Harmonopoly 27: In Which I Update My Author Bio from 2017
Turns out you can get a lot done in two years.
Me hosting Story Club Columbus back in November. I like to dress like an old-timey bandit when I host my open mic. That way nobody’s surprised when I steal their pocketwatches.
2019 is almost over, and I cannot tell you how happy I am that this bitch is nearly dead. If you’re one of those people who have posted a nice, pasted-hued recounting of the trials and tribulations you overcame this year, I am genuinely happy for you! I am glad this year gave you the tools to grow and change and evolve into the shiny new 2020 Pokemon of yourself.
On my part: I got divorced and moved across town, got my heart busted up by some attractive jerks, dealt with a housing crisis, did not deal with a mental health crisis and lived off of avocado toast for two months, got diagnosed, got medicated, and went on approximately one thousand terrible dates. I don’t have it in me to fake personal growth for the internet right now. Do you have any idea how much time I have spent in excruciating getting-to-know-you chats at drink-and-paint events over the last year? Even one hour is too many. 2019 had a few bright spots, but the vast majority of it was an uncontrolled dumpster fire, and I cannot wait to kick its flaming carcass into the river and move on.
But that isn’t to say I accomplished nothing of value this year. Despite my struggles, I had a pretty solid year of creativity and I have done much I am proud of. I got a vivid reminder of that recently. My friend Amanda Page is editing an anthology of Columbus writers for Belt Publishing, one of my favorite indie Midwest publishers (and oh look, it’s taking pre-orders right now!) I’m lucky enough to be one of the writers featured in the book. A little while ago, Amanda was working on the final copy-edits for the book, and she realized the bio I submitted was probably out-of-date so she sent it to me to fact check. Here is is, in all of it’s overconfident baby’s-first-author-bio glory:
Harmony Cox is a Midwestern essayist and storyteller. Her writing focuses on feminism, pop culture, body positivity, and other contemporary issues as informed by the lens of personal experiences. She also writes short-form humor and satire as the mood strikes her. She is based in Columbus, Ohio and is a proud member and supporter at Wild Goose Creative. She can be found at Speak Easy Columbus, the WGC Writer’s Group, or anywhere creative people are hanging out and causing a ruckus. You can read more of her work at harmonycox.com .
A fun fact: because sometimes publishing moves incredibly slowly, this bio was submitted to Belt in the heady final days of 2017. At that time, calling myself a “writer” was a wholly aspirational gambit. I didn’t have any bylines, I didn’t have much performing experience, and I didn’t have the supportive network of peers that I have now. All I had was a barely-read Tumblr, a stack of rejection letters, a handful of very encouraging friends, and a foolhardy belief in myself. And yet, I spent an afternoon grinding my teeth and fudging the little scraps of achievement at my disposal into something that- in my eyes -seemed like an OK author bio. Did I mention that nobody ever asked me to actually speak at Speak Easy? No, I did not. Did I buy harmonycox.com the minute after I submitted my bio? Yes, I did. In my view, I had no right to call myself a writer, but I felt like nobody else ever would unless I started loudly insisting that they do so. So, I wrote a bio that reflected that, and submitted a piece I was proud of, and crossed my fingers that would be enough to get the ball rolling for me.
Now, compare the weird word salad above to my current author bio:
Harmony Cox is a Midwestern essayist, humorist, and storyteller. Her work has appeared in The Belladonna, Narratively, Catapult, McSweeneys, and elsewhere. She is based in Columbus, Ohio and is the host of Story Club Columbus, a monthly live literature show. She loves her cat Bandit, coffee, and writing things for you- yes, especially you.
So, 2018 to 2019. What’s different? My bio is shorter now, probably because more of the words in it make sense and I’m less insecure about the whole thing. But also, goddamn, look at all that progress! The Belladonna was my first-ever published by-line, secured in the first few months of 2018. Seeing my name in print I hadn’t generated myself was enough to motivate me to keep trying. Next came Narratively, and soon enough came the rest. At the end of 2019, I have multiple bylines in national publications. I run a monthly live literature event in my hometown. I get to run events for The Columbus Arts Council, Wild Goose Creative, and a couple places I can’t tell you about just yet (but I am so excited!!!). I get emails and tweets from people who tell me how much my work means to them. I don’t just get to tell my own stories; I’m at the point where I can create stages and platforms to help other people do it too, and that fulfills me in a way nothing else does. I’m doing it now, I got the eye of the tiger and the thrill of the fight, I am a writer.
Earlier this year, as attentive readers will remember, I had a bit of a crisis of faith. (This was a different event than the mental health crisis above. Like I said, dumpster year.) I wasn’t getting anything sold. I had two manuscripts rejected by their intended publishers- and then their back-up publishers, and then enough other publishers I just kinda gave up. And yes, I was having a tough time for lots of other reasons too, and yes I pulled my socks up and got some help, and I’m better for it.
But I wish I’d had this old bio to look at and think about then, and compare it to the bio I’m sharing with people now. It can be difficult to see the kind of progress you’re making on the day to day, especially when creativity doesn’t pay your bills and you’re eternally machete-ing your way through a dense canopy of bullshit to find time and energy for the things you care about. And ultimately, external validation can only give you so much, and you have to find the love and worth that keeps you grounded inside of yourself if you ever hope to keep it. Bylines don’t mean anything in the long run. A book contract is just a piece of paper. And so on.
But also: I GOT PUBLISHED IN A BEST OF MCSWEENEY’S ANTHOLOGY THIS YEAR AND EVERYONE WHO EVER DOUBTED ME CAN SUCK IT.
(Including me, I guess? I didn’t think this through.)
Speaking of McSweeney’s and author bios, I wrote a bunch of jokes about them here and I think they’re pretty funny! I’ll be sending out one last newsletter next week to round up all the cool, fun stuff I made this year. (I’m waiting on one more piece to come out, so keep your eyes peeled for that!) In the meantime…stay frosty? I dunno, it’s late and I’m too tired to put a neat bow on all this. I don’t believe in pretending that experiencing pain serves some higher purpose or makes you a better person, because it does not. But if you can hang in there and wait out the bad stuff, good stuff might be on the way. I still believe in you, no matter what. See you next week.