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Hi friend,

Well. Here we are, almost in November. As my grandmother used to say, shaking her head: time goes by.

Earlier this month I spent a incredible week at a writing retreat in Halkidiki, Greece, in a workshop cohort mentored by the poet Maggie Smith and surrounded by the most amazing people. Our conversations and the focused time unlocked something in my memoir which I'm really excited about, and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I expect to be done with this draft by the end of the year, at the latest. Yippee!!

My early 2027 coaching schedule opens next week! And I'm hosting a free webinar on "The Heartbeat of a Story" on Saturday, October 31 🎃 10am Pacific. Click here or see below for details.

The leaves are dropping, the daylight is waning, and I'm working to savor every moment before what tends to get a bit...gloomy here in the Pacific Northwest. But what better to do when we're trapped indoors than write?!

And now, without further ado, here's your monthly round-up of recommendations!

📚 What I've read and enjoyed this month:

Seven Stories About Tammy, by Elizabeth McCracken
​Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, by Ben Reeves
​The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
​Good Dirt, by Charmaine Wilkerson
​Paper Ghosts, by Sarah Addison Allen

Currently reading: Ofelia and Norma, by Donna Miscolta

📺 What I've been watching:

Slow Horses, Season 6 (Apple)
​War (HBO)
​Youth (HBO)
​Ted Lasso, Season 4 (Apple)
​Colin From Accounts (Paramount)

And a comfort rewatch of Schitt's Creek!

🎧 What I've been listening to:

Hollywood Ending, by John Green (audiobook)
Good Life Project (podcast), particularly this episode on sleep and this episode on time anxiety
​This song by Sara Bareilles ft. Brandi Carlile, over and over and over...

💥 Free webinar!​
​The Heartbeat of a Story: What it is and why it matters​
Saturday, October 31, 10am Pacific

There are three interconnected elements that create the Heartbeat of a Story: a message, a character arc, and intentional turning points. We'll do three quick exercises to uncover the first layer, and discuss how they interact to create a story readers will remember long after they finish the last word. Learn more and sign up here! >>​

✍️ Recent Substack essay:

Retreat and Real Life: On Keeping the Creative Cup Full

Earlier this month, I spent a week in Greece at a writing retreat with the most inspiring, brave, creative, smart, and funny group of humans I’ve met in a long time. Within minutes, we were family. Each conversation was rich, even those about trivial things. Talk for more than two minutes, and we found we were exchanging the deepest matters of the heart.

Perhaps this is what happens when you lift writers out of their daily lives and sequester them alongside the Aegean Sea, a crystalline cradle of ancient civilization, where between shared stories, shared laughter, and shared tears, we swam in its salty embrace. Read more >>​

I'll be dropping into your email next week to tell you about my one-on-one coaching services. It won't be too painful, I promise. 😉 Thank you for letting me take up a little space in your inbox!

I wish you the best of everything, in your writing, in the season, and in general.

Post-Scripts:

I'll be here when you're ready.

Receive my twice-monthly Substack newsletter Living Revisions in your inbox by clicking here!

Want to be the first to know when The Writers' Cottage opens for enrollment? Click here.

I super appreciate you.