Every now and then I manage to talk a small press author into showing us a little skin... tattooed skin, that is. I know there are websites and books out there that have been-there-done-that already, but I hadn't seen one with a specific focus on the authors and publishers of the small press community. Whether it's the influence for their book, influenced by their book, or completely unrelated to the book, we get to hear the story behind their indie ink....
Indie Ink Runs Deep: Megan Okonsky
Recently, one of my in-laws
asked me to tell the story of my tattoos. The sun was going down on the beach,
and I have 15 tattoos, so I told him to choose between New Zealand, Canada,
Thailand, Argentina, Indonesia, Texas, or Philadelphia. I’ve gotten at least
one tattoo in each of these places, so I hoped his choice would narrow down
which story I would tell.
I could do a similar thing with
books and movies. While many of my tattoos are souvenirs from the places I’ve
traveled, others are souvenirs of times in my life when a book changed my
perspective or opened up the world. Since I’m celebrating the release of my
debut novel (should I be getting a tattoo of The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace?) I’ll stick with
books.
What would you like to read
about first? The story of a politician in the South? A writer taking a road
trip across the US? Or a cowgirl with very large thumbs?
All The King’s Men: One of the
two rose tattoos I have includes a little spider web. When I saw it on the
flash sheet, I knew I had to get it. I had always wanted a spiderweb tattoo,
but not in the “I’ve been to prison” way, because that would not be authentic
to my story. I like the idea of a
spider web tattoo because I read All the
King’s Men in my senior year of high school and was always drawn to Robert
Penn Warren’s description of the world as a spider web. It feels cautionary and
freeing at the same time. This is a forgotten classic—one I haven’t read since
high school—and one that I would be cautiously curious to revisit.
On the Road: I have a blurry little tattoo on
my bicep that says “the mad ones,” because I didn’t have enough room for the
full quote. I first found this quote (cringe) on the back of a Hallmark card
when I was working there in high school. Around the same time, I had read Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night for
the first time. I could hear the call of the Beat writers telling me to go out
and live a full life. Their encouragement brought me to Philly from my small
town of Doylestown, to Europe after I graduated college, and to the rest of the
world. I recently brought the ARC of The
Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace to Jack Kerouac’s old haunt in San
Francisco; it felt like a blessing of sorts.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues: My cowgirl tattoo is named Sissy Hankshaw, and she’s an homage
to both the wonderful time I’ve spent in Texas and the adoration I have for Tom
Robbins’s prose. Both, as one can imagine, are complicated feelings. Texas is
Texas and Tom Robbins is Tom Robbins. There is a lot of -phobia and -ism that I
wish I could wash away from their laws and their writing. At least with Tom
Robbins, I can say, “Times were different back then,” however weak of an
argument it is. Texas? It’s 2025 and your government’s still a mess.
I suppose I should get a tattoo
that speaks to the journey I’ve taken so far with The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace, but seeing as the
book comes out in a week, I don’t exactly know where that journey is going to
take me…yet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tombstone, Texas, has never seen anything like the barefoot travelers who barrel in one afternoon, looking like they just stepped out of the seventies. They appear right in the middle of Pinky Elizabeth Swear’s eulogy for her beloved rescue cat, Sweet Potato Grace (may she rest in eternal peace and abundance of goat cheese). To be honest, Pinky is relieved at the interruption. She’d planned to use the second half of her eulogy to come out of the closet. Now, she doesn’t have to.
Are the
newcomers a circus troupe? Revolutionaries? A sinister cult? While the town
grows suspicious and rumor mills churn, Pinky finds herself drawn to the
charisma of the barefoot strangers. Perhaps, she starts to think, the wrath of
Tombstone is a thing worth risking in order to be true to oneself.
Megan
Okonsky is a ghostwriter, novelist, and murder mystery party host. Known for
her conversational voice and wit, Okonsky specializes in helping business
leaders uncover their "hero's journey." As a novelist, she writes
about cats and queer joy. Her work has appeared in Reductress and Mantra Wellness. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her
wife and their cat, Funny Business.
Find out more about Megan here: Substack | Instagram | Website
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