Ch-ch-ch-changes

Big transitions in the air!

EVERYthing is changing.

I’ve been wanting to write a newsletter or Substack or something ever since my book was published in fall of 2023, to talk about the whole publishing experience, the book tour, and all of it, but I kept balking. I was nervous. Everyone and their cousin seemed to have a Substack. So I kept putting it off. But now, another huge transition is here and I’ve got 36 hours before boarding a plane to Japan for 6 weeks, and, well, why not?

1. I’m retired (almost)

I came to Mills College in the fall of 1992, and felt like I never really left. In addition to getting an MFA in creative writing, I became a Children’s School parent for ten years, and then parent-of-undergraduate-and-then-graduate students, then an adjunct professor in the MFA program, then a dual appointee in Ethnic Studies and Creative Writing, then Mills “merged” with Northeastern University and both Ethnics Studies AND Creative Writing evaporated in a blink. So I’ve been teaching a variety of other classes since 2022, until this year when I received my “terminal contract.” So this long relationship is coming to a close. I’m leading my annual food writing program in Japan (starting soon!) with bio professor Jared, and then I’m officially finished on June 30th. After that…

2. Will I finish my novel?

I hope that I will have the time, energy and brain space to finish this historical novel that is close to my heart, about Japanese Americans in NY City during WWII. In other words, my parents and their community. I’ve been researching and learning like crazy over the past many years, and I think I am finally ready to WRITE it.

this boat plays an important role in my novel, and this book was just published last month!

3. Will I become bi-continental?

Back in 2005, I started a blog called ReadingWritingLiving. (click if you want to take a trip down memory lane, or to see what early-oughts me was up to) It’s kind of shocking to see how long ago that was, and how much life has passed. But like then, I was interested in exploring those 3 things - what I was reading, what I was writing and then — LIFE. My kids were 15 and 10 years old, and I referred to them as Junior & Juniorette. My mother was alive and living with us.

Well, Junior is now a mother of a 6 and almost-2 year old, which makes me a — grandmother! Their family moved to New Zealand last year, and so I might be facing bi-continentality. We spent the month of December there, and now we’re ready to explore a longer stay of 3-ish months. Will we become Kiwis? What will that be like? It’s truly a gorgeous country (just watch Lord of the Rings!) but all of this remains to be seen. I’ll be chronicling our travels here.

New Zealand: more sheep than people

4. My plan for this site

I really want to be in conversation with other writers (look for interviews and more!), to write about what I’m reading, and also to be in conversation with my younger “ReadingWritingLiving” self. Back then, I was so awed by going to the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Program) conference, I never imagined that one day I’d be on multiple panels, giving readings, signing books. I never dreamed that I would actually ever finish, let alone publish my book. Look, little Ito! I did it!

[

5. Ask me anything

What would you like me to write about here? Writing? Publishing? Adoption? Grandparenting? Japan? Food? New Zealand? Retirement?? I promise that in the future I won’t be doing so much summary, but a lot more scene.

---