Meredith May
Meredith May, a former journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is the author of the best-selling memoir, THE HONEY BUS, about her beekeeping childhood with her grandfather in Big Sur. It has been published in eighteen countries and translated into eleven languages. She is a fifth-generation beekeeper and lives in Carmel Valley, CA, where she is working on her next book, LOVING EDIE, about life with her extremely anxious golden retriever puppy.
Twitter: @meredithmaysf
Instagram: @meredithamay
What’s the oddest thing a reader has ever asked you?
Will you read my manuscript? Followed by a thump of white pages on the table where I'm signing books. I didn't even get the chance to respond, but if I could have, I would have said that I write books; I don't greenlight them.
Favorite non-reading activity?
Beekeeping! I find it meditative to open my hives and get close to my bees. I am at my calmest when I'm in a cloud of stinging insects. It reminds me nature is bigger, smarter, and way more badass than me.
Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?
I am so ritualistic (nice word for addicted) about coffee that I built a mini-espresso bar in my kitchen. I grind organic beans from a farmer collective called Pachamama in a burr grinder for espresso I drink in the same cup every day made by a Big Sur potter. My favorite kitchen gadget is my milk frother. I pour milk into the pitcher, press one big round button, and it whirs milk into six inches of foam. I get jacked up on caffeine and start writing. If I don't do this ... I will have a bad writing day, guaranteed. I'm buzzing right now ....
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
Crosses and crucifixes. I don't subscribe to any religion, but I have a thing about them. I have more than fifty on a wall in my house. I think I saw this decor in either a magazine article about Madonna's house or the Frida Kahlo movie. Can't remember. I collect them (used to!) when traveling, and friends bring me crosses from their trips. I write the country they came from, the year, and who gave it to me on the back of each one, and hang it up. What I like about crosses is that while each culture has a different design, they are similar in that everyone hopes there is a point to their existence. It's a universal wish for death to not be final that fascinates me.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?
I play the drums, knit, sew, make beeswax candles, bake sourdough bread. I er, ahm .... know how to procrastinate.
