Jennifer Zobair
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Jennifer Zobair
@jenniferzobair.bsky.social
470 followers 220 following 240 posts
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.
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jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
Of The Empire We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. 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. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.
February 5, 2025 at 4:45 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
The back of a hotel laundry form where a member of the housekeeping team wrote “thank you for the tips.”
February 1, 2025 at 2:59 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
The word joy written in snow
January 30, 2025 at 11:05 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
“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
A copy of Alice Walker’s THE TEMPLE OF MY FAMILIAR
January 28, 2025 at 10:08 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
The young woman at a table in a restaurant jokingly covering her face. An abstract portrait at the Sophy Hotel in Hyde Park.
January 27, 2025 at 11:24 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A sign that says, “Allow yourself a peaceful place to work.”
January 26, 2025 at 11:14 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A gray Philadelphia Sixers shirt with number “14” and “Council IV” printed on the back.
January 26, 2025 at 2:16 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
Philadelphia Sixers rookie Jared MCain dribbling against the Chicago Bulls.
January 25, 2025 at 11:54 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A heron walking by a pool in the Caribbean island of Turks and Caicos.
January 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
“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
Gabby Rivera's book, JULIET TAKES A BREATH. The cover is the back of a young woman's head with a yellow background. Across the top is a blurb from Roxane Gay that says, "F---ing outstanding."
January 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A coyote standing and staring near the yard’s tree line.
January 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A photo from the museum with a quote from bell hooks that says “people resist by telling their stories.”
January 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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)
A photo of a roti cooking on the stovetop, and one rolled out on a glass cutting board.
January 17, 2025 at 2:37 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
Two champagne flutes on a table. In the distance, the sun is setting over the ocean in Turks and Caicos.
January 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
“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
A large abstract piece of art titled "and I know what you're like when the party ends" by Maddie Chiarolanzio (2023) hanging on a white background.
January 13, 2025 at 10:01 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A snowy street lined with snow-covered trees.
January 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A photo of the reading room at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. There are rows of long tables with green lamps on them and a high, ornate archway above.
January 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A screenshot that says: Yrsa Daley-Ward makes all of us, and all of our different sensibilities, know that bruises give you poetry, and we give you poetry, and you give we poetry, and loveliness gives you poetry, and first days give you poetry, and warnings give you poetry, and emergencies give you poetry, and bones, bones have no choice but to give us poetry. The trick is to accept what’s offered. - Kiese Laymon, forward to BONES
January 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A photo of an airline passenger reading and on the other side, an adorable small dog.
January 7, 2025 at 10:25 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A photo of clouds at dusk over the beach/ocean.
January 7, 2025 at 11:39 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
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
A stack of books on a poolside table, including HEAVY, BONE, THE NEIGHBOR FAVOR, and WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.
January 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
because writing is a soft and a hard place, all at once.
—Yrsa Daley-Ward

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #poetry
A photo of a bright pink flower on a vibrant green butterfly tree”
January 6, 2025 at 10:26 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
Don’t forget to watch for unexpected joy—like stumbling upon these little cuties.

#Sunday #writingcommunity #5amwritersclub #cats #BocaRaton #Florida #catsofbluesky #animals #nature #photography
Two cats on an outdoor deck/walkway in Boca Raton, Florida. Palm trees, plants, and a beautiful building are in the background.
January 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
Revising dialogue, focusing on how we misunderstand, interrupt, talk over each other, punt, evade, return abruptly to an earlier “slight” our ego thinks requires further defense, etc.

Conversation is messy; I want it to be in my writing, too.

#5amwritersclub #author #amwriting #writingcommunity
A picture of an outdoor table at night with Mexican food/drink and a center candle.
January 3, 2025 at 10:07 AM
jenniferzobair.bsky.social
“The person you've become while writing your book is one of novel writing's best rewards, and that reward is already yours. No one can take it away, no one can add to it. Don't forget that." - Matt Bell

#5amwritersclub #amwriting #writingcommunity #booksky #moon #ocean #newyear #newyou
The moon shining over the ocean.
January 2, 2025 at 10:21 AM