Welcome to a live “get to know each other” thread that gives new subscribers (and long-timers) a chance to meet. This is a casual and spontaneous conversation building off the post: Can Anyone Be a Writer?
Image by Diana Light in collaboration with Unsplash
Here are your prompts:
I am NAME and I write GENRE. (Include your Substack link if you write here, too).
Share the moment you were called to write, how, and why? Is it a calling? A passion? An addiction? A source of confusion? All of above?
BONUS: What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
Today, introduce yourself to me and your fellow Flight Schooler's. Name, Genre, your Substack link and share the moment you were called to write! (Is it a calling? A passion? An addiction? A source of confusion? And what is your greatest challenge in your writing life! Bring it on...
I found Jennifer, when I happened upon this post! Thank you Jennifer! 🤗 Continuing the train of many writers here, my name is Charlotte Pendragon and I write The Charlotte Pendragon Diaries, a continuing autobiography of my life in entertainment and magic. Starting my Substack (and the first time I’ve written) last September was a way for me to sort out my thoughts for my book. But my Substack has grown a life of it’s own, therefore I’m investing time into growing it in the right direction.
From this thread I’ve found a few gems I’ll be adding to my subscription list. I also like to read!
Here is my link, and I hope to meet some of you! 🤗 📚 ♥️
HI Everyone--a little late to the table, I've been slammed with STUFF! I am Sara, I live in Paris most of the year although I am presently in California till March 1. I write non-fiction. I've written a memoir Saving Sara A Memoir of Food Addiction (2020) and just thinking about a second memoir. I also write a Substack: Out My Window. sara somers.substack.com April or May will be my 2 year anniversary. Getting to know writers and writing teachers on Substack has forced me to up my game. I met Jennifer through her substack/this one. After listening to her first video Building Blocks (that's not what it is called but I'm afraid if I look it up, I'll loose this thread), I knew I wanted to learn more from her. Through various e-mails and the one hour classes she offers in Flight School, I'll be taking a long 4 month course in Scene/Exposition/Progression.
I think I'm a fairly good writer but I want to be better. I thought I might like to try Fiction but soon realised it was a set of new skills. I thought that at my age, I'm 76 years old, I want to improve on what I know and do well and not learn a whole new toolbox. I've sometimes struggled with regrets that I didn't start earlier as a writer but that gets me nowhere and it is what it is. I feel so grateful that I'm so willing and excited at my age to have a second chance life at all this.
I always wanted to write from the time I was 10 years old and read The Diary of Anne Frank. I had no sticktoittiveness (!) and pretty much was only full of complaints about my life. It took me until I had about 5 years of recovery from food addiction before I gave myself the chance to have a dream come true. I have surprised myself by having a certain amount of discipline and a hunger to learn that keeps propelling me forward.
So that's who I am and now I'm going to read who you are!!!
Now I'm late to the party! But it's great to see more and more people jumping on and talking it up. Great share Sara. "I've sometimes struggled with regrets that I didn't start earlier as a writer but that gets me nowhere and it is what it is." It's never too late, right. Go girl go.
Hi all! I'm Skylark. I've been studying off and on with Jennifer since 2019.
In terms of genre: I lean toward the absurd and irreverent, along with dystopian, and speculative fiction.
I was called to write in 2018. At the time I was training, teaching, and performing as an aerial acrobat and I thought my calling was to join a traveling circus. Then a life coach asked me to describe what appealed to me about, for example, being an acrobat on a cruise ship. My response? "I picture myself in my cabin alone, writing." And she said, "Maybe you should just write."
Hi! I write as R.S. Hampton. My thrillers feature strong female protagonists with one series set in Turkey/Europe and other in the Deep South. My travel related Substack can be found at https://rshampton.substack.com/ as I am constantly on the lookout for different places for my characters to get into trouble. My greatest challenge? Consistency.
I had a typo-was there from 8/1969 with my “Freshman Beanie” on. A 4th WOW: I was an art major & here is my “Final” in Craig Lucas’ class: uh oh! Don’t know how to insert the pic in comments on iPhone Substack app. How can I do that?
I am Karen Lynne Klink and I write historical fiction, YA science fiction, paranormal romance, and articles about writing.
I've always been a voracious reader—escaping into books helped me survive an abusive dad. I began writing in my sixties and wrote for ten years without considering publication. I used fiction to deal with abuse issues, and I write about people who struggle to find their true selves, despite abuse. My Substack newsletter is "Thrive After Surviving Child Abuse."
My debut novel was published in October 2023, and my greatest challenge is dealing with marketing/social media. I've always been an introvert, and marketing my novel is often difficult, but I'm learning and growing from it all. At 79, there's nothing like writing and publishing a book to keep one on one's toes.
Hi, I am RITA and I write MEMOIR/ESSAY/POETRY, as well as my new Substack, Rootsie (https://rootsie.substack.com/) Rootsie is the newest iteration of a blog I've been writing since 2015.
I don't think there has been one moment that called me to write. I think it is something that happens over and over again. The first time was in Mrs. Smallwood's 3rd grade classroom, when I read a story I'd written about a toy soldier accidentally buried in the garden, and the quiet in the room when I finished was the right kind, a full quiet, and I understood that my words had surprised and stilled the adults who had come to our afternoon tea. I wanted to be able to do that again. There was the time I poem I'd written made my 8th grade creative writing teacher burst into laughter and leave the room, paper in hand (in a good way), and, years later, when I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what it was to be a new mother and discovered that searching for the right words took me deeper into my experiences and cemented them into memory. I've long struggled with purpose--why my words, who needs them, what better things might I be doing, should I be doing?--but I keep coming back to them, one way or another. It's not a calling or passion or addiction; it's just part of who I am. Resisting the voice that asks those questions has been my biggest struggle as a writer.
Hi, Thanks for the welcome, Jennifer! My name is Andrew Marks, my friends call me Andy, you may too if you wish. I have a Substack but I have done nothing with it...yet. I am a retired engineer and my 'engineer brain' is my constant companion, at times helpful, at others not so much. My wife tells me I see everything as a problem to be solved - true - which intrudes when I am supposed to be in a "listening moment". For as long as I can remember, I have expressed myself in writing. Saying things in writing has created a record that has come back around, but still, my preferred form of expression is in writing. I have had other creative outlets - glass, sketching, painting, jewelry - but writing has been consistent over all.
Mostly, my writing has been about my life and life experiences. I like humor in my writing, and I tend to be self-deprecating in my verbal communications so it's not too big of a chore to get my brand of humor in there somewhere. Recently, I made the decision to transition to fiction and I am working on a novel that began as a memoir. I say transition because it is a bridge to cross, not one to get stuck on. And, due to some healthy decisions I have made about getting serious about my writing, I have embarked on a steep learning curve around my writing, which is both invigorating and daunting. Exciting stuff, thanks Jennifer!
An important point in my writing was when I was still in grade school and wrote to my dad about an annual fishing trip he took me on. Now, having grown children of my own, I understand how big of a deal both were - the trips and the story. Writing for me is just part of who I am. Writing for others is a calling seasoned with a bit of masochism.
My greatest challenge as a writer is to achieve my own expectations for being interesting to those who care to read my work. My belief is that a writer makes a promise to be interesting and that failing to do that is to fail as a writer. I hope I get there, soon. Tempus fugit.
Yes, I did. You have a gift, with some focused comments/edits, you transformed my piece and improved it significantly. I am working to figure out how to channel that. This writing stuff takes a lot of work to make it look easy...
Thanks for the “welcome” and I love what you are doing! Regard-less that many on Substack are moving elsewhere because of the “Nazi and “Hamish” issues”, no other newsletter host has the “warm and welcoming” vibe overall as Substack and places such as yours.
At my age I’ve learned that it’s often true that there’s a place or social group for just about everyone and that if one place doesn’t cut the mustard, then the best course is not to worry, stew about it, blame yourself or even others but to just move on until a comfort level is mutually reached.
(It’s not unlike trying to find employment, banks, and personal friends. The method works every time: I’ve worked for some employers as much as 13 years and have had certain personal friends since 1966 and an entire group since 1974 in lawschool. And I’ve been with one bank of mine since 1987.)
I have no idea about these waves and don't really get involved. This kind of backbiting and confusion exist in the world. Period. I say...eyes up. I do my work and watch a higher source for my guidance. Leave the world to do what the world will do. Right? Welcome!!
My name is Linda Castronovo and I write two substacks: one for my yoga community called Yoga Outside (https://yogaoutside.substack.com/) and another I started with my sister before her death called Starry Starry Kite (https://starrystarrykite.substack.com/). We wanted a place to publish our writing about growing up with a former Catholic priest as a stepfather (me) and living with cancer (her). Since her death, Starry Starry Kite has morphed into a publication about writers, creatives and the creative process, but I'd like to publish more of my own writing and other's about living with cancer (I would love to read your submissions here: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScx2ZZAEOIDXkJ4I4T21OPVeWjrFjSzDcjUcM12uqv2AjFkhQ/viewform)
I started writing when I was given my first blank book at age 12. I grew up thinking of myself as a writer. I wanted to create the magic I experienced as a reader. But I also wanted to be a veterinarian (like James Herriot) and, in college, found myself more drawn to life sciences and to sports than to English classes. After college and graduate school, I coached field hockey and lacrosse for fifteen years, taught high school science, and then stayed home fulltime to raise my son for seven years. When I went back to work, I taught elementary school so my son and I could have the same schedule.
It was while teaching writing to children that I discovered writing as more than journaling. There were specific skills, steps, and stages: brainstorming, drafting, reimagining, rearranging, revising, editing, proofreading, and publishing. While practicing these skills in Writing Workshop (Thank you, Lucy Calkins), we learned to think like writers, and we all fell in love with the writing process.
The greatest challenege these days is my distractibility (there is just so much great stuff to read) and my inner critic (she just refuses to be quiet). Plus, there is the added challenge of sitting still long enough to draft, revise, edit, etc. I love to move and feel most alive when in motion!
Hi Linda, both your publications sound empowering and interesting. I've taught yoga/meditation and trained yoga teachers for 30 years. I'll hop on over to your Substack, I'm sure I'll enjoy your posts. Perhaps you'd like to peruse mine: https://paulettebodeman.substack.com/
I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister. I can imagine how difficult that was, and how much you must miss her. Keeping Starry Starry Kite is a beautiful honoring of her, and that's great that the publications is evolving for you.
And, thank you Linda, I would be honored to be featured.
Linda, just want you to know that I'm working on the submission. It's thorough, and I want to be as thought in response as you are with the questions. Do you have a time frame in mind for completion?
Hello, thank you for this thread @Jennifer Lauck! My name is Alicia M. Rodriguez. This September I'll publish my first memoir, The Shaman's Wife, about the years I spent in Ecuador living with a shaman. (https://aliciamrodriguez.com/the-shamans-wife) I now live in Portugal.
In the past my writing and books have been contemplations and practices for living an intentional life and personal and spiritual development. My Substack, Nothing Is Ordinary, (https://aliciamrodriguez.substack.com/) explores how we make meaning of our lives. I share practices on creating an intentional life and musings on slow living. I like readers to consider my Substack as a sanctuary for your heart and soul in a world that is moving too fast and is disconnected from the natural world.
I have been writing since I was ten years old. I never felt like I fit in anywhere - a Latina child in a white world with a crazy imagination. I loved making up stories and then acting them out with friends. I process life through my writing. Like breathing, writing isn't optional for me.
My biggest challenge is feeling like my writing makes a difference for others. That there can be a connection between the reader and writer that is soulful, real and generative. Sometimes it feels like my words are like leaves blowing in the wind, eventually lost to the atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from writing however.
My other big challenge is having my writing be my main source of work and income. If I could just write and live my life in a way that generates more writing, I think that would be heaven.
Your publication sounds just like what I enjoy reading, Alicia. And while I've not studied with a shaman, I've had the privilege of studying with religious and yoga scholars from the University of Rochester and other international teachers. I look forward to reading your work.
Thank you Paulette. Most of my writing has the essence of spirituality at its core. My life with this shaman was a way station on my journey. I hope you will consider reading the book once it is published.
Thanks Alicia. Welcome. Love this: My biggest challenge is feeling like my writing makes a difference for others...sometime it feels like my words are like leaves blowing in the wind, eventually lost to the atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from writing however. (Bravo. Nothing is ever lost, or wasted).
My other big challenge is having my writing be my main source of work and income. If I could just write and live my life in a way that generates more writing, I think that would be heaven. (Agreed).
Hello! Chiming in here a little late. Thanks for the thread, Jennifer! There are some good discoveries in this thread!
I’m Jennifer Bochik and I write personal essays and memoir. I write about processing my life experiences by attuning to the wisdom of nature and seasonal living, as well as contemplative practices and slowing down. My Substack is Human Being - almanac of a life in progress.
I’ve been called to write since I was in my 20s but didn’t put it to action until 2022. I finally started writing to process new and old grief after the untimely death of my 26 year old daughter in 2022. I had to get stuff out of me. I had to quit my job because it was too difficult to maintain composure in a professional environment while grieving.
My biggest challenge is believing in myself and that anyone actually cares to read my work. I’m dedicated to learning the craft, and feel incredibly fulfilled when I’m writing.
Hi Jennifer...welcome and first, I am so very sorry about your precious daughter. What a nightmare for you and I cannot imagine how your heart must have broken. I'm with you, facing the loss of my own child around that time. One of the most powerful things I've ever read about this kind of experience came within the complex (and often difficult) book titled Without a Map by M. Hall. She writes of something called human chimerism where the maternal cells cross the protective barrier in utero (and the same with the cells of the fetus). This means, amazingly, that we hold the living cells of all the children we have carried, and the other way round. My head explodes every time I think of it. I'm not sure why I share that with you but there it is. You are never alone, I suppose. She is with you still. All my prayers to you. 🙏🏼
Second, I wish you ease and focus and confidence in your writing journey. Doubt is just a gnat. Swipe it aside and keep going. XO 🐦⬛
Thank you, Jennifer! I'm so sorry for your loss as well. How did we get here, and where do we go from here? Child loss grief (or most grief, for that matter) is a never-ending journey. I really love the idea of human chimerism. I wholeheartedly believe that I hold and carry my daughter's DNA. I often refer to it as stardust since I sometimes tend to be hippy-dippy woo woo. I will read the book. What a powerful story.
Ahhh...sorry for my lack of clarity...I didn't end up losing her. But we were on that brutal edge for almost a year. The whole thing brought me to my knees and changed everything. I thought I knew loss (having endured the death of my parents and my brother) but when it came to surrendering her to the God who gifted her to me (I didn't even have a connection with God at this time) I was oblivious and so horribly arrogant. I truly believed she was 'mine' but now it's a different story. By grace, I have grown up (or am trying to grow up). She was never mine. I was simply the steward.
I truly appreciate your heartfelt honesty. Hold her tight and make sure she knows she is loved unconditionally. The rest is up to her. I look forward to reading your commentary!
My name is "Phyllis Carlin" as my Substack Name indicates. My primary form of writing has been "Legal writing" in service of being a a trial, appellate, and contract lawyer since 1981 with a niche specialty for 20 years in "workers compensation defense" and as a law clerk and law student back through 1974. In addition to published legal writing --as is every appellate lawyer because our work is in every library and online around the world, I've also published a chapter in 1979 in a Land Use Planning text about "Planned Unit Developments and "Cluster Housing".
I also write bad confessional poetry, notes and "mini essays" to myself and others about anything & everything. I've been a Quora writer under "P. Carlin" since 2017 with 750,000 plus readers around the world. I also write Letters to the editor" in NYT & WAPO, am newly on SS commenting, questioning, agitating, and am planning a Substack newsletter that will have a bit of all of it in "departments". My biggest challenges as a writer are: making sense, not annoying people, staying on topic, being persuasive, using good grammar and structure, and editing myself.
I've had a calling in the sense of rebelling against how I was raised when I was continually and explicitly told from age 2, "Children should be seen and not heard." As a result, I was like "the gopher game" always popping up somewhere anyway, including running for president of my elementary school, winning the Scrips-Howard Spelling Bee at that school against a future McArthur Genius Award Winner, being a feminist and affordable housing activist, going to law school in the early 70's --after a Masters in Law Librarianship and Information Science -- when women were only 3% of the profession. (I also was a board member at my synagogue and childrens' private school in the 90's-- and also never missed my kids school performances even once--and served on the Florida Bar's Professional Ethics Committee for 7 years.)
I've been on a dual track to "speak" anyway I could and can*: I've also been an artist, photographer, sculptor since 1963 and cartoonist, political & otherwise with my first rejection from the New Yorker, am working on a "graphic memoir", and have been designing jigsaw puzzles since 2011, have designed and made clothing and household linens, and I am in the process of formally copyrighting and trademarking ALL of my work for publication, competition, and sale in various forms and products. At 72 I have challenged myself not to die or become incapacitated in order to finish it all, and as you can guess, I don't sleep or clean my house much.
* That history of being both a "professional" and "writer" or "something else" is not unusual: William Carlos Williams was a poet and doctor, Wallace Stevens, a poet and insurance executive, Franz Kafka a writer and workers compensation government administrator, Scott Turow a lawyer and fiction writer, etc.
I am very happy to be meeting you all and everyone on SubStack- a truly talented, accomplished, interesting, welcoming, and as to some, even an intimidating bunch, from all of whom I hope to learn a lot!
We have commonalities—I was also told "Children are seen and not heard"—by my dad. Both my sister and I were afraid of him, so we grew up silent and introspective. Another one of his was, "Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about." Thank goodness for our mom. I'm also an artist and photographer. My best to you.
Wow! I was also told the "Stop crying" stuff and still more I could list. We could compare more and even explore whether it was how or when our parents were raised. Mine were Depression kids born in 1925 and 1929. Those were not "Dr. Spock" child-raising advice times.
(I also see your Newsletter title and am sorry for whatever you went through. In their own ways, my parents were abusive, but it was also a matter of being on the lower ends of that: they were more often describable in the earliest years as too often "negligent", too uninvolved, too "hard", too selfish, and maybe ignorant even though they were "middle class- to upper class", very "smart" in terms of grades in school, very accomplished, and my Dad very educated school-wise, and militarily from WW2.)
Insofar as your also being an artist and photographer: what led you to that? In my case, it's probably in the genes because there are many artists, photographers "crafty people"* in my family and also other overachievers and even another lawyer But I'd love to hear about your work and whether your family supported that. In my situation --and for better or worse--my parents just let me "run my own show" no matter what I ever did or wanted to do whether it was "art" or anything else. * My Mom was a superb knitter and made gorgeous clothes and sweaters, and among his other business and military accomplishments, my Dad was a clothing designer at one point with his own factories. (I also have a sister who is an artist and successful business person.)
So for my part when growing up I just "did" on my own, was pretty much self sufficient, basically ran on auto-pilot, and never got in much trouble as a general rule. I also rarely asked for anything and could not be described as spoiled or bratty. I was just lonely at home and coped by reading anything and everything, "doing my chores", listening to music, making art, having a few close friends, and many many acquaintances all over my city when I wasn't earning letters as a good athlete.
It would be interesting to research whether there are commonalities among artists and photographers overall as to how they were raised. For the most part, being creative is too often a solitary way of life.
Wow back! My parents grew up during the depression too, and my dad was in WW1, but he worked in the payroll department of the army and didn't see much of the war until he was sent to Japan at the end. My mom thinks he must have seen terrible things though, as she said he was entirely changed when he returned. But he couldn't have had the terrible experiences of some, so I think she just didn't know him well enough. She was warned by his sister not to marry him. He was the oldest of five, and his father abandoned their family when they were all children.
We were low middle class because he was terrible with finances, despite the fact he was excellent at math.
I survived by reading and making up stories with my best friend, Mary. We would take parts—she the girl, me the boy. I wanted to be a boy when I was young because boys had more freedom and went on adventures. That's what I thought, anyway. My dream was to get away and go west, and I did so after graduating from Kent State. One positive thing about being raised the way I was, having to overcome my dad, etc., I learned to take risks to have the experiences I wanted. If it doesn't destroy you, struggle does make you strong.
I painted watercolors for years and sold some, but once I began writing, writing was all I wanted to do. From learning design, I manage to take pretty decent photographs, though photography is a hobby. I had to learn Adobe Photoshop for my job at a Native American Gallery in Durango, which I enjoyed. I also learned how to design a web site at the same job.
I think you may be right about creative people having commonalities, especially being solitary. I write about how people who have had to struggle with their differences learn to grow and become stronger individuals.
How do you like Miami? I'm in Tucson, Arizona, and I love it here.
We are on to TRIPLE WOW! Kent State? I went there, too!!! 1969-May 4, 1970… Next you’ll tell me you were also my next door neighbor in University Heights, a Cleveland suburb. So when were you at KS?
We were at Kent at the same time! I was there from 1964-May 1969. I marched with the art students and faculty to get better class conditions. Seems everyone was marching for something then. I was an art ed major. I grew up in Portage Lakes outside of Akron, and my first love was from Cleveland Heights. We went sailing on Lake Erie often.
I am AMY BROWN and write CONTEMPORARY FICTION. I also write the Substack Living in 3D: Divorce, Dementia and Destiny., https://amybrown.substack.com/
The moment I was called to write was elementary school, being handed a vocabulary list by my teacher and invited to create a story using all the words on the list. That was all the invitation I needed to enter my imagination and conjure up characters and stories and I haven't stopped since. I have always wanted to write, so yes, it's a calling and a passion. It is my vocation (journalist, business writer, ghost writer, editor) but it is more importantly, an avocation. I think of it as my dharma, my purpose; I spin words in search of meaning and connection. My greatest challenge as a writer is believing in the most creative part of my work--my fiction and my essays--as much as I believe in the writing "I do for a living." In fact, the real living happens when I do the writing that doesn't pay the bills--at least not yet. So that's the challenge--taking the leap of faith to write my heart out while keeping the lights on.
Lovely share, Amy and welcome! Love this: So that's the challenge--taking the leap of faith to write my heart out while keeping the lights on. Terrific title for your Substack, too. How do you find a way to believe? What is helping you get a sense that your creative work is hitting that ideal tone/voice?
I find I can restore my belief in myself and my craft by rereading even just one sentence I am proud of, or the comments from my critique group on a particular scene or passage. And lately, I turn to the encouraging comments from readers who have found me on Substack. The power of having one's words or story connect to another human. That makes me believe, encourages me to keep going. In my fiction, if I feel the emotion of what I'm writing viscerally, in my body, then I know I've dug deep enough to get at the heart of the thing--or close enough:-)
I am Stephanie and I write fiction. I've been writing since I got my first journal around age 7. I wrote my first mystery when my little sister's favorite stuffed animal went missing that same year or the year after. Already a writer then, I guess - turning her pain into my source material. (Don't worry it had a happy ending!) Writing for me is regenerative, a source of understanding, an escape, and a beloved challenge, and probably my favorite thing to do outside of reading. I don't do it enough. But I'm working on doing that more here! https://stephaniesweeney.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile
Thanks for the share and terrific to meet someone who had the passion at so young an age. My daughter was writing young, and fashioning her tales into hand made books, alas she stopped after a couple years and is off weaving and sewing. I'm so glad you stayed with it. The escape part is to true, a portal into which we can slip for a while...a sweet reprieve.
Hello! I am Elizabeth and I journal and write memoir-like material. I started writing when I was 12. And I still have my journals from every year since then. I am re-reading them and pulling out many family “secrets.” I write because it creates form from the chaos in my brain. I love words. I love reading everyone’s writing.
Hi Elizabeth and how wonderful you have kept your journals! What an amazing source for material. Have you found them hard to read, at times? I cannot bear reading journals from even a year back (I wonder why that is???). Welcome.
Hello, everyone! My name is Cristina and I write a substack called Abroad https://abroadbycristinacarmonaaliaga.substack.com inspired by 20 years living abroad (currently 14 years in London), changing countries and languages. The thing that prompted me to feel curious about living abroad as a child (I come from a town of 7,000 people where no one in my family -or hometown!- had ever been abroad before) was my love of reading. Most of my childhood and teen memories are linked to books. I've always loved writing and while I pursued a degree in English life took me down a different path and I work with creative tech companies. I always dreamed of being a writer but I never thought I could because in my mind I knew fiction wasn't for me. It took me a long time to understand that you don't need to be (or in fact are) the kind of writer you admire, simply because you may have other stories inside you that no one else can tell but you. Thanks to learning English I discovered essays, creative non-fiction and David Seders and a whole new world opened up to me in terms of what writing also was and how much more aligned these forms were with me than fiction. Since my personal and professional interests have somehow become intertwined, my publication is a reflection of that and I write longer-form pieces on cultural identity, belonging, the love of books, music, but also technology and how it is impacting our lives. My latest post is in fact an attempt to untangle the whole AI is going to take over humans question.
Nice to see you here, Christina. I see you've been on Substack about six months. How's it going? Do you find the space and the deadlines and the subscribers help keep you creating and creative?
The six months is misleading as I did create the publication then but haven’t really started writing for it until recently. I have another substack for work related content and that was my main focus for a few months. Writing regularly there was what prompted me to resume this other publication to talk about a wider range of topics and so far it’s going well. I love being able to just write and share it and have found so many interesting substacks on creativity and writing.
I am Sherry Lowry and I discovered in 2017 I naturally write best Creative Fiction in a curious child’s voice. I’m not yet writing on SubStack – which is a definite attraction.
When, et al:
That same year of 2017, I noticed a true paucity in my many bookshelves of both poetry (all there were gifts) and fiction - likewise gifts. While appreciated and valued, they were in contrast to treasured, specifically selected non-fiction, creative and otherwise, I often returned to time and again, quoted from, and recommended to others.
Then I noted in thinning out volume to donate away that I had whole sets of bookshelves on the art (and sometimes science) of writing, or of memoirs, and other real life or historical stuff. It did not seem accidental.
That generated a commitment to honor my lifelong intrigue with continuous learning, and Austin Texas USA, being wealthily awash in writing and published authoring talent = to register at least every new semester for a writing course - fiction or otherwise, a poetry one, or one on memoir, or ideally a craft one via my active Texas Writing League.
The moment I began to experience a calling to write was in one of those courses when I comfortably popped up to read brand new work - aloud. That seemed crazy, but when I began to take preparations to do so seriously, I discovered great gratification in followup editing. Mostly though, that process of working in group revealed that I simply love hanging around writers. My experience is they are courageous, willing, and often outrageously skilled - even if new to the process. So I think at that point Community entered the process.
That’s ‘why’ and ‘how’ soon showed itself as an amazing dedication in myself and others to both learn and practice ‘craft.’ It was not immediately a passion, and probably not a ‘calling’ either, really, but it WAS a fascination. That people - all ages, all types, make this huge commitment. Many stick to it and it is hard, hard, and often maddening. So…what’s that about? I may be forever learning, but I like being in this stream.
BONUS:
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
I quickly discovered I treasured free writing time. I also quickly learned without regularly returning to the page (like at least briefly and daily) I lost that delightful and rewarding commitment. Some of the writings I like now best of my past, often came forth when I did not really feel like writing, but sat down and made sure it happened. Then at other times when my child’s humor voice just streamed forth every single time I gave it a fighting chance, and people just laughed and laughed, that was it.
Hooked! Intrigued! I’m not a naturally funny person. But I was enchanted with the origin of that then and still am seven years later.
Challenge:
Hmmmm….greatest challenge. Well, during the pandemic year(s) my weekly ‘live’ writing group began to dissolve. So, at this moment, finding the right virtual group that ideally meets weekly FEELS like my main challenge.
Such a thoughtful and well drawn response. Thank you, Sherry and I hope you find some of what you are looking for here. Flight School is an off-shoot of my school, The Blackbird Studio and we are a collective of about sixty writers who work together, each week. During the pandemic, we didn't falter but got closer. Yes, we had to go online but we are devoted to each other in a way that is rather touching. Yes, it's a school, but more it's a community where people are deeply invested in each other. https://blackbirdstudiopdx.com/ 🐦⬛
Love this line: Some of the writings I like now best of my past, often came forth when I did not really feel like writing, but sat down and made sure it happened.
I don't usually go there as much I go to all the different sites I subscribe to...and this is how I manage because once you're part of this community, it can be daunting: I move all the notices from everyone posts out of my main email box and into one titled SUBSTACK. In this way, I know they are there. I also send the Substack reads recommendations (which the algorithm provides). Then, twice a week (which I schedule), I comb through and read my favs first, then the new ones I've recently subscribed to, and comment as often as I feel moved. Last, I look through the Substack reads recommendations and see what catches my eye...Make sense?
I meant your reads. How many you subscribe too. Sorry called it Reads. But your answer is great. I read your post on this. I delete all emails and when I have time I go to Substack and click Inbox and read what I like. I make comments 98% of what I read. Reading time as important as writing time.
And, I don't want that FOMO feeling sneaking in. There are so many great writers here and many offerings to learn and grow, the exploration is fun and can feel daunting.
Yes, I’m a Substacker. I write on the platform twice a month. Ever since I can remember I have always had a book in hand, or some other creative producing implement to transpire my imagination. I have written novellas to friends when I was at pivotal point a in my life. And at other times when I could not speak. I lost my speaking voice for ten years. I am still learning to talk. With it I am learning my voice as a poet and Creative Non-Fiction writer.
I thought writing was easy when I was in an AFA program in Everett, WA. I wrote poems for myself for ten years after that completion. Then I went back to school to work on an English degree as a two year Senior. I abhor five paragraph essays. I am suffering through. I am still reading. I am still creating in other ways with Vegan and Vegetarian meals. Or charring an unfamiliar recipe.
It’s all creativity from me. @amusedandcreativelively
I’m Priya Iyer and I write about journeys. I stopped writing at age 17 and didn’t write again until 36. It’s taken many more stops and starts before I realized that I was a writer and I needed to write as a way of living. I started on Substack last year.
I trained as a research biologist. It was only decades later, when a mentor pointed out that my heart was obviously not in science, that I woke up to what was missing. I’m older now and feel lucky to have made my way back to writing and be able to pursue it.
Okay, I see it. It's hard to do something like that....research biologist...that's intense and also write creatively. But you likely have a ton to write about now. I'm certain of that.
Hello! I'm Jeanine Kitchel and I write Mexico travel, essays, news, reviews on: Mexicosoul.substack.com
Have a degree in journalism and have written for newspapers, magazines, MX websites and
guidebooks over the years. So I guess I've just always had the call to write. It's also a passion but re-entered the writing world (again) when I wrote my travel memoir on living as an expat in a fishing village on Mexico's Caribbean coast—and opening a bookstore there. It's great to be here!!
I write and illustrate children's books as well as for theatre, film and television. I've always written in some form. Those things don't feel mutually exclusive to me. Maybe that's cheating, but if I could do anything else, I'd still be doing this.
Hello All, my name is Paulette Bodeman, and my Substack is called, Sage Sanctuary. I write creative non-fiction and personal essays that incorporates ancient wisdom teachings for today's world. I include practices and prompts to access your inner sage and find renewed purpose and meaning no matter your age.
I'm also a coach, so my desire is to offer guidance and inspiration during transitional periods of our lives and tips to navigate this tumultuous world we live in.
I've been writing on and off since I was a young girl and have self-published a memoir/self-help book. Writing is both a calling and can be a confusing.
What's challenging for me is when I need to work through my self-doubt - "who is going to want to ready what you have to say? You think you're a writer?" That ego based self-talk that can get in my way at times.
Hi Paulette and welcome. Do you think these questions: "Who is going to want to ready what you have to say? You think you're a writer?" are part of the emotional fallout that comes with sharing our personal lives? It feels that way, sometimes. I hear this more often from memoir writers, or those writing about their lives but in fictional form...
Hello Jennifer, nice to be here in this community. I've not thought of it that way, but yes I do think that may be a part of the inner dialogue. Thank you for the insight.
I think that when I have had the loudest "Don't write this," voice I have been nursing some deep wound...I push through and do it anyway. It does seem to diminish over time. What are you finding?
Usually what I'm resisting, or what scares me, is exactly what I need to write. When the voices get really annoying, I get on my mat or go for a walk, then get my self back in the chair.
Well done! And the bottom line is the YOU need to read what you have to say, right? I learn so much about myself while writing. It's a lifesaver at times. 🛟 Thanks for being here and being so engaged.
I was a voracious writer as a kid (still am), and I started to think of my own stories, so I started to write. My first rejection slip from a publisher came when I was 10 years old. Oh well.
My greatest challenge? Writing while working full time? Are you kidding me? Time is my greatest challenge. Never (perhaps) did anyone look more forward to retirement so he can get busier.
And hey, if you like high fantasy (i.e., not set on Earth), please subscribe. Book 1 (of 6) of my Tranith Argan tale is, and will always be, FREE!
My goodness, how ambitious! Ten years old. : ) There it is again. Time. ⏰. I'll check it out, for sure. I don't read a great deal of high fantasy, but many of my students do so I like to read a bit here and there.
Thank you! My most recent thing is a collection of 4 poems I write about four people who took me up on a challenge to write personalised poems on any four responses. I had no idea what I was getting! Turned out well. Lol. Do have a look. Those who got the poems were chuffed. I think.
Yeah, the publishing question. That's a tough one. I'm not sure what's happening with poetry, but I know that for mid-level writers it's getting tighter and tighter...I wish it wasn't so, but it makes Substack a particular joy and boon. Yes?
Kind of a nightmare, to be honest. It feels like the doors are shutting. First, they have reduced the number of options...only five big houses now...and this means there is more control over what will make it in the door. Sherman Alexie wrote about this over at his site. Rather sad, to be honest. My agent has been shopping my latest memoir for months. No. No. No. But this isn't bothering me much because I've already published a great deal and it hasn't made happy...so, I'm lucky. But I get where your at..keep pushing....you'll get there. 📚
Yes, exactly. Publishing has not made me happy. I used to think it would, like it would validate the creation in some way. But it (publishing) was mostly a new set of challenges and compromises that often left me exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I'm extraordinarily grateful to those agents and editors and publishers who took on my work and helped it go the distance to a published book, international sales, an appearance on Oprah (all that is here on Flight School, the whole complex story...https://open.substack.com/pub/jenniferlauck/p/stages-and-phases-pt-1?r=fjvlj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) but all these years later it's the craft, itself, that speaks to me. The creation. And I love working with writers to help them grow.
I had difficulty learning how to read and write as a kid along with other traumas. So, writing has always felt like climbing Mt. Everest, though I’ve always tried my best and always try to improve. I’d say the hardest times when I felt the call to write were eulogies-- first for my mother in 1996 and then my Dad in 2001. In 2018 my younger brother died suddenly and I then made some more startling discoveries that I wrote about in my essays and have pieced together in my memoir which I’m calling My Mother’s Ghosts.
Hi John and welcome. I've seen you about here on Substack. Well done persevering! We all have challenges, yes, but each of us have ones that feel almost insurmountable. Makes for great writing, I think! Thanks for sharing.
I have childhood books with the endings rewritten in crayon - so I'm going to say I was called to write from the beginning. It wasn't until I got a disability retirement that I started writing AND publishing.
If I don't write, I get twitchy - so yeah, it's a necessity. I love being able to create stories and share them with people.
My greatest challenge? Juggling the admin/marketing side with the creative side.
Ugh! Exactly! Juggling is the thing. How wondrous and fabulous to have limitless time to write, yes? I'm sitting here, right now, pausing in my own project (which I started two hours late to set up this thread) to meet everyone. Time is a huge question in my process, to include finding it and managing it as well. Welcome TK! And great work on your Substack. Heading over to read now! 🐦⬛
you'd think I'd have unlimited time - but there are limits on how long I can sit/stand at the desk before I have to rest (disability) - but the lovely thing is - I'm on my OWN schedule. So if I sleep all day? No problem. I just get the housework and writing done at night!
Okay, I thought that might be the case but you know what they say about "assumptions" and making an a$$ out of ones self. Wow. What powerful work, and what a service to the community. Blessings on blessings. As Phyllis says below, thank you.
Today, introduce yourself to me and your fellow Flight Schooler's. Name, Genre, your Substack link and share the moment you were called to write! (Is it a calling? A passion? An addiction? A source of confusion? And what is your greatest challenge in your writing life! Bring it on...
I found Jennifer, when I happened upon this post! Thank you Jennifer! 🤗 Continuing the train of many writers here, my name is Charlotte Pendragon and I write The Charlotte Pendragon Diaries, a continuing autobiography of my life in entertainment and magic. Starting my Substack (and the first time I’ve written) last September was a way for me to sort out my thoughts for my book. But my Substack has grown a life of it’s own, therefore I’m investing time into growing it in the right direction.
From this thread I’ve found a few gems I’ll be adding to my subscription list. I also like to read!
Here is my link, and I hope to meet some of you! 🤗 📚 ♥️
https://charlottependragon.substack.com/
Hey Charlotte! The train is still going so that's great. Thank you for the shout out.
Thank you! I enjoy and photos I feel the new riders that has participated in your train’ 🚂♥️
HI Everyone--a little late to the table, I've been slammed with STUFF! I am Sara, I live in Paris most of the year although I am presently in California till March 1. I write non-fiction. I've written a memoir Saving Sara A Memoir of Food Addiction (2020) and just thinking about a second memoir. I also write a Substack: Out My Window. sara somers.substack.com April or May will be my 2 year anniversary. Getting to know writers and writing teachers on Substack has forced me to up my game. I met Jennifer through her substack/this one. After listening to her first video Building Blocks (that's not what it is called but I'm afraid if I look it up, I'll loose this thread), I knew I wanted to learn more from her. Through various e-mails and the one hour classes she offers in Flight School, I'll be taking a long 4 month course in Scene/Exposition/Progression.
I think I'm a fairly good writer but I want to be better. I thought I might like to try Fiction but soon realised it was a set of new skills. I thought that at my age, I'm 76 years old, I want to improve on what I know and do well and not learn a whole new toolbox. I've sometimes struggled with regrets that I didn't start earlier as a writer but that gets me nowhere and it is what it is. I feel so grateful that I'm so willing and excited at my age to have a second chance life at all this.
I always wanted to write from the time I was 10 years old and read The Diary of Anne Frank. I had no sticktoittiveness (!) and pretty much was only full of complaints about my life. It took me until I had about 5 years of recovery from food addiction before I gave myself the chance to have a dream come true. I have surprised myself by having a certain amount of discipline and a hunger to learn that keeps propelling me forward.
So that's who I am and now I'm going to read who you are!!!
Now I'm late to the party! But it's great to see more and more people jumping on and talking it up. Great share Sara. "I've sometimes struggled with regrets that I didn't start earlier as a writer but that gets me nowhere and it is what it is." It's never too late, right. Go girl go.
Hi all! I'm Skylark. I've been studying off and on with Jennifer since 2019.
In terms of genre: I lean toward the absurd and irreverent, along with dystopian, and speculative fiction.
I was called to write in 2018. At the time I was training, teaching, and performing as an aerial acrobat and I thought my calling was to join a traveling circus. Then a life coach asked me to describe what appealed to me about, for example, being an acrobat on a cruise ship. My response? "I picture myself in my cabin alone, writing." And she said, "Maybe you should just write."
So here I am. :)
Great to meet you all <3
Love this. But not so alone you aren't sharing with us...yay!
Hi! I write as R.S. Hampton. My thrillers feature strong female protagonists with one series set in Turkey/Europe and other in the Deep South. My travel related Substack can be found at https://rshampton.substack.com/ as I am constantly on the lookout for different places for my characters to get into trouble. My greatest challenge? Consistency.
I had a typo-was there from 8/1969 with my “Freshman Beanie” on. A 4th WOW: I was an art major & here is my “Final” in Craig Lucas’ class: uh oh! Don’t know how to insert the pic in comments on iPhone Substack app. How can I do that?
Whoops, leave it to me to forget something—my link is: https://karenlynneklink.substack.com
I am Karen Lynne Klink and I write historical fiction, YA science fiction, paranormal romance, and articles about writing.
I've always been a voracious reader—escaping into books helped me survive an abusive dad. I began writing in my sixties and wrote for ten years without considering publication. I used fiction to deal with abuse issues, and I write about people who struggle to find their true selves, despite abuse. My Substack newsletter is "Thrive After Surviving Child Abuse."
My debut novel was published in October 2023, and my greatest challenge is dealing with marketing/social media. I've always been an introvert, and marketing my novel is often difficult, but I'm learning and growing from it all. At 79, there's nothing like writing and publishing a book to keep one on one's toes.
Hi, I am RITA and I write MEMOIR/ESSAY/POETRY, as well as my new Substack, Rootsie (https://rootsie.substack.com/) Rootsie is the newest iteration of a blog I've been writing since 2015.
I don't think there has been one moment that called me to write. I think it is something that happens over and over again. The first time was in Mrs. Smallwood's 3rd grade classroom, when I read a story I'd written about a toy soldier accidentally buried in the garden, and the quiet in the room when I finished was the right kind, a full quiet, and I understood that my words had surprised and stilled the adults who had come to our afternoon tea. I wanted to be able to do that again. There was the time I poem I'd written made my 8th grade creative writing teacher burst into laughter and leave the room, paper in hand (in a good way), and, years later, when I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what it was to be a new mother and discovered that searching for the right words took me deeper into my experiences and cemented them into memory. I've long struggled with purpose--why my words, who needs them, what better things might I be doing, should I be doing?--but I keep coming back to them, one way or another. It's not a calling or passion or addiction; it's just part of who I am. Resisting the voice that asks those questions has been my biggest struggle as a writer.
"It's just part of who I am." I love that Rita. So nice to meet you here.
Thank you--it's nice to meet you, too.
I still remember my third grade teacher too, Ms. Slater. I adorned her and she was so inspiring.
Hi, Thanks for the welcome, Jennifer! My name is Andrew Marks, my friends call me Andy, you may too if you wish. I have a Substack but I have done nothing with it...yet. I am a retired engineer and my 'engineer brain' is my constant companion, at times helpful, at others not so much. My wife tells me I see everything as a problem to be solved - true - which intrudes when I am supposed to be in a "listening moment". For as long as I can remember, I have expressed myself in writing. Saying things in writing has created a record that has come back around, but still, my preferred form of expression is in writing. I have had other creative outlets - glass, sketching, painting, jewelry - but writing has been consistent over all.
Mostly, my writing has been about my life and life experiences. I like humor in my writing, and I tend to be self-deprecating in my verbal communications so it's not too big of a chore to get my brand of humor in there somewhere. Recently, I made the decision to transition to fiction and I am working on a novel that began as a memoir. I say transition because it is a bridge to cross, not one to get stuck on. And, due to some healthy decisions I have made about getting serious about my writing, I have embarked on a steep learning curve around my writing, which is both invigorating and daunting. Exciting stuff, thanks Jennifer!
An important point in my writing was when I was still in grade school and wrote to my dad about an annual fishing trip he took me on. Now, having grown children of my own, I understand how big of a deal both were - the trips and the story. Writing for me is just part of who I am. Writing for others is a calling seasoned with a bit of masochism.
My greatest challenge as a writer is to achieve my own expectations for being interesting to those who care to read my work. My belief is that a writer makes a promise to be interesting and that failing to do that is to fail as a writer. I hope I get there, soon. Tempus fugit.
Hi Andy, did you look at the note on your Winter Tale?
Yes, I did. You have a gift, with some focused comments/edits, you transformed my piece and improved it significantly. I am working to figure out how to channel that. This writing stuff takes a lot of work to make it look easy...
I enjoyed reading your story, Andy! <3
Thanks for the “welcome” and I love what you are doing! Regard-less that many on Substack are moving elsewhere because of the “Nazi and “Hamish” issues”, no other newsletter host has the “warm and welcoming” vibe overall as Substack and places such as yours.
At my age I’ve learned that it’s often true that there’s a place or social group for just about everyone and that if one place doesn’t cut the mustard, then the best course is not to worry, stew about it, blame yourself or even others but to just move on until a comfort level is mutually reached.
(It’s not unlike trying to find employment, banks, and personal friends. The method works every time: I’ve worked for some employers as much as 13 years and have had certain personal friends since 1966 and an entire group since 1974 in lawschool. And I’ve been with one bank of mine since 1987.)
I have no idea about these waves and don't really get involved. This kind of backbiting and confusion exist in the world. Period. I say...eyes up. I do my work and watch a higher source for my guidance. Leave the world to do what the world will do. Right? Welcome!!
Right!
My name is Linda Castronovo and I write two substacks: one for my yoga community called Yoga Outside (https://yogaoutside.substack.com/) and another I started with my sister before her death called Starry Starry Kite (https://starrystarrykite.substack.com/). We wanted a place to publish our writing about growing up with a former Catholic priest as a stepfather (me) and living with cancer (her). Since her death, Starry Starry Kite has morphed into a publication about writers, creatives and the creative process, but I'd like to publish more of my own writing and other's about living with cancer (I would love to read your submissions here: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScx2ZZAEOIDXkJ4I4T21OPVeWjrFjSzDcjUcM12uqv2AjFkhQ/viewform)
I started writing when I was given my first blank book at age 12. I grew up thinking of myself as a writer. I wanted to create the magic I experienced as a reader. But I also wanted to be a veterinarian (like James Herriot) and, in college, found myself more drawn to life sciences and to sports than to English classes. After college and graduate school, I coached field hockey and lacrosse for fifteen years, taught high school science, and then stayed home fulltime to raise my son for seven years. When I went back to work, I taught elementary school so my son and I could have the same schedule.
It was while teaching writing to children that I discovered writing as more than journaling. There were specific skills, steps, and stages: brainstorming, drafting, reimagining, rearranging, revising, editing, proofreading, and publishing. While practicing these skills in Writing Workshop (Thank you, Lucy Calkins), we learned to think like writers, and we all fell in love with the writing process.
The greatest challenege these days is my distractibility (there is just so much great stuff to read) and my inner critic (she just refuses to be quiet). Plus, there is the added challenge of sitting still long enough to draft, revise, edit, etc. I love to move and feel most alive when in motion!
Hi Linda, both your publications sound empowering and interesting. I've taught yoga/meditation and trained yoga teachers for 30 years. I'll hop on over to your Substack, I'm sure I'll enjoy your posts. Perhaps you'd like to peruse mine: https://paulettebodeman.substack.com/
Nice to meet you here.
How nice to meet you here, Paulette. I’d love to feature you and your work in an upcoming newsletter.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister. I can imagine how difficult that was, and how much you must miss her. Keeping Starry Starry Kite is a beautiful honoring of her, and that's great that the publications is evolving for you.
And, thank you Linda, I would be honored to be featured.
I do miss her, but I also feel her energy with me. She was an amazing human being, and I grateful and lucky every day to have had her as a sister.
I am excited that you want to be featured. Here is the link for submissions:
https://forms.gle/FdThVZopT7Hs2Hrk7
Linda, just want you to know that I'm working on the submission. It's thorough, and I want to be as thought in response as you are with the questions. Do you have a time frame in mind for completion?
I love that you can feel her energy with you.
Great, I'll fill out the submission form and look forward to it.
Hello, thank you for this thread @Jennifer Lauck! My name is Alicia M. Rodriguez. This September I'll publish my first memoir, The Shaman's Wife, about the years I spent in Ecuador living with a shaman. (https://aliciamrodriguez.com/the-shamans-wife) I now live in Portugal.
In the past my writing and books have been contemplations and practices for living an intentional life and personal and spiritual development. My Substack, Nothing Is Ordinary, (https://aliciamrodriguez.substack.com/) explores how we make meaning of our lives. I share practices on creating an intentional life and musings on slow living. I like readers to consider my Substack as a sanctuary for your heart and soul in a world that is moving too fast and is disconnected from the natural world.
I have been writing since I was ten years old. I never felt like I fit in anywhere - a Latina child in a white world with a crazy imagination. I loved making up stories and then acting them out with friends. I process life through my writing. Like breathing, writing isn't optional for me.
My biggest challenge is feeling like my writing makes a difference for others. That there can be a connection between the reader and writer that is soulful, real and generative. Sometimes it feels like my words are like leaves blowing in the wind, eventually lost to the atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from writing however.
My other big challenge is having my writing be my main source of work and income. If I could just write and live my life in a way that generates more writing, I think that would be heaven.
A huge, HUGE congratulations on publishing your memoir!!! That is amazing!
Your publication sounds just like what I enjoy reading, Alicia. And while I've not studied with a shaman, I've had the privilege of studying with religious and yoga scholars from the University of Rochester and other international teachers. I look forward to reading your work.
Thank you Paulette. Most of my writing has the essence of spirituality at its core. My life with this shaman was a way station on my journey. I hope you will consider reading the book once it is published.
Most definitely. I'll be waiting for it.
Thanks Alicia. Welcome. Love this: My biggest challenge is feeling like my writing makes a difference for others...sometime it feels like my words are like leaves blowing in the wind, eventually lost to the atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from writing however. (Bravo. Nothing is ever lost, or wasted).
My other big challenge is having my writing be my main source of work and income. If I could just write and live my life in a way that generates more writing, I think that would be heaven. (Agreed).
Hello! Chiming in here a little late. Thanks for the thread, Jennifer! There are some good discoveries in this thread!
I’m Jennifer Bochik and I write personal essays and memoir. I write about processing my life experiences by attuning to the wisdom of nature and seasonal living, as well as contemplative practices and slowing down. My Substack is Human Being - almanac of a life in progress.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jenniferbochik?r=5nk2i&utm_medium=ios
I’ve been called to write since I was in my 20s but didn’t put it to action until 2022. I finally started writing to process new and old grief after the untimely death of my 26 year old daughter in 2022. I had to get stuff out of me. I had to quit my job because it was too difficult to maintain composure in a professional environment while grieving.
My biggest challenge is believing in myself and that anyone actually cares to read my work. I’m dedicated to learning the craft, and feel incredibly fulfilled when I’m writing.
Hi Jennifer...welcome and first, I am so very sorry about your precious daughter. What a nightmare for you and I cannot imagine how your heart must have broken. I'm with you, facing the loss of my own child around that time. One of the most powerful things I've ever read about this kind of experience came within the complex (and often difficult) book titled Without a Map by M. Hall. She writes of something called human chimerism where the maternal cells cross the protective barrier in utero (and the same with the cells of the fetus). This means, amazingly, that we hold the living cells of all the children we have carried, and the other way round. My head explodes every time I think of it. I'm not sure why I share that with you but there it is. You are never alone, I suppose. She is with you still. All my prayers to you. 🙏🏼
Second, I wish you ease and focus and confidence in your writing journey. Doubt is just a gnat. Swipe it aside and keep going. XO 🐦⬛
🙏 From me, too, for your grief, the suffering, your healing.
Thank you, Jennifer! I'm so sorry for your loss as well. How did we get here, and where do we go from here? Child loss grief (or most grief, for that matter) is a never-ending journey. I really love the idea of human chimerism. I wholeheartedly believe that I hold and carry my daughter's DNA. I often refer to it as stardust since I sometimes tend to be hippy-dippy woo woo. I will read the book. What a powerful story.
Ahhh...sorry for my lack of clarity...I didn't end up losing her. But we were on that brutal edge for almost a year. The whole thing brought me to my knees and changed everything. I thought I knew loss (having endured the death of my parents and my brother) but when it came to surrendering her to the God who gifted her to me (I didn't even have a connection with God at this time) I was oblivious and so horribly arrogant. I truly believed she was 'mine' but now it's a different story. By grace, I have grown up (or am trying to grow up). She was never mine. I was simply the steward.
Let me know your thoughts on Hall's book. I did a commentary on it here, https://jenniferlauck.substack.com/p/without-a-map.
I truly appreciate your heartfelt honesty. Hold her tight and make sure she knows she is loved unconditionally. The rest is up to her. I look forward to reading your commentary!
My name is "Phyllis Carlin" as my Substack Name indicates. My primary form of writing has been "Legal writing" in service of being a a trial, appellate, and contract lawyer since 1981 with a niche specialty for 20 years in "workers compensation defense" and as a law clerk and law student back through 1974. In addition to published legal writing --as is every appellate lawyer because our work is in every library and online around the world, I've also published a chapter in 1979 in a Land Use Planning text about "Planned Unit Developments and "Cluster Housing".
I also write bad confessional poetry, notes and "mini essays" to myself and others about anything & everything. I've been a Quora writer under "P. Carlin" since 2017 with 750,000 plus readers around the world. I also write Letters to the editor" in NYT & WAPO, am newly on SS commenting, questioning, agitating, and am planning a Substack newsletter that will have a bit of all of it in "departments". My biggest challenges as a writer are: making sense, not annoying people, staying on topic, being persuasive, using good grammar and structure, and editing myself.
I've had a calling in the sense of rebelling against how I was raised when I was continually and explicitly told from age 2, "Children should be seen and not heard." As a result, I was like "the gopher game" always popping up somewhere anyway, including running for president of my elementary school, winning the Scrips-Howard Spelling Bee at that school against a future McArthur Genius Award Winner, being a feminist and affordable housing activist, going to law school in the early 70's --after a Masters in Law Librarianship and Information Science -- when women were only 3% of the profession. (I also was a board member at my synagogue and childrens' private school in the 90's-- and also never missed my kids school performances even once--and served on the Florida Bar's Professional Ethics Committee for 7 years.)
I've been on a dual track to "speak" anyway I could and can*: I've also been an artist, photographer, sculptor since 1963 and cartoonist, political & otherwise with my first rejection from the New Yorker, am working on a "graphic memoir", and have been designing jigsaw puzzles since 2011, have designed and made clothing and household linens, and I am in the process of formally copyrighting and trademarking ALL of my work for publication, competition, and sale in various forms and products. At 72 I have challenged myself not to die or become incapacitated in order to finish it all, and as you can guess, I don't sleep or clean my house much.
* That history of being both a "professional" and "writer" or "something else" is not unusual: William Carlos Williams was a poet and doctor, Wallace Stevens, a poet and insurance executive, Franz Kafka a writer and workers compensation government administrator, Scott Turow a lawyer and fiction writer, etc.
I am very happy to be meeting you all and everyone on SubStack- a truly talented, accomplished, interesting, welcoming, and as to some, even an intimidating bunch, from all of whom I hope to learn a lot!
We have commonalities—I was also told "Children are seen and not heard"—by my dad. Both my sister and I were afraid of him, so we grew up silent and introspective. Another one of his was, "Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about." Thank goodness for our mom. I'm also an artist and photographer. My best to you.
Wow! I was also told the "Stop crying" stuff and still more I could list. We could compare more and even explore whether it was how or when our parents were raised. Mine were Depression kids born in 1925 and 1929. Those were not "Dr. Spock" child-raising advice times.
(I also see your Newsletter title and am sorry for whatever you went through. In their own ways, my parents were abusive, but it was also a matter of being on the lower ends of that: they were more often describable in the earliest years as too often "negligent", too uninvolved, too "hard", too selfish, and maybe ignorant even though they were "middle class- to upper class", very "smart" in terms of grades in school, very accomplished, and my Dad very educated school-wise, and militarily from WW2.)
Insofar as your also being an artist and photographer: what led you to that? In my case, it's probably in the genes because there are many artists, photographers "crafty people"* in my family and also other overachievers and even another lawyer But I'd love to hear about your work and whether your family supported that. In my situation --and for better or worse--my parents just let me "run my own show" no matter what I ever did or wanted to do whether it was "art" or anything else. * My Mom was a superb knitter and made gorgeous clothes and sweaters, and among his other business and military accomplishments, my Dad was a clothing designer at one point with his own factories. (I also have a sister who is an artist and successful business person.)
So for my part when growing up I just "did" on my own, was pretty much self sufficient, basically ran on auto-pilot, and never got in much trouble as a general rule. I also rarely asked for anything and could not be described as spoiled or bratty. I was just lonely at home and coped by reading anything and everything, "doing my chores", listening to music, making art, having a few close friends, and many many acquaintances all over my city when I wasn't earning letters as a good athlete.
It would be interesting to research whether there are commonalities among artists and photographers overall as to how they were raised. For the most part, being creative is too often a solitary way of life.
Wow back! My parents grew up during the depression too, and my dad was in WW1, but he worked in the payroll department of the army and didn't see much of the war until he was sent to Japan at the end. My mom thinks he must have seen terrible things though, as she said he was entirely changed when he returned. But he couldn't have had the terrible experiences of some, so I think she just didn't know him well enough. She was warned by his sister not to marry him. He was the oldest of five, and his father abandoned their family when they were all children.
We were low middle class because he was terrible with finances, despite the fact he was excellent at math.
I survived by reading and making up stories with my best friend, Mary. We would take parts—she the girl, me the boy. I wanted to be a boy when I was young because boys had more freedom and went on adventures. That's what I thought, anyway. My dream was to get away and go west, and I did so after graduating from Kent State. One positive thing about being raised the way I was, having to overcome my dad, etc., I learned to take risks to have the experiences I wanted. If it doesn't destroy you, struggle does make you strong.
I painted watercolors for years and sold some, but once I began writing, writing was all I wanted to do. From learning design, I manage to take pretty decent photographs, though photography is a hobby. I had to learn Adobe Photoshop for my job at a Native American Gallery in Durango, which I enjoyed. I also learned how to design a web site at the same job.
I think you may be right about creative people having commonalities, especially being solitary. I write about how people who have had to struggle with their differences learn to grow and become stronger individuals.
How do you like Miami? I'm in Tucson, Arizona, and I love it here.
We are on to TRIPLE WOW! Kent State? I went there, too!!! 1969-May 4, 1970… Next you’ll tell me you were also my next door neighbor in University Heights, a Cleveland suburb. So when were you at KS?
We were at Kent at the same time! I was there from 1964-May 1969. I marched with the art students and faculty to get better class conditions. Seems everyone was marching for something then. I was an art ed major. I grew up in Portage Lakes outside of Akron, and my first love was from Cleveland Heights. We went sailing on Lake Erie often.
Welcome and all the best of luck in your Substack. You are clearly well on your way. 750,000 readers isn't something sneeze at.
Love this line: I also write bad confessional poetry, notes and "mini essays" to myself and others about anything & everything. 😂
I am AMY BROWN and write CONTEMPORARY FICTION. I also write the Substack Living in 3D: Divorce, Dementia and Destiny., https://amybrown.substack.com/
The moment I was called to write was elementary school, being handed a vocabulary list by my teacher and invited to create a story using all the words on the list. That was all the invitation I needed to enter my imagination and conjure up characters and stories and I haven't stopped since. I have always wanted to write, so yes, it's a calling and a passion. It is my vocation (journalist, business writer, ghost writer, editor) but it is more importantly, an avocation. I think of it as my dharma, my purpose; I spin words in search of meaning and connection. My greatest challenge as a writer is believing in the most creative part of my work--my fiction and my essays--as much as I believe in the writing "I do for a living." In fact, the real living happens when I do the writing that doesn't pay the bills--at least not yet. So that's the challenge--taking the leap of faith to write my heart out while keeping the lights on.
Lovely share, Amy and welcome! Love this: So that's the challenge--taking the leap of faith to write my heart out while keeping the lights on. Terrific title for your Substack, too. How do you find a way to believe? What is helping you get a sense that your creative work is hitting that ideal tone/voice?
I find I can restore my belief in myself and my craft by rereading even just one sentence I am proud of, or the comments from my critique group on a particular scene or passage. And lately, I turn to the encouraging comments from readers who have found me on Substack. The power of having one's words or story connect to another human. That makes me believe, encourages me to keep going. In my fiction, if I feel the emotion of what I'm writing viscerally, in my body, then I know I've dug deep enough to get at the heart of the thing--or close enough:-)
I am Stephanie and I write fiction. I've been writing since I got my first journal around age 7. I wrote my first mystery when my little sister's favorite stuffed animal went missing that same year or the year after. Already a writer then, I guess - turning her pain into my source material. (Don't worry it had a happy ending!) Writing for me is regenerative, a source of understanding, an escape, and a beloved challenge, and probably my favorite thing to do outside of reading. I don't do it enough. But I'm working on doing that more here! https://stephaniesweeney.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile
Thanks for the share and terrific to meet someone who had the passion at so young an age. My daughter was writing young, and fashioning her tales into hand made books, alas she stopped after a couple years and is off weaving and sewing. I'm so glad you stayed with it. The escape part is to true, a portal into which we can slip for a while...a sweet reprieve.
But weaving and sewing - so she’s still a creative :) thanks for the opportunity to share it’s fun reading through these!
Hello! I am Elizabeth and I journal and write memoir-like material. I started writing when I was 12. And I still have my journals from every year since then. I am re-reading them and pulling out many family “secrets.” I write because it creates form from the chaos in my brain. I love words. I love reading everyone’s writing.
Hi Elizabeth and how wonderful you have kept your journals! What an amazing source for material. Have you found them hard to read, at times? I cannot bear reading journals from even a year back (I wonder why that is???). Welcome.
Some of them are typical adolescent drama but there are nuggets of truth that makes where I am now make more sense.
Hello, everyone! My name is Cristina and I write a substack called Abroad https://abroadbycristinacarmonaaliaga.substack.com inspired by 20 years living abroad (currently 14 years in London), changing countries and languages. The thing that prompted me to feel curious about living abroad as a child (I come from a town of 7,000 people where no one in my family -or hometown!- had ever been abroad before) was my love of reading. Most of my childhood and teen memories are linked to books. I've always loved writing and while I pursued a degree in English life took me down a different path and I work with creative tech companies. I always dreamed of being a writer but I never thought I could because in my mind I knew fiction wasn't for me. It took me a long time to understand that you don't need to be (or in fact are) the kind of writer you admire, simply because you may have other stories inside you that no one else can tell but you. Thanks to learning English I discovered essays, creative non-fiction and David Seders and a whole new world opened up to me in terms of what writing also was and how much more aligned these forms were with me than fiction. Since my personal and professional interests have somehow become intertwined, my publication is a reflection of that and I write longer-form pieces on cultural identity, belonging, the love of books, music, but also technology and how it is impacting our lives. My latest post is in fact an attempt to untangle the whole AI is going to take over humans question.
Nice to see you here, Christina. I see you've been on Substack about six months. How's it going? Do you find the space and the deadlines and the subscribers help keep you creating and creative?
The six months is misleading as I did create the publication then but haven’t really started writing for it until recently. I have another substack for work related content and that was my main focus for a few months. Writing regularly there was what prompted me to resume this other publication to talk about a wider range of topics and so far it’s going well. I love being able to just write and share it and have found so many interesting substacks on creativity and writing.
Comment:
Name/Genre:
I am Sherry Lowry and I discovered in 2017 I naturally write best Creative Fiction in a curious child’s voice. I’m not yet writing on SubStack – which is a definite attraction.
When, et al:
That same year of 2017, I noticed a true paucity in my many bookshelves of both poetry (all there were gifts) and fiction - likewise gifts. While appreciated and valued, they were in contrast to treasured, specifically selected non-fiction, creative and otherwise, I often returned to time and again, quoted from, and recommended to others.
Then I noted in thinning out volume to donate away that I had whole sets of bookshelves on the art (and sometimes science) of writing, or of memoirs, and other real life or historical stuff. It did not seem accidental.
That generated a commitment to honor my lifelong intrigue with continuous learning, and Austin Texas USA, being wealthily awash in writing and published authoring talent = to register at least every new semester for a writing course - fiction or otherwise, a poetry one, or one on memoir, or ideally a craft one via my active Texas Writing League.
The moment I began to experience a calling to write was in one of those courses when I comfortably popped up to read brand new work - aloud. That seemed crazy, but when I began to take preparations to do so seriously, I discovered great gratification in followup editing. Mostly though, that process of working in group revealed that I simply love hanging around writers. My experience is they are courageous, willing, and often outrageously skilled - even if new to the process. So I think at that point Community entered the process.
That’s ‘why’ and ‘how’ soon showed itself as an amazing dedication in myself and others to both learn and practice ‘craft.’ It was not immediately a passion, and probably not a ‘calling’ either, really, but it WAS a fascination. That people - all ages, all types, make this huge commitment. Many stick to it and it is hard, hard, and often maddening. So…what’s that about? I may be forever learning, but I like being in this stream.
BONUS:
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
I quickly discovered I treasured free writing time. I also quickly learned without regularly returning to the page (like at least briefly and daily) I lost that delightful and rewarding commitment. Some of the writings I like now best of my past, often came forth when I did not really feel like writing, but sat down and made sure it happened. Then at other times when my child’s humor voice just streamed forth every single time I gave it a fighting chance, and people just laughed and laughed, that was it.
Hooked! Intrigued! I’m not a naturally funny person. But I was enchanted with the origin of that then and still am seven years later.
Challenge:
Hmmmm….greatest challenge. Well, during the pandemic year(s) my weekly ‘live’ writing group began to dissolve. So, at this moment, finding the right virtual group that ideally meets weekly FEELS like my main challenge.
Such a thoughtful and well drawn response. Thank you, Sherry and I hope you find some of what you are looking for here. Flight School is an off-shoot of my school, The Blackbird Studio and we are a collective of about sixty writers who work together, each week. During the pandemic, we didn't falter but got closer. Yes, we had to go online but we are devoted to each other in a way that is rather touching. Yes, it's a school, but more it's a community where people are deeply invested in each other. https://blackbirdstudiopdx.com/ 🐦⬛
Love this line: Some of the writings I like now best of my past, often came forth when I did not really feel like writing, but sat down and made sure it happened.
Wow.
Jennifer, you are contagious and I am glad to be in your zone, whenever, and however, that happens.
Jennifer how do you navigate substack reads? There’s so much great stuff to read on here but not enough time.
I don't usually go there as much I go to all the different sites I subscribe to...and this is how I manage because once you're part of this community, it can be daunting: I move all the notices from everyone posts out of my main email box and into one titled SUBSTACK. In this way, I know they are there. I also send the Substack reads recommendations (which the algorithm provides). Then, twice a week (which I schedule), I comb through and read my favs first, then the new ones I've recently subscribed to, and comment as often as I feel moved. Last, I look through the Substack reads recommendations and see what catches my eye...Make sense?
I meant your reads. How many you subscribe too. Sorry called it Reads. But your answer is great. I read your post on this. I delete all emails and when I have time I go to Substack and click Inbox and read what I like. I make comments 98% of what I read. Reading time as important as writing time.
Thank you for this, I feel a bit overwhelmed at times. Scheduling reading time is a great idea.
Life saver. I feel, at times, like I might collapse under so much content. I had to manage it or lose hours of my life.
And, I don't want that FOMO feeling sneaking in. There are so many great writers here and many offerings to learn and grow, the exploration is fun and can feel daunting.
Yes, I’m a Substacker. I write on the platform twice a month. Ever since I can remember I have always had a book in hand, or some other creative producing implement to transpire my imagination. I have written novellas to friends when I was at pivotal point a in my life. And at other times when I could not speak. I lost my speaking voice for ten years. I am still learning to talk. With it I am learning my voice as a poet and Creative Non-Fiction writer.
I thought writing was easy when I was in an AFA program in Everett, WA. I wrote poems for myself for ten years after that completion. Then I went back to school to work on an English degree as a two year Senior. I abhor five paragraph essays. I am suffering through. I am still reading. I am still creating in other ways with Vegan and Vegetarian meals. Or charring an unfamiliar recipe.
It’s all creativity from me. @amusedandcreativelively
Great! Thanks and welcome, Melissa.
Yes, seriously. I am IN IT now... Oh that's awesome. I will look for that... Thank you
I’m Priya Iyer and I write about journeys. I stopped writing at age 17 and didn’t write again until 36. It’s taken many more stops and starts before I realized that I was a writer and I needed to write as a way of living. I started on Substack last year.
Thank you!
www.tenthousandjourneys.com
I love the name of your Substack, Priya.
Thank you, Paulette!
What kind of journeys?
All kinds: hero, heroine, writer, etc. I enjoy pairing creative nonfiction with fantasy images. Thank you for your interest!
Welcome, Priya. What did you do for those 19 years??
I trained as a research biologist. It was only decades later, when a mentor pointed out that my heart was obviously not in science, that I woke up to what was missing. I’m older now and feel lucky to have made my way back to writing and be able to pursue it.
Okay, I see it. It's hard to do something like that....research biologist...that's intense and also write creatively. But you likely have a ton to write about now. I'm certain of that.
And none of them to do with biology! 😁
Hello! I'm Jeanine Kitchel and I write Mexico travel, essays, news, reviews on: Mexicosoul.substack.com
Have a degree in journalism and have written for newspapers, magazines, MX websites and
guidebooks over the years. So I guess I've just always had the call to write. It's also a passion but re-entered the writing world (again) when I wrote my travel memoir on living as an expat in a fishing village on Mexico's Caribbean coast—and opening a bookstore there. It's great to be here!!
Very cool story. Well done. Brave, too.
Thanks. A wild ride for sure.
Hello! I am Sasha.
I write and illustrate children's books as well as for theatre, film and television. I've always written in some form. Those things don't feel mutually exclusive to me. Maybe that's cheating, but if I could do anything else, I'd still be doing this.
https://childandline.substack.com/
Thank you Jennifer :)
Childline is the name of a charity that your name reminded me of. Though you ate child + line!
Oh interesting! Yes I was looking for something that could get at words and pictures...
Wow, brand new (at least to Substack). So much good luck to you.
Haha - SO new... :)
Are having fun??
I AM! I think it's sort of extraordinary. Also I had Sarah Fay to hold my hand...
Okay, she's a genius! Have you read her Pathological yet? We are talking about it here, and it's going to be a great teaching. I hope you'll join in.
I'm half-way through Pathological. I'm looking forward to being in that conversation too.
What’s the book about? Seen it on Substack.
Hello All, my name is Paulette Bodeman, and my Substack is called, Sage Sanctuary. I write creative non-fiction and personal essays that incorporates ancient wisdom teachings for today's world. I include practices and prompts to access your inner sage and find renewed purpose and meaning no matter your age.
I'm also a coach, so my desire is to offer guidance and inspiration during transitional periods of our lives and tips to navigate this tumultuous world we live in.
I've been writing on and off since I was a young girl and have self-published a memoir/self-help book. Writing is both a calling and can be a confusing.
What's challenging for me is when I need to work through my self-doubt - "who is going to want to ready what you have to say? You think you're a writer?" That ego based self-talk that can get in my way at times.
Hi Paulette and welcome. Do you think these questions: "Who is going to want to ready what you have to say? You think you're a writer?" are part of the emotional fallout that comes with sharing our personal lives? It feels that way, sometimes. I hear this more often from memoir writers, or those writing about their lives but in fictional form...
Hello Jennifer, nice to be here in this community. I've not thought of it that way, but yes I do think that may be a part of the inner dialogue. Thank you for the insight.
I think that when I have had the loudest "Don't write this," voice I have been nursing some deep wound...I push through and do it anyway. It does seem to diminish over time. What are you finding?
Usually what I'm resisting, or what scares me, is exactly what I need to write. When the voices get really annoying, I get on my mat or go for a walk, then get my self back in the chair.
Well done! And the bottom line is the YOU need to read what you have to say, right? I learn so much about myself while writing. It's a lifesaver at times. 🛟 Thanks for being here and being so engaged.
I am Nick Richards, and though I write in many genres, in Substack I am writing fantasy:
https://tranithargan.substack.com
I was a voracious writer as a kid (still am), and I started to think of my own stories, so I started to write. My first rejection slip from a publisher came when I was 10 years old. Oh well.
My greatest challenge? Writing while working full time? Are you kidding me? Time is my greatest challenge. Never (perhaps) did anyone look more forward to retirement so he can get busier.
And hey, if you like high fantasy (i.e., not set on Earth), please subscribe. Book 1 (of 6) of my Tranith Argan tale is, and will always be, FREE!
Heh, I meant to write “I was a voracious reader as a kid,” but I wrote a lot as well.
My goodness, how ambitious! Ten years old. : ) There it is again. Time. ⏰. I'll check it out, for sure. I don't read a great deal of high fantasy, but many of my students do so I like to read a bit here and there.
Ooh, tell your students! 😁
I am writer pilgrim and I write poetry, articles, memoir, reviews and more on https://blingnotbling.substack.com
The moment arrived after leaving the teacher career and during lockdowns and after leaving newsroom journalism.
It was a force. It just happened. Poetry poured out.
It is a calling and a passion and puts order in front of confusion.
Greatest challenge as a writer to get published by one of the big five and build a platform.
Bonus 2: thanks for this invite!
I look forward to reading your work.
Thank you! My most recent thing is a collection of 4 poems I write about four people who took me up on a challenge to write personalised poems on any four responses. I had no idea what I was getting! Turned out well. Lol. Do have a look. Those who got the poems were chuffed. I think.
I will.
Yeah, the publishing question. That's a tough one. I'm not sure what's happening with poetry, but I know that for mid-level writers it's getting tighter and tighter...I wish it wasn't so, but it makes Substack a particular joy and boon. Yes?
What’s the publishing like for established authors?
Kind of a nightmare, to be honest. It feels like the doors are shutting. First, they have reduced the number of options...only five big houses now...and this means there is more control over what will make it in the door. Sherman Alexie wrote about this over at his site. Rather sad, to be honest. My agent has been shopping my latest memoir for months. No. No. No. But this isn't bothering me much because I've already published a great deal and it hasn't made happy...so, I'm lucky. But I get where your at..keep pushing....you'll get there. 📚
Thank you. You mean not hapyy publishing? Sorry not following.
Yes, exactly. Publishing has not made me happy. I used to think it would, like it would validate the creation in some way. But it (publishing) was mostly a new set of challenges and compromises that often left me exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I'm extraordinarily grateful to those agents and editors and publishers who took on my work and helped it go the distance to a published book, international sales, an appearance on Oprah (all that is here on Flight School, the whole complex story...https://open.substack.com/pub/jenniferlauck/p/stages-and-phases-pt-1?r=fjvlj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) but all these years later it's the craft, itself, that speaks to me. The creation. And I love working with writers to help them grow.
Why is the memoir getting nos you think?
Very powerful message. Thank you for this honest recount.
Yes love substack!
Hello! I’m John Moyer and I write memoir and personal essays on my Substack now called Letters from a Psychotherapist https://johnmoyermedlpcncc.substack.com/?utm_medium=web
I had difficulty learning how to read and write as a kid along with other traumas. So, writing has always felt like climbing Mt. Everest, though I’ve always tried my best and always try to improve. I’d say the hardest times when I felt the call to write were eulogies-- first for my mother in 1996 and then my Dad in 2001. In 2018 my younger brother died suddenly and I then made some more startling discoveries that I wrote about in my essays and have pieced together in my memoir which I’m calling My Mother’s Ghosts.
Hi John and welcome. I've seen you about here on Substack. Well done persevering! We all have challenges, yes, but each of us have ones that feel almost insurmountable. Makes for great writing, I think! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Jennifer. I’m happy to be here among others trying their best.
I am TK Eldridge (Kess) and I write supernatural mystery/romantic suspense/PNR - https://tkeldridge.substack.com/
I have childhood books with the endings rewritten in crayon - so I'm going to say I was called to write from the beginning. It wasn't until I got a disability retirement that I started writing AND publishing.
If I don't write, I get twitchy - so yeah, it's a necessity. I love being able to create stories and share them with people.
My greatest challenge? Juggling the admin/marketing side with the creative side.
Sharing stories is a blessing! Love how you rewrote with crayons. How telling is that!
Apparently I even matched the crayons to the covers - the one my mom saved is in green crayon with a green cover. :laughs:
That's so cool.
No way! Lovely mum. I’d be like Noooo! Draw on separate paper keep book intact!
Oh, she didn't know I was doing it. It was later when it was discovered.
When I was in grad school, I had to learn to WRITE IN THE BOOKS because omg, writing/marking up a book? NEVER.
I figured it out pretty quick, though.
Oh ok! How did you keep it secret!?
Write and then tuck the book away myself. :grins:
TK, are you in Portland? Great work with 4000+ subscribers. That's amazing.
Impressive 4k!
Just NE of Asheville, NC
Ah, I saw Intel and thought you might be from the NW.
I -did- live in the Redmond/Bellevue WA area back in 1999/2000 and worked for Microsoft. LOVE the PNW
No, I worked in gov't intelligence in DC/NoVA area for nearly 20 years - moved to NC afterwards.
Ugh! Exactly! Juggling is the thing. How wondrous and fabulous to have limitless time to write, yes? I'm sitting here, right now, pausing in my own project (which I started two hours late to set up this thread) to meet everyone. Time is a huge question in my process, to include finding it and managing it as well. Welcome TK! And great work on your Substack. Heading over to read now! 🐦⬛
you'd think I'd have unlimited time - but there are limits on how long I can sit/stand at the desk before I have to rest (disability) - but the lovely thing is - I'm on my OWN schedule. So if I sleep all day? No problem. I just get the housework and writing done at night!
Welcome Mark. Thanks for the share . What does "adjudicated teens" mean?
Okay, I thought that might be the case but you know what they say about "assumptions" and making an a$$ out of ones self. Wow. What powerful work, and what a service to the community. Blessings on blessings. As Phyllis says below, thank you.
You have been ( God's work, for sure. And some in my family are the kinds of kids "Angels" like you you work with! Thank you!