Hello friends,
It's been a little over a year since my only child died. I've thrown myself into feeling, grieving, re-becoming, and creating. Actually, I'm not sure how true that sentence is. It's more like I've been thrown into…
I set a personal world record by writing 108 songs this last year. Felt like accidentally stepping in a new song every few days. Songwriting is much less laborious when you are co-writing with ghosts.
I've completed the first draft a memoir called Mother Tongue and am editing that now. In January 2024, I begin a 6-month writing course to work on my first novel, titled I Meant to Go to Memphis but First I Found Cocaine. Writing prose feels amazing after twenty years devoted to songs, where you have only 3 minutes to tell a whole story.
I've had a couple writing pieces accepted for publication recently, the latest a poem that'll be in print in Bluebird Mountain Magazine come fall 2024.
I'd hoped to tour this next summer behind Cowboy, but I'm still deep in writing mode and that feels more important right now. So it'll be 2025-20026 before I'm on the road again. Sorry about that.
I'll write again when I have Cowboy-album news.
Thank you for your support. It means everything.
Love,
Rachel
[Painting of my son, Mandolin Hooper, by PA Matthison.]
