected by 44 agents before finally finding someone to represent her.
It's a miracle, really that any book anywhere is ever published.
All books are political
When I started writing my proposal, I had no idea how much time and effort is poured into refining the ideas within every single book that eventually lands on a shelf.
We live in a world where anyone can put any idea that pops into their brain out into the world at any moment on social media.
Books stand in stark contrast. They cannot be written haphazardly.
While there are benefits to the speed and breath of social media— the relentless consumption of these unrefined ideas is a disservice to our brains and our world.
I’ve developed a profound appreciation that every thought in every book, whether I agree with it or not, was developed and refined over years and through the minds of many people.
And I am not only referring to non-fiction, or what some might consider “serious” books. Some of the most thought-provoking literature is fiction.
Notably, I later learned N did not learn the word “saliva” from the many amazing science books she has on her shelf— she read it — in Dog Man.
Whether they are explicitly political or not— every book is shaped by the experience, the views, the ideas— the politics— of the writer. And because of this, books shift our perception of the world. They help us formulate our thoughts and opinions. They give us the words to connect. And the words to resist.
It is abundantly clear that (fascist) governments understand all of this. And this is why books, and the critical thinking they foster, are being targeted.
Book Bans
Every book proposal includes a section on comparative (or sometimes referred to as competitive) titles. This is a curated list of books that I think will sit on the shelf next to the one I am writing.
In searching for comparative titles, I read That Librarian: The Fight against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones. It's fascinating.
She talks about a Washington Post analysis that found that a mere 11 individuals were responsible for 60% of all book challenge requests nationwide in the 2021-2022 school year.
She goes on to explain the resources that are devoured every time a book is challenged— how millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted in the process.
In the book, Jones outlines many alarming statistics. And since the book was published, it has only gotten worse.
The 2023-2024 school year saw a 200% surge in book bans in schools.
More than 4,000 unique titles were affected. Unsurprisingly, banned books disproportionately featured BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ characters.
Censorship through book banning is not new. It has been used as a political tool for thousands of years. It persists, because it works.
Tariffs
I finished my book proposal and began reaching out to literary agents in January of this year. The news at that time was consumed by the proposed tariffs.
Imported books, paper, and printing supplies faced steep duties. I read articles written by publishing experts that postulated what this would mean for books. Some speculated that the price per book could rise to $50 for a paperback and $75 for a hardcover.
For an industry already strained by rising costs and supply chain issues, the prospect of making books even more expensive looks less like economic policy and more like a (figurative) book burning.
With all of the uncertainty, publishers seemed to slow down book acquisitions. Unsure if they would be able to afford to publish the books they purchased.
Eventually the discussion settled. Books at the moment are mostly exempt from the tariffs. But this near-miss is chilling.
Defunding Libraries
If all of this was not concerning enough. We are simultaneously ripping away funding from libraries.
In March, an executive order targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for elimination. The order cut $266 million in grants. These grants help support the work of state libraries.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the order, but the threat to our libraries is smoldering.
In Texas we could lose a third of our state library budget.
Solutions
As always, we are not helpless. There are steps we can take.
We can call our legislators and speak out against laws and tariffs that would make books less accessible.
We can educate ourselves on the profound cultural and economic impact of book bans and speak up against the trends in state laws that are making censorship easier.
We can visit our local bookstores. Buy books for yourself, your kids, your friends, your friends’ kids. Buying books supports the publishing industry and authors. It also supports the generation and propagation of critical thinking.
We can visit the library. Checking out books from the library boosts their circulation numbers and adds to the data demonstrating their value to our communities. My library also has a gift shop. If that is not a double dip for humanity I don't know what is.
We can be kind to our language. Choosing to talk about baby saliva — instead of spit.
But most importantly, we can put down our phones, and just read (a book).
What are you reading right now? How has it shaped your thinking?