Happy half a year birthday!
Celebrating being on Substack for six months!
Hi there! This week I’ll have been on Substack for six months! To celebrate - here’s a discount of 20% off annual membership! And if you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you! It means the world that you’re here.
I’ve loved connecting with readers and connecting with writers. I’m so grateful to have this space to share my writing with you and to read work by other writers.
Pre-B (pre-baby) I wrote my novels in the mornings, then worked as a TV producer/director, a features journalist for the Guardian and Independent, a columnist for The Times and BBC Wildlife magazine and later as a wildlife presenter for BBC 1.
My Sunday mornings were spent drinking coffee and reading the papers, then coming up with ideas to pitch for the following week.
Post-B I barely had time to look at the pictures in a paper, much less words on a page.
Now that the baby has just become a teenager (how did that happen?!), I do have a little more time to read, but what I’ve mainly been reading are books for ‘work’ - thrillers, since I’m a thriller writer, and nature non-fiction to help with my nature memoir, Wilderness.
So joining Substack has been a joy, as I’ve read snippets of wonderful writing on all sorts of topics and my life, once more, is full of words. Thank you, fellow Substackers!
I’d love to share some of my favourite Substacks with you:
Emma is a best-selling writer and columnist. She writes about creativity, wellbeing and the future of work. I feel that she (spookily) taps into things I’ve been thinking about; I like her approach to life as an unapologetically bookish-introvert yet with a cosy community of thousands, plus her writing is wonderfully accessible. Emma, novelist and non-fiction writer, has been blogging at This Itch of Writing since 2007; as she says, ‘thinking aloud and exploring how writing fiction, creative non-fiction, and sometimes scholarly and academic non-fiction, works for real writers with real lives.’ The precision and clarity of Emma’s approach is not to be missed. Laura is a biographer who has written about Agatha Christie and Nancy Mitford, and has a wonderfully arch take on true crime and fictitious true crime. Jeannine is a novelist and creative non-fiction writer as well as teaching writing at the University of Minnesota. Her writing is gorgeous and the poetry she shares, sublime. Leyla is a TV broadcaster, often found on BBC Radio 4’s Food programme. Her newsletter is about self-empowerment, personal fulfilment and slow and sustainable living. In the olden days this might have been called The Good Life; basically everything from how to cook a nettle, brew kefir to Marie Kondoing your life. Many writers are shy about promoting their books, don’t see writing as the business it actually is and bumble about social media because their publishers think they should. YA writer calls it like it is: in his newsletter you’ll learn from the film, fashion, and music industries how to brand, market, and make money as a writer. We ARE superstars. Talking about stories and story telling with , including tips, interviews and highlights from the film industry and the arts. 5am start optional. with garden designer Gorgeous bursts of colour, inspiration and blossoms to brighten your day.Through Substack I’ve discovered books that I may not have heard of, or wouldn’t necessarily have bought, but have and have thoroughly enjoyed, such as
’s Enchantment, and ’s The Success Myth (and I’ve just ordered her beautiful-looking double-book deal, A Year of Nothing).
As a thank you to you, my readers, I’m going to re-post some of the essays that were behind a paywall this week so that everyone can read them in full (if you want to, obvs.! ).
To finish the week, on Sunday I’ll be posting a very special offer. Please check in with
on your app or email to receive the offer.Here’s a sneak preview photo about the special offer with a cryptic clue: the wild lilacs are blooming in Lilac Wood in Wild Pinebeck.
A very happy 6 months here Sanjida and thank you for your very kind words!
Here's to you Sanjida - and thank you! How lovely to read this (and your other recommendations) on a Monday morning...
Rooting for you at the CWA.