Amid the chaos and joys of the past three years, Homeboy at Home has morphed into The Promise of Sunrise: Finding Solace in a Broken World. I’ve edited, added, deleted, and combined the daily entries into a richly descriptive and, I trust, hopeful book. Jeanette Fournier’s original art graces the pages (twelve illustrations and a stylized map). An original watercolor of Coyote Hollow covers the book. Green Writer’s Press will publish the book in October.
I owe all my Homeboy readers a debt of gratitude. Your correspondence colored my thoughts and expanded my readings. When I started posting on a local birding listserv in mid-March 2020, I created an activity that amused and engaged me and kept me sane during the COVID-19 quarantine in my empty house. At friends’ suggestions and proddings, I kicked and screamed into the online world of Substack … then, everything changed. Suddenly, I had readers who shared the natural world's joys and their lockdown trials with me. I’ve had and continue to correspond with readers of my previous books, but this was different. This was daily correspondence; I might have had a dozen comments on a post by dinnertime.
No matter where we live on the Pale Blue Dot, we have a marvel of plants and animals beyond our doorstep. Some things are beautiful, mysterious, reoccurring and ever-changing … and we’re part of the drama. A comfort over those 18 months of quarantine. And a comfort now.
Thank you all.
https://bookshop.org/a/13094/9798989178421
Thanks, Sarah. It's been a joyful and exhausting project. Jeanette Fournier's art is spectacular. She enriches the book in so many, many ways. Stay hydrated.
We are very excited to be the publisher of this wonderful book (and so cool that it all started here)!