If I’m reading the room correctly, we are, collectively, having a moment of anxiety. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it is. This is pretty common in periods of transition, even if it’s a good transition, and we are most definitely transitioning right now.
Surprise-releasing a novella that was written pretty quickly was so good for my mental health. You’d think it’d be the opposite, right? So I thought I’d talk about that a little today. But first…
On Threads a little while ago, someone’s post went unintentionally viral—as often happens over there. It was a post bemoaning the “just write” advice as not possible for someone who has a day job, kids, life responsibilities, and other things taking up one’s time. And, while I think the spirit of the thread was lost in the discourse—as often happens over there—writers gave an interesting look into their writing lives and what it means to them to “just write.” So, of course I have to weigh in.
If you’ve been seeing the social media posts about Romance Con being absolutely magical, I’m here to tell you that it’s all true. It was an incredible weekend, and I’m still glowing from it. I can’t wait to give you my official recap.
I have so many things to celebrate. I am so fortunate, and I am truly so, so happy. But I can’t let this weekend pass without acknowledging something really huge and sad. It’s not my typical post today, but… I don’t know. I’m feeling called to write about this, and who am I to argue with that?
TW for discussions of pregnancy loss on this one. If you’re feeling vulnerable about that, skip this one. Or scroll past to the Updates section.
I have been in my feels recently about this whole author thing. It looks both exactly and not at all like I thought it would. Lately, though, I’ve been struggling with a bit of an identity crisis as it pertains to all things in my life.
Y’all. I have been deep in the muck this summer. I am grateful that I can schedule this newsletter so I can take a breather with my family as we are on a little end-of-summer vacation this week, but I finally feel like a fog is clearing away from my brain, and it is so refreshing to be on the other side of it.
Which also means I figured I should talk a bit about mental health today.
Hello and happy Friday afternoon, fellow readers. I know it’s late for a coffee break. We have officially hit that point in the summer when I am only vaguely aware of what day it is, and I wisely decided to take yesterday off for a bike ride and swim with my kids. Buy the time I realized it was Thursday, I was in that state of delicious summer exhaustion that simply cannot be interrupted by a little thing like writing a newsletter. And, here we are.
But I’m going to make it up to you with the sunshine vibey romance playlist of your dreams. Cool? Cool.
I’ve been seeing this sentiment a lot lately. People won’t or have stopped picking up indie books as a general rule. There are obvious reasons why I think that’s a bad policy to have (I mean, hello, I’m an indie author trying to sell books here), but I can also admit there are some issues with the industry right now. However, I do think if you don’t read indie books as a rule, you’re missing out.
And now on to your daily dose of feminism. Long before I ever fell in love with romance novels (pun intended), I was a feminist blogger and op-ed writer (under my real name… you won’t find any of that stuff if you search for Allie Samberts), so this is my wheelhouse, and something I feel passionately about.
*tips head back and forth and hops on her feet like a fighter getting ready to enter the ring* Here we go.
View More