What Can I Say
Boozhoo, indinawemaaganidog! Aaniin! That is to say hello, all of my relatives! Welcome to another edition of An Irritable Métis. Normally this intro is just that, an intro. But not this time!1 We’re skipping all that and getting right into it because today is the day that this newsletter has been building to since my very first post ever, back in December of 2019, when the ink was still drying on the contract I’d signed to write Becoming Little Shell. The ink was still drying on Trump’s signature on the $738 billion defense bill, aka the National Defense Authorization Act, which included an attachment called the Little Shell Restoration Act, too. His scrawl provided my Little Shell Tribe federal restoration.2 We had a happy ending. And as I was beginning to expand the book then, at least in my brain, beyond the proposal I’d handed Daniel Slager of Milkweed just a couple months prior,3 I knew my book would have a happy ending too.
And here we are at the happy ending. The book is officially out, and everywhere! I won’t lie: it feels a little anticlimactic given it’s been available for a couple few weeks, people have received their preorders, etc. But that’s only in the realm of indie bookstores, those bastions of all that is well and good in the world, because all the chain stores and Amazons of the world don’t play that way. They hold it until release day.
And release day is today!
So for those of you who ordered from other outlets, the book is available to you now too! In fact, moments ago while writing this, a phone alert to my left caught my attention and … BEHOLD!
Yes, I ordered my own book ebook style just because I wanted to see what it looked like. And when I finish this newsletter and call it a night, I am going to dive in just to see what it’s like.
Friends, I am equal parts giddy and anxiety-ridden. This is a thing I’ve been working toward for more years than just about anything else. I’ve written other books, yes, but nothing with the blood and sweat and tears of this one. I’m overjoyed that people who read it will come away knowing a little more about the Little Shell and the Métis. That’s the entire point. But it also feels a little like going to the pool shirtless and wearing trunks a size or two too small: pretty exposed. Especially now, staring down the coming weeks and months of getting out and talking about it. But I’m also really excited too.
I can’t say this book wouldn’t exist without the support of all of you Irritable Readers because it was largely already launched when I began writing here. But its emergence wouldn’t be nearly so triumphant without you. When I wrote that first post I linked to at the beginning there weren’t even 100 subscribers yet. Now there are over 11,000 of you and rising. You preordered BLS to the tune of just under 1000 copies, which is staggering.4 We may crack 1000 between now and the official release event yet! I am consistently amazed and overwhelmed.
I remain astounded and so incredibly, thoroughly grateful. I’m thrilled to be writing this newsletter for each and every one of you.
Oh, and Don’t Forget the Milkweed Crüe!
My friends at Milkweed have truly been crushing it on my behalf making this release something special. Getting it out to national publications, setting up events, and just making the whole thing look beautiful. I’m so fortunate! And there are so many cool things still to come. Huge thanks to Daniel and Lauren and Morgan and Katie and Madi and Jane and Craig and Mary and Shannon and everyone else making things happen. What a joy they’ve been to work with. Wow.
I’m just going to flat out up and swipe this image from my buddy Draplin because this is how it feels.
And Now Some Housekeeping
It’s coming down to the wire for you to get on board with a timely signed and personalized copy of Becoming Little Shell, which you may order HERE. Once I hit the road I’ll still visit F&F to fulfill those orders, it will just take longer.
Oh, and tour dates will be available via the EVENTS PAGE of my website. Only August is there now but I’ll be tackling that update next, after a good night’s sleep.
Back-to-Back Online Events TONIGHT, August 20th
My official release event for BLS isn’t until Wednesday night, but these things are happening tonight!
Writing the Wild Online Literary Potluck
This first one is very cool, as I’ve been a fan of the folks at Writing the Wild for sometime and will be doing an online workshop under their auspices next spring. As for this, it amounts to short little readings and reflections – 1-2 minutes reading, 1-2 minutes reflecting, each – by a pile of great writers somehow affiliated with them. This is “official” publication day for Becoming Little Shell too and will be a great way to celebrate it. Get more info and register HERE!
August 20, 4pm Pacific Time
Virtual Event to Celebrate Stories from the Trail
In all the hubbub around BLS I’d be remiss if I failed to mention another book sharing the August 20th due date is this one: Stories from the Trail: Field Notes on Moving through the Wild. I have an essay in this lovely anthology and I’d love you to consider ordering it HERE. Meanwhile, just following the Literary Potluck I’ll be moving to a different Zoom location to participate in this virtual event to celebrate the release of the book, courtesy of Christy from Vintage Books in Vancouver, WA. There is info via their Instagram page HERE. Also, you may watch the event live via the Vintage Books YouTube channel HERE. It should be fun!
August 20, 7pm Pacific Time
Oh, and On Wednesday Night
Also, apologies for the overwrought, My-Space-Style mishmash of this edition. Things got a little out of hand….
Along with all the terrible things that our military spending inflicts on the world, no matter what asshole is authorizing it.
30 minutes or so after which he approached me and said, “Yeah, we want to publish this book.”
From Fact & Fiction alone, I should add….
Happy Book Birthday!!!
It was a highlight of my week last week to sit down with BLS and read it straight through, absorbing all your gorgeous writing and incredible research (you are indeed a scholar even if you’d like to kick that word in the behind), and the honest, open-hearted Chris-ness of it all. My favorite part of this book is your clear love for your people—the Little Shell, Indigenepous people, and your own family, both Native and not. And the way in which you invite the reader along with your journeys inside and out. You made it up the mountain. It’s an incredible work and you should be proud of it!
And I particularly loved your extra dedication to Landless Peoples everywhere.
Llongyfarchiadau! (Welsh: congratulations.) Finished my copy last week. Read the final chapters at the Peace Arch in Blaine, WA (not planned, just happened to be there), lounging on the 49th parallel, undisturbed by border security, which seemed fitting in a way.
It's been a long time since I found myself nodding so much when reading, whether it was about the duplicity of the Hellgate Treaty, the Montanan infatuation with Lewis and bloody Clark, or arguing with your sat-nav on long drives. Your personal story also inspired me to start writing down some preliminary notes for that book I've been talking about (but doing nothing else about) for the last 5 years. For all of the above, diolch yn fawr. (Welsh: thank you.)