THE LOST VOICE IS OUT NOW!

(why stepping in dog shit is a great omen)

Greetings beloved friends!

I am THRILLED that THE LOST VOICE is finally out! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS ALREADY PURCHASED IT. Though the book is about loss, grief, and transformation, the book release party was pure joy.

Five minutes before the talk was set to begin, I smelled whiffs of something terrible. Who IS that? I wondered. The scent wafted, but I couldn’t find the source. Then I looked at my heels and realized IT WAS ME. I had stepped in dog shit.

The book is about shedding idealized versions of life to fully experience what is happening. Well, there went my ideal version of the evening. Instead, my companions and I burst into laughter on the backstage porch and one heroic friend cleaned the shoes for me.

Two of my dearest friends performed some of the songs that I can no longer perform. Here’s Hannah Cohen about to sing “Other Side of the Boundary”:

And Sasha Spielberg singing “Face in the Moon” and bringing me to tears when she belted the high chorus:

All photos by Misha Handschumacher

I played one of the only songs I can still perform, which is called The Vanishing Path. It felt so vulnerable to sing with all the wobbles and out-of-tune-ness of my dysphonia, but it also felt unbelievably good to perform again. I haven’t played my own music live in many years.

My dream editor, Rakesh Satyal, and I had a conversation about the book and writing process. Not only is he brilliant and a talented novelist himself, but he has also navigated voice-altering vocal challenges after a lifetime of singing and understood my story with embodied empathy.

I kept calling the book party “my wedding” because friends travelled in from all over to celebrate. It was especially special that my friends Bianca Giaever and Nirvan Mullick both made the trip here to celebrate:

In 2016, the three of us started a practice called Perfect Moments. We would each write down one emotionally resonant moment from our day in two-to-three sentences, then send it to our text chain. Unlike traditional journaling, which is often my way of emotionally processing difficult situations, this journal became a collection of all the flashes of life I most want to remember. (Sometimes there are terrible perfect moments too — being broken up with, getting in a car accident etc. The most memorable moment of the day.)

Many moments in my book are from the Perfect Moments journal. Passing Emmylou Harris in a hotel hallway. Singing at Madison Square Garden. Receiving my first vocal injection shot and seeing a tiny ruby of blood on my throat, and remembering that one of my first song lyrics with The Hush Sound had the lyric, “Who shot that arrow in your throat?”

My amazing local bookstore, the Golden Notebook, sold books and they will continue to offer autographed copies via their website.

I’m so thrilled to receive images of the book in the wild (aka on shelvers) from across the country:

At Back of Beyond Books in Moab, Utah

If you’re in New York City, please join for TODAY’s conversation, reading, and book signing at The Strand. It’ll be from 7-8.

Time to pack my bag to head to New York City, but I’ll be back soon to share more behind-the-scenes images.

ASK ME ANYTHING about the book, my writing process, how to get dog-shit off your shoes, or truly anything else and I will answer in the comments.

Love to everyone,
Greta

I haven’t looked this happy in photos in a long long time.