my dearest,

Hieu Minh Nguyen, from This Way to The Sugar: Poems; "Buffet Etiquette"

catherine earnshaw: queen of temper tantrums, gets excited when the sky is gold, dramatic crier, foggy evening walks, loves the stars, best winged eyeliner game on the moors, rainy nights with an old book, long hair pushed back with a velvet ribbon

kitty shcherbatsky: ballet slippers with pink satin ribbons, sugared rose petals, waltzing to the nutcracker, gingerbread and hot cocoa (with extra marshmallows!), ice skating dates with her boyfriend, twirling the night away in a pink ball gown

emma woodhouse: high tea with little cakes, has final authority over all her friends’ tinder matches, smells of miss dior, rose pink silk pajamas, a little spoiled, always has a box of sweets on hand

josephine march: eats the best candy from the box and leaves the rejects for her siblings, ink stains on her hands, scribbled notes in the margins of old books, first to open her stocking on christmas morning, over-sized sweaters

anne shirley: loves decorating cupcakes, still believes in magic, always in a flower crown, makes handmade lacy valentines for her classmates, wishes on shooting stars, stress-bakes sugar cookies

yvonne de galais: has the sleeping beauty waltz on replay, exclusively wears miu miu, believes in love at first sight, always in a dream, collects powder puffs, bulk orders rose macarons from laduree

lily bart: leaves her text messages on read, wears a floaty peignoir and pink marabou slippers to bed, new york city at dusk, pampering herself, diamond headbands, poor boys

francie nolan: old bookstores, cinnamon buns with lots of sugar, dates at the library, owns a lot of colorful stationery, slightly undone ribbons in her braids, hot coffee with vanilla, cashmere cardigans and worn-out ballet flats

mary maclane, the story of mary maclane / pierre bonnard - jeune femme écrivant, 1908 / louise fitzhugh, harriet the spy / phil grey - two photos from will self’s writing room: a 360 degree view in 71 photos, 2007 / tom astor - susie boyt’s notebooks, 2018 / stephen king, on writing / jill krementz - stephen king at his home office with his corgi marlowe, 1995 / joan didion - “on keeping a notebook” / wayne miller - author and poet maya angelou, 1974 / photo of sylvia plath from the everett collection / anne carson in a 2016 interview with NPR / octavia butler’s motivational notes to self / jim carroll, the basketball diaries / benjamin garcia - writing painting, 2012 / wayne pascal - writer’s block, 2019 / louisa may alcott, little women / little women (2019) / mary shelley (2017) / dickinson (2019) / anne lamott, bird by bird