Jennifer Zobair
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jenniferzobair.bsky.social
Jennifer Zobair
@jenniferzobair.bsky.social
Author of upmarket women’s fiction (PAINTED HANDS, St. Martin’s Press) etc., attorney, mom, new-ish Chicagoan who still thinks in eastern standard time.
Pinned
The thing you are most
afraid to write
Write that.
― Nayyirah Waheed, SALT

Good morning, #5amwritersclub!

#writingcommunity
We will be known as a culture that taught
and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers.
- Mary Oliver, “Of the Empire”

#poetry #writingcommunity #booksky #resist
February 5, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Zobair
In famine-stricken Sudan, soup kitchens that feed hundreds of thousands have shut down. In Thailand, refugees with life-threatening diseases have been turned away by hospitals. In Ukraine, residents on the frontlines may go without firewood in mid-winter. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...
How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2025 at 7:43 PM
When things feel grim, adopt this mindset: "As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person." (Paul Shane Spear)

Example: If you stay at a hotel, tip the housekeeping staff generously. Excessively, even.

#kindness #gratitude #payitforward #travel
February 1, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Jennifer Zobair
“On Friday morning, the staffers at a half dozen U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: Defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die.

They chose the children.”
“People Will Die”: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True.
Organizations that provide vital care for desperate and vulnerable people around the world have been forced to halt operations, turn away patients and lay off staff. “I’ve never seen anything that sca...
www.propublica.org
January 31, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Sometimes, you have to commit to creating joy (even if it’s with a spatula on the back patio).

Good morning, #5amwritersclub! Time to get to one of the things that brings me the most joy.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #author
January 30, 2025 at 11:05 AM
“Helped are those who learn that the deliberate invocation of suffering is as much a boomerang as the deliberate invocation of joy." - The Gospel According to Shug

Grateful Bluesky is populated w/people who understand this quote.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #booksky #writesky #author
January 28, 2025 at 10:08 AM
When you snatch your daughter from her law school for a late lunch at Mesler at the gorgeous, art-filled Sophy Hotel, and pull out your phone to take her picture. 🙋‍♀️

#momlife #family #love #Monday #art #Chicago #HydePark #UChicagoLaw
January 27, 2025 at 11:24 PM
This could be a quiet room before anyone else is awake, soft music, etc, but also: mental space free from dark thoughts after doom scrolling, worry about others’ approval/not being good enough, fear of being fully seen, all evil eye energy.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #wellness
January 26, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Up at the half! I started watching the 76ers because of Jared McCain, and now I’m in so deep on this injured, struggling team I have a Ricky Council IV shirt.

#Sixers #Bulls #NBA
January 26, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Last time the Sixers were at the United Center, I was in the 5th row cheering loudly in a sea of Bulls fans as they got the win. (Yes, they had McCain and Embiid, but I still believe. Especially after last night!) Let’s go!! 🏀

#NBA
January 25, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Week 1 is all shock and awe, to create despair and apathy. Coping by staying informed daily but *not* 24/7, donating $/taking action, writing, finding joy, balancing news w/timeline cleanses. So here's my 4th best friend in Turks and Caicos.

#writingcommunity #birds #nature #love #wellness #resist
January 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
“Also, write the thing you're scared to write. The world is on fucking fire. Might as well go out in a blaze of wild bravery where you write the shit out of that thing and own your magic.”
- Gabby Rivera

#writingcommunity #booksky #5amwritersclub #amwriting #fiction #writingtips
January 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
The coyote came back to our yard. We stared: am I going to hurt you, are you going to hurt me, etc etc etc.

But really: Are you ok? Are you warm, fed, safe? Do you have a community? Can I help? You’re so beautiful, keep going.

#nature #wildlife #amwriting #writingcommunity #Wednesday #resist
January 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A reminder, on Martin Luther King Jr Day, on this particular day, from the National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #MLK #bellhooks #poetry
January 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
It was not a #5amwritersclub kind of morning for me—more of a homemade oat/flax roti kind of a morning. Happy Friday!

#writingcommunity #balance #cooking #vegetarian #amwriting (now)
January 17, 2025 at 2:37 PM
It "feels like" 7 degrees in Chicago and the sun has not yet risen, but it's still a beautiful morning to write characters who love like a Mahmoud Darwish poem: "All roads lead to you, even those I took to forget you."

#5amwritersclub #amwriting #author #writingcommunity #poetry #love
January 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Jennifer Zobair
Wealthy celebs aren't the only residents being displaced by the fires in the Los Angeles area.

Black Families Displaced By California Wildfires Launch Online Fundraisers To Help Start Over

#EatonFire

newsone.com/5844408/help...
Black Families Displaced By California Wildfires Launch Online Fundraisers To Help Start Over
Black families in Altadena displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires are in desperate need of help and have launched GoFundMe accounts.
newsone.com
January 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
“Sometimes you have to make a drawing to figure out what you want to draw," I say through clenched teeth, quoting my architect brother, as I aggressively backspace through a bunch of words I wrote just yesterday.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #fiction #author #art #amwriting #storytelling
January 13, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Slept through #5amwritersclub. This is the first day since before Thanksgiving there is nothing we *have* to do, nowhere to rush. This is what our street looks like. It’s telling us to slow down. We are listening.

#saturday #Chicago #amwriting #amreading #writingcommunity #wellness #photography
January 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Struggling w/a revision where the tone of a subplot is pushing up against the tone of the main plot. I copy/pasted the entire arc of the subplot into its own doc—instant clarity. Pretty sure this just saved me an actual zillion hours of work.

#5amwritersclub #amwriting #writingcommunity #author
January 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Jennifer Zobair
We will need tales of hope and courage in these trying times

#writing #writingcommunity
January 9, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Good morning. It’s cold and dark and I've read this maybe 20 times. It's glorious. The messy first drafts, the ways we write around the thing before writing the thing, the walking away and returning—all trying to “accept what's offered.”

#5amwritersclub #amwriting #writingcommunity #poetry #author
January 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Back to the tundra (armed w/no winter coat BUT a clutch pair of gloves I found in my handbag 2 days ago). I could spend the flight reading, writing, or trying to win over this cute little dog, who has been watching me like a hawk. (I have cashews).

#dogsofbluesky #travel #Florida #Chicago #winter
January 7, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Seeing talk of monitoring spirits—people around you who seem interested but for the wrong reasons. I get it—you can’t tell all your plans to every person. You need to protect your energy.

But also? There are people silently rooting for you. I’m certain.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #nature
January 7, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Vacation poolside reads: a raw, redemptive memoir (NYT: “gorgeous, gutting, generous”), a book of poetry that breaks your heart/uplifts you over and over, a splashy beach read, and a social critique.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #poetry #memoir #fiction
January 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM