Hello, friends, and Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all who celebrated this week. Due to illnesses, our family plans were canceled so we had a quiet dinner at home, just the three of us. We went on a long walk by the river, ate roasted lamb (the baby had milk), toasted ourselves for six weeks of parenthood now under our belts—and went to bed early.
I’m so incredibly grateful.
In
this week, titled “The True Science of Gratitude,” Easter defines gratitude as:“You got something good thanks to no effort of your own.” - Michael Easter
This struck a chord with me immediately. There are so many things lately that I’ve received and am receiving that I didn’t ask for, didn’t realize I needed, and did absolutely nothing to earn—and I’m wise enough now not to feel guilty, but just to be grateful.
As my late Grandpop always said, “I’m blessed, I’m blessed, I’m blessed.”
The Great Unsubscribe
Just as dishes accumulate throughout the day, waiting for the evening after we’ve put the baby to bed, I’ve found that this year I’ve accumulated a lot of extra stuff as well—distracting email subscriptions, payment subscriptions I don’t even remember signing up for, unnecessary meetings that I already know won’t go anywhere, books and clothes I bought and ended up not liking, and mindsets that aren’t helping me get where I want to go.
My life feels cluttered.
I have some major goals to accomplish next year:
I’m launching the Hungry Authors book with my friend Liz
Liz and I are launching a cohort Book Mapping class (details to come!)
I’m ghostwriting two books (and open to taking one more in the summer/fall 2024!)
I’m changing up some things with this newsletter
I’m working on my personal essays + my self-efficacy book (why has it been SO freaking hard to write?!)
Oh yeah, and we’re fostering a baby with hopes to add one more little kiddo to our crew soon
Frankly, I don’t have time for all of the extra stuff management that my life has been requiring of me lately.
I’m guessing you feel the same way, too?
Many of us have specific dreams in mind for our writing lives, but maybe you don’t yet know what those are. It’s okay if you don’t have writing projects lined up or goals to push your writing forward. Sometimes the clutter is so intense that we can’t even think clearly about what we want.
All the more reason to join me in what I’m calling The Great Unsubscribe.
It started a few weeks ago, when I opened my email and spent an hour glancing through and then deleting the 100+ emails that had somehow gathered in my inboxes after a mere 24 hours of not checking them.
This is ridiculous, I thought as I looked at one. I bought one thing from this company three years ago. Why am I still getting these emails?
Unsubscribe.
Then I happened to check the credit card statement for a card I hardly use anymore and which gets paid automatically every month, so I rarely check the statement. I found a $3 recurring charge that I didn’t recognize. It’s been charged to my card for over a year now—$36+ whole dollars spent on who knows what. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s definitely not making my life better and I work too hard for my money to have it wasted.
Unsubscribe.
What else have I been subscribing to without realizing it? I started to wonder.
A lot, it turns out.
And what has it been costing me? Time and money, yes, but also brain space. Missed opportunities. It’s been causing anxiety I didn’t know I had until I started to release some of this stuff. And I mean stuff in the most pejorative sense of the word: garbage, trash, clutter, mess, chaos.
I like to have lots of blank space in my life so that I can fill that space with more meaningful things that give me joy and purpose.
All writers need blank space in which to think, plan, and create.
So I decided it’s time to reclaim my blank space.
For the next four weeks leading up to the holidays, I’d like to invite you to unsubscribe with me. We’ll start with the outside stuff—the emails, the payments, the appointments, the physical time-sucks, etc.—and then, when those are no longer obstacles, we’ll have more space to tackle the inside stuff—the mindsets and thought patterns that are holding us back.
We’ll take it slow because I don’t like making major changes overnight. We’re going to work our way into this, carefully peeling back the layers of crud that have crusted over our creativity so that we can get to the good, shiny stuff underneath.
I’d love to start 2024 with a fresh slate—wouldn’t you?
For now, this week, just start to observe. Ask yourself the following questions:
What’s taking up space in my life?
What is it costing me?
What could I be doing if I wasn’t doing/thinking about/stressing about X?
How would I feel if I let this one thing go?
If you want, you can start to make a list of possible things you might want to unsubscribe from or record your answers to these questions.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, friends. Next week, the real work begins!
My Favorite Gifts for Writers
If you’re doing your Christmas shopping (for yourself or others!) I wanted to share with you some of my favorite bookish and writerly gifts that you might consider getting for a writer in your life. By the way, these are not affiliate links and I get no kick-backs from these. I truly endorse these products and would love to see them sell well!
Feelings Wheel and Habit Tracker stickers from Kristin Vanderlip
My friend Kristin has a wonderful shop full of things you should peruse, but two of my favorites are the Feelings Wheel and the Habit Tracker stickers. I keep the Feelings Wheel sticker on the inside of my journal and reference it often when I’m writing and reflecting. As an Enneagram 9, sometimes the hardest thing is knowing how I feel and I love looking at all of my options! The Habit Tracker sticker is also handy to keep on your laptop or desk for those of us who like adding a little checkmark after we’ve done our writing.
Squire Rollerball pen and the Strategic Index cards from Baron Fig
The Squire Rollerball pen is incredible!! It writes SO smoothly and just feels elegant in your hand. It’s pricey for a pen, but I love that you can buy different ink cartridges for it and switch out the color ink when you need to change things up. It’s an investment in your writing or a friend’s that you will not regret.
The Strategic index cards are also my go-tos for book mapping and for making my weekly to-do lists. I don’t have a fancy system for keeping track of everything that needs to be done. I literally just make a list on one of these index cards and check off my tasks as I go!
Rifle Paper Co. porcelain mug with books (or this fun holiday-themed one!)
My favorite coffee mug has been a feature of many Instagram posts, and I’ve gotten so many compliments on it. Obviously, the books they selected to be on it are classics and some of my favorites, and the gold trim adds a classy, festive touch.
Hot Apple Chai blend from Cheiman Teas
I buy these small packets of chai from Cheiman Teas, a local Chattanooga vendor, to give out as gifts to my clients and the Hungry Authors podcast guests. EVERYONE loves them!! The Chai is so rich and tastes good either hot or cold. I like to make it with vanilla almond milk for an extra sweet treat. My favorite flavor of chai is lavender, but the pumpkin and hot apple chai blends are also delicious!
I’ve had this tee for years. Literally, like 10 years. And it’s still one of my favorites. The color is a deep purple that feels classy, even while the old library dates give it vintagey vibes. The cut is also flattering and it can be dressed up or down with no problem!
More for You
Editor at PRH Cancels Millions of Dollars of Debt—After Her Passing
Liz and I have said it many times and we’ll say it again: Book people are the best people. Editor Casey McIntyre, who worked at a Penguin Random House imprint publishing YA, recently passed away of ovarian cancer at the scarily young age of 37. But she will leave a long legacy not just of great books she acquired and published, but also millions of dollars of debt that she is still, posthumously, helping to erase. Read more about it and consider donating here.
The Pros & Cons of Writing Historical Fiction
For me, nonfiction is what has always paid the bills—but fiction is where all of the fun is. I loved reading this list of pros and cons of writing historical fiction, my favorite of all fiction genres and one of the most popular!
Bill Gates’s Holiday Reading Recommendations
I love it when smart people recommend books. I always look to see if I’ve already read anything they recommend—and in this case, Bill Gates and I were on the same page with The Song of the Cell! I read large chunks of this book as research for a ghostwriting project, and it truly is fascinating and well written. Read the rest of his recommendations here.
An In-Depth Look at One of the Most Renowned Literary Agents
Andrew Wylie is a legend—and a cutthroat one, at that. This long-form profile in The Guardian is a worthwhile read, not only to learn about the agent of many of our favorite authors (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jorge Luis Borges, and Salman Rushdie, among others), but also for a look at the business side of publishing. Wylie is cutthroat because he needs to be—and it clearly works.
What's Bringing Me Joy
We celebrate Christmas around here, and I can FINALLY start decorating! My husband tries to make me wait until December 1 every year, but he always loses that battle. Christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving, and you'll never convince me otherwise.
Cheers!
Ariel
Love this, Ariel! I need to unsubscribe from a lot of things right now, so I feel this very much.