In 1998, Emily Slatin embarked on a journey that simply wasn’t considered an option before the turn of the twenty-first century. Plenty of people started websites back then, but often only in the hopes of making a quick buck. So, to say she was ahead of her time was an understatement.
As a long-time photographer who’d already been honing her craft for over a decade, she saw an opportunity to share her photography with the World Wide Web. Even more important to Emily, though, was the opportunity to share her other passion: her writings.
She and I crossed paths casually a couple of years back on Twitter before I went on a long social media hiatus due to various personal issues. Back then, I knew Emily only as a professional photographer who dabbled in creative journalistic nonfiction. It didn’t occur to me that writing was as much a passion of hers as photography.
Reading through a number of her essays, I could tell that she was a specially talented writer who’d been long toiling at the craft. But she seemed to look backward far too often, something I have done myself on many occasions. I asked myself, what if she were to project forward how much her already beautiful writing might evolve?
While Emily dabbled in journalism and even poetry at one time, creative nonfiction is truly her bread and butter. Without a doubt, her writing has always been good; but there’s no doubt that she reached new heights with writing “A Little Ghost for the Offering.” It remains one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever read.
I come across plenty of outstanding writing every so often, even on online threads as commonplace as a Twitter writer’s lift. But there was a special level of care taken with this piece and the emotions were easily palpable as I read it. After reading it, I made it a point to better know Emily Slatin. Even though we’d casually known each other for a while, it was very important to me to get to know what made her such a special writer.
As it turned out, my initial impressions of her writing style were proven correct. I’d assumed she’d been influenced by beat writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, authors who influenced my own work over the years. Not only were they influences, but Allen Ginsberg himself personally mentored Emily! Ginsberg saw legendary writer potential in her from an early age. While I certainly could see the potential now, having a legend like Ginsberg tell her that and personally show her the tricks of his trade is priceless!
Emily and I began to talk intensely in the year 2020. COVID-19 hit both of our creative efforts very hard. We both dealt with many different issues in our lives and both of us had a lot of things to work through. It turned out that we have almost identical personalities, both of us having the INFJ personality type.
We got along famously within a very short time and became close personal friends. It then became our mutual life purpose to help the other find a crazy high level of success. Emily helped me to raise my own standards to brand new heights; meanwhile, I made her realize that Allen Ginsberg was correct about her.
I feel honored to have my words serve as introductory remarks to what I believe is the culmination of blood, sweat, and tears that have often gone mostly unrecognized. While her photography has won awards, and it’s truly brilliant to be sure, Emily’s writing is what truly drew me to her. Not only has Emily helped me to take my own writing to another level but also helped me become the best possible person I can be.
It’s amazing how life works sometimes, to take two people that feel lost and at a difficult crossroads and somehow get them standing side-by-side seemingly by completely random chance. Without a doubt, certain things do happen for a reason. But oftentimes our own free will leaves us with a choice that we can’t possibly appreciate in the moments we’re forced to make them.
Fortunately, for Emily and me, we made the right choice to partner up and make one another stronger. Sometimes, in moments of great weakness, we finally dig into the deepest recesses of our hearts and pull out our very best stuff. It’s my greatest honor to be a part of making her work a finished product. Through her Dark Horse diary series, you’ll get a glimpse into how legends are made through the tireless, painstaking toils of an indomitable spirit.
(Dark Horse Volume 1 / Dark Horse Volume 2 on Barnes & Noble)
Writing can take you places that perhaps no other art can. It can help you meet people you couldn’t have dreamed of ever meeting before. So, if you take just one thing away from this tremendous tome of wisdom and sense, let it be this: writing is perhaps the hardest profession there is, but just as with anything else, success is there for those who never give up.
~ Amelia Desertsong