“A long-overdue study of the middle-American vernacular, and how that vernacular informs our identity . . . A regionally specific Urban Dictionary.” —Inside Hook
 
The Pittsburgh toilet. Squeaky cheese. City chicken. Shampoo Banana. Chevy in the Hole. These are all phrases that are familiar to Midwesterners, but foreign to anyone living outside the region. Find out what they mean in How to Speak Midwestern. Edward McClelland will not only explain what Midwesterners say, but how and why they say it. He examines the causes of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, one of the most significant changes in English pronunciation in a thousand years; explains why the accents in Fargo miss the nasality that’s a hallmark of Minnesota speech; and reveals why Chicagoans talk more like people from Buffalo than their next-door neighbors in Wisconsin. For outsiders, McClelland will include helpful information such as “How to Talk Through Your Nose,” “How to Mispronounce Foreign Place Names,” and “‘Well, That’s Different’: How to Passive-Aggressively Criticize People, Places and Things.”
 
If you’re from the Midwest, you’ll have a better understanding of why you talk the way you do. If you’re not, well, you’ll know exactly what to say the next time someone ends a sentence with “eh?”
 
“How to Speak Midwestern is a fascinating read, whether you hail from WOWOland, the UP, Cereal City, or Baja Minnesota.” —Chicagoist
 
“A dictionary wrapped in some serious dialectology inside a gift book trailing a serious whiff of Relevance.” —The New York Times

“The most thoughtful, engaging, encouraging book I’ve ever read about how hard it is to be a writer and why you should do it anyway.” ―New York Times bestselling author Sarah Knight of the No Fucks Given guides

Writer and editorial consultant Ron Hogan helps readers develop an ongoing writing practice as an end in and of itself, not a means to publication. Many people pick up the guitar without eyeing a career as a professional musician, or start painting without caring if they get a gallery. But with writing the assumption seems to be that the goal must be to get published. Why? Why is it acceptable to attain technical proficiency at “Stairway to Heaven” or plein air watercolors as a hobby, while writing is expected to earn its keep?
 
In Our Endless and Proper Work, Ron Hogan argues writing should be an end in itself. The founder of the literary site Beatrice, and creator of the popular newsletter “Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives,” Hogan offers concrete steps to help writers develop ongoing creative practice in chapters such as “Reclaiming Your Time for Writing” and “Finding Your Groove.” Sprinkled throughout are adorable illustrations by “Positive Doodles” creator Emm Roy.
 
This concise, inspirational book encourages all people to take up writing because it can help you become a happier, more whole and engaged person.
 
“An accessible book that packs an impressive amount of wisdom and pragmatic advice into each chapter.” ―Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

“Ron Hogan offers practical tips . . . alongside what is ultimately a philosophy of how to make a mindful and joyful adventure of one's life.” ―Raechel Anne Jolie, author of Rust Belt Femme

Essays mourning the losses of the COVID pandemic, and a guide to writing your own: “A wonderful resource for those seeking an outlet for their grief.” —Publishers Weekly
 
In 2020, Martha Greenwald invited mourners to write memories of loved ones lost to COVID on the Who We Lost website. The site has been growing ever since, as the bereaved continue to write and publish stories, and the writers’ toolbox section of the website offers guidance and prompts for anyone wishing to contribute their story to this grassroots public memorial.

The resultant book, Who We Lost: A Portable COVID Memorial, contains dozens of essays and a writing guide for those wishing to add their own story about a loved one who died from COVID. It is a community-generated tribute, a eulogy, and a collective memorial—the first book that focuses on the grief of the COVID-bereaved, and offers a purposeful activity that respects mourners as well as the mourned.
 
“Who We Lost manages, in its specificity, to immortalize not only the people whose lives and losses are represented here but also so many others whose names have gone unlisted.” —Third Coast Review