Salem to Salem: Roe V. Wade

I wrote Salem to Salem during the gigantic summer of 2022. It was the best summer of my life. But it wasn't so good for everyone. In fact, it was pretty horrible. The overturning of Roe V. Wade occurred on the day I wrote the scene when Abigail confesses to Barb that the town council are pulling their strings and they have evil in their community. It was a dark and nasty day, in which a shadow appeared to hover over anyone with something of a liberal consciousness.

I'd not really describe myself as a liberal but I back a woman's right to end a pregnancy and the past and future horror of what the Dobbs decision meant weighed on my mind as I wrote that sliver of the book. The scene in which Abigail rests in Barb's arms and they listen to the malevolent town council plot over the radio was written the night Roe V. Wade was overturned; there was such a sad, eerie feeling in my room that night. The scene I wrote didn't even feel comforting; it felt resigned. This helplessness as the horror of horrors rained over you. I remember listening to the Phoebe Bridgers song "Moon Song" (a beautiful song I'll unfortunately always associate with that night), and how the song reminded me of walking through a place after violent rainfall, looking around and going, "what on earth has happened here?"