I’m fresh off of work and starting my sabbatical/self-funded fellowship and oh boy, is it starting off with a bang. I need to write a whole post about the Writing Retreat/Theatre trip I’ve been on the past couple of weeks, but I’ll summarize it with this: five amazing shows, four celebrity sightings, three elevators that sometimes worked, two new piercings, and one picture of me featured on Susie-freaking-Wolff’s instagram. She also spotted me twice to say she loved my jacket (the sequin, Vegas, F1 Academy jacket). So I’m deceased. 💀
Reading
✨ = Five Stars | 🎧️ = audiobook | 📖 = Book Club | 🏎️ = F1 Book (Fiction and Non-fiction) |
(Note: Since I’m writing a Formula 1 Romance, I’m not planning on rating other F1 Romances at all, but obviously, you should read them ALL so publishers know people REALLY want to read more F1 Romances!) |
Before I left my job, I tried to listen/read and rate as many 2026 releases as I could in March and April to leave with the employee curated Best of List. I also stepped out of my Romance bubble to read two super interesting literary fiction novels for my writing class.
For Our Next Song by Jessica James 🎧
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters
🏎 Lights Out by Jenni Fletcher
Champagne Taste on a Bad Boy Budget by Zuri Day 🎧
Game On by Navessa Allen 🎧
Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake 🎧
The Bridge Back to You by Riss M. Neilson 🎧
✨ Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
✨ The Re-Do List by Denise Williams 🎧
🏎 All to Play For by Josie Juniper 🎧
Racing Hearts by Ann Adams 🎧
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Writing
In one of my recent novel certificate classes, we did a free write exercise that had nothing to do with our novels. The prompt was “I do not understand this object yet.” We were to find a random object around us, take five minutes to observe it, then take five minutes to free write about it. I found the journey of writing about my object to be really interesting and decided to share with you, expanding on it a little bit. It’s very May the 4th (be with you) week appropriate.
An ode to Mara Jade
The box is special - no list of characters on the back, a yellow and gold-star sky background, a shiny Funko Original Special Edition hologram. Mara herself is unlike most other Pop bobbleheads - there’s a movement in her design, in her hair, in the shiny boots compared to the matte of the body suit and holsters. The cream of the gloves, the texture on the gold base. I’m special, she says, IYKYK. You, who hold me, knows the old books, the old lore. You know the time of legends. The time of the Solo children. The time Luke was not a sad hermit, but had a kickass wife who could match his strength and tenacity. You mourn my loss. Thrawn was brought back but I never will be, retconned to a point where I either create logic holes and alternate time lines or I become a woman in a fridge – needing to be written out of Luke’s story with everyone knowing I will come to have some kind of tragic end. You mourn that Jaina and I didn’t get adventures together, me and my equally kick ass niece who takes after her father, a pilot and Jedi all in one. A woman of multitudes. You mourn adventures that could have been with my sister-in-law Leia. Could Leia, Winter, and I have had madcap Bridesmaid hijinks before I married Luke in an alternate timeline? I am Lilith, the original woman, erased from the Bible. Hatshepsut, whose statutes were defaced and torn down in Egypt. Ada Lovelace, overlooked in favor of men who built on what I created. The nameless women who have yet to receive their moments in the sun. But you bought me. You know me. You see me. You remember me.
… and Randomness
NY Theatre recs edition! In order that I saw them:
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). When Lin-Manuel Miranda compared this to The Last 5 Years, I was IN. And I’m so glad. A two-person musical that follows a Brit who’s come to NY for his dad’s wedding (and to meet his father for the first time). He’s picked up at the airport by the bride’s sister, who ends up being his unplanned tour guide. It’s a fairly simple show with beautiful music and emotional performances, but also so many laughs.
Schmigadoon! RIP Season three of the Apple TV show — how amazing a season inspired by ALW and RENT would have been. Alas, what we’ve got is the Broadway transfer of the limited concert run that distills the first season of the show. If you liked the show, you’ll like this. If you like classic musicals, you’ll either like this or, if you take yourself too seriously, hate it.
SIX. While we’ve seen this on tour, we wanted to go support Dylan Mulvaney’s run as Anne Boleyn. She’s one of the first performers who are transgender to replace a specifically gendered role on Broadway. She’s got some great instagram reels about this unique experience. This was my first experience seeing something on Broadway that I’d seen on tour first and it’s surprising how intimate the Broadway house feels compared to the large local venue shows tour in.
Oh, Mary! I was iffy on if I wanted to go to NY for theatre after my writing retreat in DC… until Maya Rudolph was announced as the next Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s dada-inspired historical farce. And her first show would be while I would be in NY. I bought tickets immediately and I’m so glad I did (especially since Denver isn’t on the first touring list for the show). It’s a hysterical show and I can definitely see why people go back again and again for the new Marys as it's clear everyone can add their own unique take on the role.
Every Brilliant Thing. This show was heartbreaking, uplifting, and astounding. Daniel Radcliffe spends 80 minutes on stage, with no other actors, interacting with various audience members (and never really knowing what he’ll need to perform against), guiding us through every human emotion as he tells the story of attempting to list every brilliant thing in the world. It really has to be seen and if Daniel doesn’t win the Tony, I will rage. A truly one of a kind performance. Mariska Hargitay will be replacing him later this month and it would be so interesting to see how the script changes for her.
See you in June when I may share more about how being “on sub” is going!
