Where Terese Marie Mailhot Writes

“After the success of my first book, I got caught up with ambition and worked to produce. Writing shouldn’t really be like that.”

I wrote most of Heart Berries in a Barnes & Noble. I would spend about two hours a day, five days a week, composing work—sometimes only a few lines a day. I liked it, because if I was at the house I’d need to clean the whole place before I worked, or the kids would need me. The pandemic reshaped my life. Maybe I’ll work in a café again and get to bask a bit under the light of happy people playing Dungeons & Dragons, or moms studying, or people catching up over coffee. Jesus, I miss the Starbucks apple tart. Until then, this is my station. 

I love that Babu Frik. I’m situated in the living room of my little apartment, and I try to write as much as I can. After the success of my first book, I got caught up with ambition and worked to produce. Writing shouldn’t really be like that. I’m getting back to a few lines a day, and I’ve released some of the pressure of having to perform or stay ahead. It’s made the work cleaner with sharp intentionality.

I keep a framed picture of the nonfiction bestsellers list in The New York Times, the March 11-17, 2018 edition. Your girl came in number 14 and that’s a magic place to be, considering Octavia Butler held this spot. And I remember, before everything, seeing journal entries of hers in which she wrote a prophecy for herself. Butler wanted to be at the top of her career—and stay at the top. Writing is filled with such struggle and rejection, so we need to take our wins and celebrate that shit. I look at that framed list, I smile at myself, I sip my drink and keep writing.