Inspiration & Perspiration:
Danielle Trussoni’s Newsletter

May 9th, 2020

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”
– Thomas Edison

Good afternoon!

It has been another exciting week here in the writing cave! This week, the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction was announced. I was the chair jurist, and so that means for the past year, the jury (me and four others) read dozens and dozens of books, looking for three finalists. Those finalists were The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, The Topeka School by Ben Lerner and (the winner) The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.

The jury does not choose the winner. We send our three favorite books to the Pulitzer Board, a group of 10 journalists, artists, academics, and writers who then vote. This year, they chose Colson Whitehead, who also won a few years back for The Underground Railroad.

The audio drama I created with my husband and creative partner Hadrien Royo also launched this last week. We had a premiere on Zoom with the voice actors, which was a lot of fun. If you didn’t hear the first episode, be sure to download it here.

I’ve been going stir crazy, as I’m sure is the same for everyone who is staying inside during the pandemic. Last week, I decided that I would get dressed up and go out on my porch. Here me with my very purple lipstick.

I’ve been inspired this week by fresh produce from farms in the Hudson Valley. There is a company that I love called Field Goods that brings the best of Hudson Valley farms together in one place. I order online and they deliver a box every week. This week, there were purple and yellow carrots, mushrooms and peas, and so I made a risotto:

I feel so grateful to everyone who is out working in public spaces through the pandemic. Medical personnel, those working in grocery stores, delivery men and women, everyone at the post office: Thank you for what you do.

To show my gratitude, I’m giving away 10 copies of my novel to essential workers. If you are an essential worker or know someone who is, send me an email (respond here) and tell me what you do and I will put your name on the list. If I have more than 10 names, I will do a drawing.

Here is a photo I received this week of a bookseller selling my book curbside at Barnes & Noble. I keep it on my phone to remember how amazing and dedicated we must be to get through this.

I hope you are staying safe and that you are finding ways to make life beautiful right now.

Thank you for sharing my week. Until next time,

Danielle Trussoni