Tag: memoir

Blindness and Disability, Music, My Books, Writing

If You Are a Music Fan . . . You Might Like INVISIBLE VIOLETS

Chrys Buckley
a silhouette of a person with hair flying like they're head banging, with music symbols in the background, including treble clefs, bass clefs, sharp symbols, flat symbols, and music notes.

If you know (and everyone you know knows) you talk about music too much . . .

If you ever had the urge to cover a driveway or sidewalk with chalk drawings of band logos, song names, and lyrics . . .

If you credit music for getting you through your toughest times and hardest heartbreaks . . .

If you frequently have the urge to blast music while driving (or while riding in a car if you’re like me and can’t drive) and sing along at the top of your lungs . . .

If you remember your life by what albums you were listening to when and understand your life through lyrics . . .

If you were the kind of kid who answered parental questions about how the latest visit to the doctor’s office went with what songs you heard while in the waiting room . . .

If you love the 60 Songs that Explain the ’90s podcast (now 60 Songs that Explain the ’00s) or would listen to a similar podcast for your specific favorite music decade . . .

. . . then my forthcoming debut book, INVISIBLE VIOLETS: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays is a book for you. It’s a memoir in 7 essays with a few different themes running through its tracks (essays).

One of the strongest themes is disability (see this post about the disability aspect of the book), and as I write in Track 3: The Caduceus and the Muse:

Not all my writing, not even all my more personal writing, addressed albinism or disability, but I was constitutionally incapable of not writing about music.”

Music is all over this book. Obnoxiously so, even. Music was such a saving force in my life when I was young, and I hope my book evokes that particular sense of connecting with music as a teenager and how that resonates and evolves long after adolescence. How music can reach you when you’re an isolated and outcast kid in a way nothing else can reach you. How music can buoy you when you’re in your twenties and finding your way in the world. How music will always be with you, through all the ups and downs of adult life, as your tastes expand over time. I hope I’ve done a decent job of capturing something that feels beyond and before words.

Your particular favorite genres might be different from mine, and I hope that what I’ve written, while deeply specific, speaks to feelings that transcend genre. Still, you might be especially drawn to this book if you are or were a fan of ’90s rock, especially any of the many musical projects of Chris Cornell, to whose memory the book is dedicated. Almost every band that was on the Singles soundtrack is in the book. The artists and genres mentioned lean grunge and heavy and rock, and there’s also modern pop, singer-songwriter girlies across the ages, classic rock, and weirdly mentions of two very different artists doing covers of Joni Mitchell songs.

Again, though, my hope is that even when our specific tastes and faves differ, the feeling of the primacy of music that infuses this book will still resonate with you as you read.

I’m working on book playlists based on musical references and allusions in the book. One is a maximalist version that’s over the top, excessive, and 1.3 days long. The other is an abridged version that I’ve so far only been able to whittle down to 100 songs, which seems long for an abridged version but might have to stand as is. I’m also working on a word cloud of all the music in the book. So those will be incoming at some point before my book launch on March 13th!

Music as a theme is over-the-top, excessively prominent in these essays:
Track 3: The Caduceus and the Muse
Track 5: Can’t Change Me: An Unnatural History of My Names
Track 7: Distant Lights
Acknowledgments

Music as a theme is central in these essays:
Track 4: August is a Burnt Burgundy-Violet Haze
Track 6: Reasonable Doubt

Disability is present but more peripheral in these essays:
Track 1: Invisible Violet: On Seeing and Not Seeing
Track 2: Blue Alchemy

Cover image of Invisible Violets: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays by Chrys Buckley. Words are green against a textured background of different shades of purple. Near the top of the cover, there is an author blurb that reads, "A fierce manifesto about claiming your own story. This book will change you and linger long after the final page." This blurb was written by Tarn Wilson, author of In Praise of Inadequate Gifts.

~~~

For all the book details, check out the INVISIBLE VIOLETS page!

This post is part of a series, published the second Tuesday of every month, where I think about who my book is for.

~Chrys

Image Description: a silhouette of a person with hair flying like they’re head banging, with music symbols in the background, including treble clefs, bass clefs, sharp symbols, flat symbols, and music notes.

Blindness and Disability, Music, My Books, Writing

BACK COVER REVEAL!

Chrys Buckley

First there was the COVER REVEAL.

It’s been a minute since then (!) and now it’s time to reveal the back cover of INVISIBLE VIOLETS: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays! You can find book info, including how to pre-order signed and personalized copies here.

With no further ado, here is the back cover:

Back cover of Invisible Violets on a textured purple background
My Books, Writing

Invisible Violets – How to Get Signed and Personalized Books

Chrys Buckley
Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of her book Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at Portland book fest

Since announcing the release of my debut book, Invisible Violets: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays, which releases on March 13, 2026 from Wandering Aengus Press, people have asked me how they can get signed books.

I have answers for you!
And not just signed books, but also personalized!

It’s a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure depending on where you live, and so this post serves as your answers for every scenario. Whether you live near me or far away, I have ways to get signed books to you.

Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of her book Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at the Portland Book Fest

How to Get Signed Books in Portland, Oregon

There are lots of ways to get signed books in the City of Roses:

  • Join me at my launch party on March 13, 7-8:30 p.m. at BOLD Coffee and Books. There will be a conversation about the book. There will be the reading of excerpts from the book. There will be food and drinks available for purchase before and during the event, as is always the case at BOLD. And there will be book signing. You can buy the book at the event and get it signed on the spot. This will be an easy way to get a signed book and it will be a blast!
  • Come to one of my other local events and buy a book and have me sign it! A whole bunch of different events are in the works, and I’m working on creating an Events page to keep it all in one place. Suffice it to say, there will be other opportunities outside of the launch.
  • Pre-order my book (pre-order hub here) and bring your copy to any of my events or coordinate meeting up with me in person outside of events to have me sign it.

How to Get Signed Books on Orcas Island and in Seattle

Along with local events, I’m working on some Orcas and Seattle events as well.

Orcas Island: Plans aren’t definite yet, but I’m working on two separate trips for bookish events on the island. One will be in June 2026 and will be an event with my publisher and other authors at the press, details TBD. Another will be next winter, January 2027 or so, and will be more focused on my book and its many mentions of life on Orcas.

Seattle: This is a bit more ephemeral, but would likely be coupled with the Orcas trips, either on my way there or on my way back. Details TBD. My dream is to do an event at Easy Street Records in West Seattle.

For either of these locations, you could either buy the book at the event or pre-order the book and bring it to the event for me to sign.

How to Get Signed Books if You Live in the United States outside of the Pacific Northwest

Most of my inquiries so far have come from people in this category. This is for you if you:

  • Went to high school with me in New Jersey
  • Went to blind camp (or JKRC or Avalon or Drew) with me in New Jersey
  • Went to Washington College with me for a brief time
  • Went to Northern Arizona University with me for a brief time
  • Know me from a certain internet forum (iykyk)
  • Know me from Camp Orkila and don’t live in the Pacific Northwest
  • Went to medical school with me and went outside the PNW for residency and/or practice
  • Know me from social media or this website/blog
  • Don’t know me at all

To make this available to people in places I’m not likely to travel to in the near future, I’ve partnered with local bookstore Annie Bloom’s Books in Multnomah Village, and they will be my hub for signed and personalized books.

Here’s how to get signed books through Annie Bloom’s Books:

  • Order Invisible Violets from them using this direct link to my Signature Page.
  • In your Order Comment at checkout, write these things:
    • You are requesting a signed copy or a personalized copy.
    • What name you want it personalized to.
    • A quick note about how you know me, if you do, so I can write a more personalized note. This is especially helpful if you have changed your name since we knew each other most, or if I know you mostly by a screen name.
    • Your order comment could read something like this. “Requesting personalized copy, addressed to X. This is so-and-so from such-and-where.”
  • Then I’ll go in and sign and personalize and Annie Bloom’s will ship to you.

Note: This is for shipping to US addresses only! Which brings me to…

Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at the Portland Book Fest

How to Get Signed Books at the NOAH Conference (Columbus, OH)

This isn’t a done deal yet, but I’m thinking of going to the NOAH Conference this summer, and will update here with details as plans progress. If I go, I’ll definitely bring books with me to sell and sign!

How to Get Signed Books if You Live Outside the US

If you want a signed copy of my book and you live outside of the US, you can buy the book from me directly, via Venmo or what have you, which will have to include the shipping costs, and I’ll sign or personalize and mail it to you. You can always reach out to me via my Contact Form if you need to set this up.

I think I have covered every earthly possibility for getting signed books to everyone who wants one. If you have questions or need help with any of the methods, reach out to me here!

Chrys

Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at the Portland Book Fest

Image description: four photos of Chrys Buckley signing advanced reader copies of Invisible Violets at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at Portland Book Fest.

Blindness and Disability, My Books, Writing

If You Have a Disability . . . You Might Like INVISIBLE VIOLETS

Chrys Buckley
array of accessibility icons, including wheelchairs, canes, guide dogs, pregnant people, and question marks for less apparent disabilities

Or if you are disabled.

Or if you’re a person with a disability.

Or if you are living with disability.

Or if you experience disability.

Or if you have lived experience of maybe sometimes possibly experiencing this thing in your life that we all must put lots of words in front of to make it as distant as possible that we maybe sometimes possibly in whispered voices refer to as disability.

Okay, I’m obviously getting a bit over the top with that last one (though it does sometimes feel that way). My point, though, is that no matter what language you use, you are welcome here and you might find resonance in my upcoming debut essay collection, INVISIBLE VIOLETS: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who my book is for. It’s going to publish in two months, and so my thinking has had to shift more outward now that all the proofing is done and it’s on its way out into the world. (Yay! And eeeeeeeek!)

The most prominent theme running through my book is disability. So, if you are a disabled reader (or any other particular phrasing that feels right to you), this book is for you.

Even though we all experience disability differently (even if we have the same disability), I hope my words will give you that “oh yes” and “she gets me” sense while reading, a sense I’ve experienced while reading authors who have disability in common with me.

I hope my words will give voice to internal and external dynamics in a way that articulates the specific struggles and joys of disabled life in a way that makes you feel seen and understood, as other books have done for me.

I hope reading my book lights a fire under the part of you that wants to write your own story, if you’re so inclined, because there are so few books about disability by disabled people out there and there’s room for so many more, and we need more.

Not every essay in my collection has disability as its central topic. Sometimes it’s a central theme, and other times it isn’t. Because that reflects reality. Sometimes it’s all-consuming, and other times it’s more like background noise.

Disability as a theme is most prominent in these essays:
Track 1: Invisible Violet: On Seeing and Not Seeing
Track 3: The Caduceus and the Muse
Track 5: Can’t Change Me: An Unnatural History of My Names
Track 6: Reasonable Doubt

Disability is present but more peripheral in these essays:
Track 2: Blue Alchemy
Track 4: August is a Burnt Burgundy-Violet Haze

Our experiences won’t be exactly the same. They might even be wildly different. Either way, I hope there are lines and paragraphs and passages and perhaps whole essays that harmonize with your experience and give you that sense of recognition that sometimes comes with reading.

Cover image of Invisible Violets: A Mixtape in Lyric Essays by Chrys Buckley. Words are green against a textured background of different shades of purple. Near the top of the cover, there is an author blurb that reads, "A fierce manifesto about claiming your own story. This book will change you and linger long after the final page." This blurb was written by Tarn Wilson, author of In Praise of Inadequate Gifts.

~~~

For all the book details, check out the INVISIBLE VIOLETS page!

~Chrys

Image Description: an array of accessibility icons depicting people in wheelchairs, people using canes, people with guide dogs, pregnant people, people with small children, and some questions marks (which I believe represent less apparent disabilities).

Blindness and Disability, Writing

(Overdue) Writing Update: Second Place in Kay Snow

Chrys Buckley

KaySnowContestLast month, I posted a much-overdue writing update about being published in Aerial. In continuing that trend, here’s another update that is also long overdue.

Last year, I placed second in the Kay Snow Writing Contest in the category for graduate-level students. I’d previously placed third in Kay Snow nonfiction back in 2013 for an essay. This was the first time I entered since. You do have to wait a couple years to be eligible again (I think two or three) and I gave it six.

The piece I entered was a memoir chapter called “Eclipses of Jupiter” (previously called “Constant Eclipse” on here) a flashback chapter in Moonchild, the memoir project I’m working on (which you can read about in this sketch, and on my Memoir page, and see lots of posts about here).

It was also the chapter I read, so long ago, at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC as part of The Best Memoirists’ Pageant Ever in 2007, which I apparently never posted about back in the day, though I was sure I had (couldn’t find anything in my drafts either). The picture on my bio page comes from that event.

One of these days, I’d love to get published AND paid for a piece of writing. It’s always been one or the other, never both. This was a cash prize, of $100. Plus a free day at the Willamette Writers conference.

I had plans for that. The timing was perfect for the conference last summer. It fell towards the end of an Enrichment Week at medical school, meaning we had to sign up for activities but most of the week was totally open. Meaning that I could go. Meaning that my writing life and my medical student life were brilliantly coalescing for the second time that year. Back in March, the yearly AWP conference had been here, in Portland, on my bus line, perfectly overlapped with my Spring Break. It was all so charmed.

Continue reading “(Overdue) Writing Update: Second Place in Kay Snow” →

Blindness and Disability, Music, Writing

The Chapter Two Curse – An In-Depth Look at Revision

Chrys Buckley

peaceEver since I got back from AWP, I’ve been working on revising my memoir manuscript, Moonchild.

It’s been a real challenge.

But as challenges go, it was relatively okay for the first chapter. A lot of work, yes. Lots of stitching together, inserting, deleting, writing new material, actually getting clearer on memories of the time that I’d forgotten and writing those in, shifting focus, bringing in more background. It took a lot of time and energy but it was fairly pleasant.

Then I got to Chapter Two, and that was more like…well, a clusterfuck.

Continue reading “The Chapter Two Curse – An In-Depth Look at Revision” →

Samples, Writing

Miss You, Love

Chrys Buckley

Our talk turns to crushes. “I just miss that feeling, you know?” I say. “Like when you’re just so alive that even when it hurts you’re just glad you can feel. I miss the excitement.”

Jillian says, “My friend Emily calls it the ketchup phase.”

“Catching up with what?” I ask, uncertain.

“Well, because it’s like, when you first fall for someone, they’re all you think about. No matter what the subject, it reminds you of them. Someone could say, ‘pass the ketchup,’ and your first thought is, oh wow, my guy likes ketchup too.”

I sigh. “Yes, that’s what I miss, the ketchup phase. I hope I’m not too old or numb.”

~~~

A tiny little conversational snippet from Moonchild. It took place almost fifteen (!!!) years ago, this talk, but the funny thing is that I feel a little bit of that at the current moment, too. And wow, the topic of passion, in so many different forms, keeps coming up in the manuscript. It may be more of an underlying theme in Moonchild than I realized.

Check out other Samples, Published and Early Work!

~Chrys

Music, Writing

Writing, Music and the Places Where they Overlap

Chrys Buckley

West_Seattle_Easy_Street_02So many things have me revisiting my musical past as of late. It’s really kind of odd how so many things converged at once. Sometimes I feel like, for whatever reason, I just really let music slip away for awhile, and over the last month, a switch has flipped and all of a sudden, I’m back.

I think I’m a little too embarrassed to admit one of the things that started all this. I’ll just say this: it was a TV show. And it wasn’t that I loved the music on the show so much as one of the characters reminded me of how I used to feel about music, and that got me listening to CDs again, and trying to rebuild my old music collection by buying a bunch of used CDs, and looking into concerts and shows again. Okay, I’ll give a hint, since it sort of relates to the remainder of the post, this TV show I don’t quite want to name is named after a song.

Continue reading “Writing, Music and the Places Where they Overlap” →

Music, Samples, Writing

All of Our Rubbish Dreams

Chrys Buckley

hsbguitarplayingSome moments are crystallized in memory, even if they are ordinary.

I remember one early evening in the springtime of ninth grade, I was sitting on the arm of the couch, which Mom hated, and wearing my Hole t-shirt with the heart logo, probably the band I loved that Mom hated most, and she stood by the stove getting ready for dinner. I was watching MTV–this is when they still played videos all the time–and singing along. Low spring light came in from the window near the TV and left big fans of light on the rug that stretched all the way to the kitchen where Mom stirred frozen vegetables in a pan.

“So, Chrys,” she said, and I could tell by the way she wasn’t turning towards me, the way she was trying too hard to sound like a thought just occurred to her, that whatever was coming, she’d worked herself up to it. But I didn’t move my gaze from the TV. “What do you want to be when you’re older?”

Continue reading “All of Our Rubbish Dreams” →

Music, Samples, Writing

When You’re Eighteen with Crippling Writers Block, Music Can Set You Free

Chrys Buckley

EMindexInstead of sitting down to absorb the album, I let it trickle in, play it over and over while I read my astronomy textbook, when I doodle in my journal hoping to come up with story ideas for my creative writing class, when I’m on the phone, when I’m reading books and when Jillian comes over to chill.

One night I sit on my inflatable chair writing away in my journal with half my mind on the page and half with the music. As I try to think up story ideas, a song called “Moonchild” starts, launching me into the ether in its intro. Something about the words, the singing, though I don’t know it by heart yet, makes me feel at all like my old vibrant self, or at least its shadow. By the time I get to the bridge, the song stops me in my tracks, using my foot absentmindedly against my bed to rock my chair. I have the seed of a story idea.

Continue reading “When You’re Eighteen with Crippling Writers Block, Music Can Set You Free” →