What’s New

Washington Post

Menopause can be miserable. Jancee Dunn aims to make it better. (May 8, 2023)

O The Oprah Magazine

Discover The Survivalists, Kashana Cauley’s Sharp and Witty Debut (January 10, 2023)

Los Angeles Times

Resurrecting a mammoth — and a family — in Ramona Ausubel’s wild and woolly new novel (April 18, 2023)

message in a bottle

meredithmaran

I have mental illness in my family, and in myself.

I have mental illness in my family, and in myself. We take pills; we talk to professionals and friends; we meditate and exercise and cut out sugar and do all the things, and still sometimes our psyches turn on us. @bethanne_patrick is a pillar of publishing: generous, brilliant, dedicated…and double-depressed. Her book about it is wonderful. I strongly suggest that you read it. (Unless #mentalillness has never affected you or a loved one in any way.) #doubledepression #mentalhealth #truthtelling @counterpointpress

So @dnsbray and I were lying in bed when we starte

So @dnsbray and I were lying in bed when we started hearing a rhythmic beeping noise from the kitchen. I thought one of us had left the fridge door open. But no. I found this guy doing push-ups on the Service button. #truestory #indooroutdoorliving #butwhereishenow

@dnsbray wanted a low-key birthday, but I’m sorr

@dnsbray wanted a low-key birthday, but I’m sorry, honey, this is a rebirth that deserves celebrating! Kicked the weekend off at @hailmarypizza in #atwater. Breakfast at #redbird with—surprise!— @daisydowntown and @emilydowntown, a surprise run-in with @freemomhugssocal, who spent their Saturday driving around #la looking for #queers to love on, starting with us; dinner and #homemadebirthdaycake with the fam at @casitadelcampo. Mostly, celebrating D’s life and continuingly improving #wellbeing. I love them even more as a #tbisurvivor than I did as a #tbipatient ! Which is a very good thing. #dontgiveupbeforethemiracle

On June 2, 2022, @dnsbray was airlifted off a moun

On June 2, 2022, @dnsbray was airlifted off a mountain bike trail and into the #icu, where they were treated for a broken scapula, multiple cuts and lacerations, and a #traumaticbraininjury. For the next year D would fight their way back, protected and diminished by various meds, including #keppra, which protects #tbi survivors from seizures and also causes dizziness, aggression, and extreme fatigue. Here, my D is taking the last of their year-long course of Keppra, which required no #overthinking, just #relief and #gratitude. Celebrating my “theyro” today and every day. @dnsbray you rock my world in more ways than I can say. #tbisurvivor #hero #shero #theyro

Our magic place. 104 in the valley. Snow on #mtjac

Our magic place. 104 in the valley. Snow on #mtjacintopeak. #desertlife🌵 #springflowers #wildgrapes

Another borrowed photo from the #wgastrike #wgastr

Another borrowed photo from the #wgastrike #wgastrong

Check the date. I can’t even remember what #emol

Check the date. I can’t even remember what #emoluments are, but it’s horrifying that the question remains the same, 6 years later. After that disastrous #cnntownhall, even more so.

#dragbrunch at #sagueropalmsprings with Kate and @

#dragbrunch at #sagueropalmsprings with Kate and @dnsbray. Love the imagination and creativity of the hotel and this town and most of all #queerculture that colors and entertains and uplifts the world. #banhatenotbooks #banhatenotdrag #banhatenotpride #banhatenotlove #palmspringsstyle #queerstyle

A few words about the 2023 #pulitzerprizeforfictio

A few words about the 2023 #pulitzerprizeforfiction winner @hernandiaz from his #publicist @flowsbianca: “In 2017 his first novel was published by a small press, without agent representation, and it went on to become a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Flash forward to 2022, when TRUST was named a favorite by @barackobama , #hbo adapted it for a series starring @kate.winslet.official , and TRUST landed on the new_york_times_bestseller list…”. Congrats to the #author , to @riverheadbooks, and to the #literaryworld of #readers and #writers. Sometimes the system works for the good. #dontgiveupbeforethemiracle

#screenwriters #novelists #memoirists=we will all

#screenwriters #novelists #memoirists=we will all describe, #entertain, and maybe even #enlighten you. We all deserve to be paid for our work. #wgastrong #writersofinstagram

Another good #book, another great #collab with my

Another good #book, another great #collab with my new editors at the @washingtonpost @jillpellettieri and @nora.krug.b If #menopause has you by the short hairs, you need this well-researched guide by @janceedunn.

If #writers are #onstrike you can be sure it’s f

If #writers are #onstrike you can be sure it’s for the #write reasons. And that might be the only #guarantee in the #writinglife. Go #wgastrong !

I’m dying here. DY-ING. #brittneyandcherellegrin

I’m dying here. DY-ING. #brittneyandcherellegriner #incalvinklein #metgala2023 #howfarwevecome

This weekend in #pets. Doctor @sagetheterrier has

This weekend in #pets. Doctor @sagetheterrier has been hard at work bringing @dnsbray back from their #tbi for almost a year now. #notkidding ! Every day starts with a #healinginspection as seen here. #leothecat contributes by not eating the #hummingbirds. #petsofinstagram #tbisurvivor #animallove

My dearest @officialjessicarose and her pod partne

My dearest @officialjessicarose and her pod partner @therippleconnection made an episode of their fab @innerrebelpodcast with me. It was so fun to do and thought provoking to listen to. Maybe it will be for you, too. Subscribe wherever your fave #podcasts are found! Like here, for example. https://www.innerrebelpodcast.com/2022831/12723602-meredith-maran-unleashing-the-revolutionary-spirit-a-journey-toward-personal-and-collective-liberation

PS thanks to @michelleteaz for the #revolutionary yard sale t-shirt!

There’s a #story here begging to be told. First,

There’s a #story here begging to be told. First, the #rose. I bought the #bareroot plant on January 7 2023, which turned out to be a #specialday❤️ for @dnsbray and me. More on that later. Now, the #book by @maggiesmithpoet, which deserves every #accolade it’s getting. I love her for playing with the #memoir form which #men have long been allowed to do and #women, not so much. @maggiesmithpoet you are helping me write my book *and* live my #life, so #thankyou. Now, the #vase which my #exwife bought me at the potter’s #berkeley studio in 2004. The message on it was true of us at the time. Why does #love get so distorted? I still love my ex-wife and everyone I ever have loved. #thesecolorsdontrun and my love don’t die. Tho It kind of hurts me to read the vase now. Even tho it’s holding a rose that represents my #newlove. Finally, the #maker of the vase, @raedunn. Who used to be a local #potter with a little shop in #berkeley and now is an #empire with stuff of every kind—seasonal themed spatulas, mugs, towels, hairbrushes etc—in every discount department store. Take whatever you can from this layered story of this pretty #rose and #handmade #vase and #love.

A little #walkthroughthegarden in the early days o

A little #walkthroughthegarden in the early days of #spring. Remind me next #winter, would you, that spring will, in fact, arrive? #honeysuckle #nasturtium #azalea #prettybirds #hummingbird

#latimesfestivalofbooks 2023. How amazing to see p

#latimesfestivalofbooks 2023. How amazing to see people lined up to buy books and have their books signed and meet their favorite authors. 150,000 people expected. Who says books are dead?

In honor of the #supremecourt decision to protect

In honor of the #supremecourt decision to protect #womens access to the #abortionpill. Why we’re even talking about this in 2023 is another story. But at least this one went our way. #ourbodiesourchoice #reproductiverights #womensrightsarehumanrights #mifepristone

@ilsabrink, web designer to the #writers, made me

@ilsabrink, web designer to the #writers, made me a new home page. Isn’t she amazing? Wait, what? The graphic reminds you of something, but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Here’s a suggestion. #putyourfingeronit

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