By Letitia L. Moffitt
Sidewalk Dancing
Story Collection
A finalist for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year in the multicultural fiction category.
Sidewalk Dancing is a careful exploration of a diverse family’s dynamics told with the subtle wrist bends and brush strokes of a perpetual outsider. Multiple narratives told by a gifted multi-ethnic artist create a beautifully crooked mosaic.
Miranda McGee, the daughter of shy, pragmatic Grace Chao and globetrotting dreamer George McGee, feels like a social pariah. She is a factory original, not bound to one land, nor one people. Miranda knows she doesn’t entirely belong anywhere.
She doesn’t understand how her parents ever married, how they picked up and moved to Oahu. How, despite their cultural differences, they could start a new life, build a house, raise a child, and run a popular local diner.
Miranda may feel like an outcast in Hawaii or New York, but it is her alienation from her family environment and her own identity that makes her realize that some people feel like outsiders no matter where they are, and this alone may be the one thing her family members have in common.
Letitia L. Moffitt
Letitia L. Moffitt was born and raised in Hawaii. She received a doctoral degree in English/Creative Writing from Binghamton University, and she taught creative writing at Eastern Illinois University for five years. Her novel-in-stories, Sidewalk Dancing, was published by Atticus Books in November 2013, and her novels Trace and Vibe/Sync (Books 1 and 2 of the TraceWorld trilogy) were published by Cantraip Press in 2015 and 2016. In her spare time she runs marathons and ultramarathons. Hey, why not.
New from Letitia
Now Available
Bird People
Memoir
“… a blueprint for anyone wishing to provide the best possible life for a captive large bird."
— Dot Schwarz, Birds and Birdkeeping
After moving from New York City to rural Illinois, writer Letitia Moffitt met veterinarian Ken Welle. As she began to share more of her life with him, Letitia realized this would also mean sharing her time with animals. Yet she never suspected how tense, terrifying, and noisy those moments would be. Ken loved birds—big, beautiful macaws in particular—and he did not merely want to own them. He wanted them to fly free.
Bird People tells the story of Ken’s struggle to make his dream come true, and how Letitia found her own way to share that dream. It’s a tale of love, delight, sorrow, adventure, and truly massive amounts of work, as Ken and Letitia trained the birds – a blue-and-gold named Boston, and a green-wing named Phoenix – and transformed their living space to be not just bird-friendly, but bird-centric. It’s the tale of two adult humans, the dog who helped them find each other, and the birds who became the focus of all their lives. It’s a story about living your dreams, even when they don’t turn out how you expect.
Above all, Letitia Moffitt’s touching, inspiring, often-hilarious memoir is a reminder that hard times are as valuable as good times, and that all the moments matter.
Other Books
Trace
She knows what happens when you die.
Vibe / Sync
The newest inhabitants of TraceWorld will get inside your head.
“I loved these stories, which are poignant, funny, nuanced and engaging. Moffitt creates complicated, interesting relationships between her characters, whom one can’t help but like and admire, flaws and all.”
– Books, Personally
Recent Events
Urbana, Illinois, July 26 at 7 p.m.
JaM with Bird People
Letitia read from her new memoir, Bird People, and signed paperbacks. Music was provided by JaM.
Charleston, Illinois, July 23 at 6 p.m.
Guest Author, EIU English Studies Camp
Letitia read from her new memoir Bird People for participants at the Eastern Illinois University English Studies Camp.
Urbana, Illinois, June 18 at 6 p.m.
Bird People Launch Party
Letitia read from her new memoir Bird People and signed paperbacks. Special guest appearances by avian vet Ken Welle and green wing macaw Fred Bird.
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mary@cantraip.com
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lmoffitt.author@divisophia.com