Hi Reader!

If summit season is starting to tire you out and you just cannot handle another multi-day sprint of 8-hour video streams, this email is for you.

(If you are loving all the fantastic events that are happening right now, awesome! 🚀 Lean into that momentum and keep on going!!)

But if this is looking like a good idea right now...

...and you just want some low key writing stuff to do while your energy recharges, I'm right there with you! (Read to the end of this email for the latest in my own need-a-break saga.)

Super Chill thing #1

Watch my interview with Philip Duncan from the recent Fiction Marketing Academy. It was on the final day of the summit, so I didn't get a chance to promote it much, and you might have missed it.

But this video is so chill and so fun.

There are no assignments, no worksheets, nothing to actively do. Just sit back, watch us chat, and learn about how to find your perfect-fit readers.

I've received so many lovely comments about how much people enjoyed this interview, so if you haven't gotten a chance yet, queue it up on your phone (you can watch it directly on YouTube here), find a cozy spot to relax, and hit play.

Watch the interview here

Super Chill Thing #2

Read my personal backstory on the About page of my website.

On the surface, this might seem like a vain thing to suggest—"Hey, go read about me!"—but (especially if you're new to my space) you might not realize that while I might come across as put-together and unflappable, I'm not a naturally confident person.

And I work through some very powerful insecurities every day.

In our societal world of polished, curated, perfectly-put-together media, it's easy to look at other people and think they're better equipped or lucky or even naturally blessed with the "right" personality.

That's why I think it is so important to encourage transparency, to show that life is not perfect for anyone, and that starting from a place of fear is normal.

As a writer, your backstory is one of your personal superpowers.

The struggles you have faced and the decisions you make every day are the details that matter most, not the flashy six-figure book contracts or earning letters like "NYT Bestselling author" to tag onto your pen name.

And if you don't believe that where you are now is what can catapult you toward living your best life, click this button right here: 👇

(You'll need to scroll down a little more than halfway, to the section "Where my story really started")

Read my story if you struggle with self-doubt

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Why I'm sending this email

Earlier this month, I mentioned that I was scheduled to be in three events in October: The Back to School For Writers bundle, the Fiction Marketing Academy, and The Escape the Plot Forest summit.

What I didn't mention is that I was freaking drowning in work. I waaaay overcommitted to what I could handle in a perfect situation, and October brought even more challenges in my personal life.

The TL;DR version is:

• My video hosting provider cut off my video streams for all my paid courses (with no warning) at the same time as my website had a critical error, where I could not access my own website backend from my local network. (I had to hotspot in from my phone just to access my website and, you know, update those broken video links!)
• The new refrigerator we ordered was scheduled for delivery three times—which means I had to unpack and repack our food three times in a single week—and half the furniture in my house is (still) piled into one corner to make room for the delivery (that still may or may not happen).
• My kitten had neuter surgery (which, if you have cared for a post-surgery pet, takes a lot of personal care and time).
• During all of this, my dad unexpectedly ended up in the hospital (he's fine now, but oof), and I was simultaneously creating new curriculum for my two ongoing high-touch cohort programs (which have weekly assignments, reviews, and meetings) and getting my website and offers setup for events happening in November.
• (All this is also why I haven't continued posting my AMA video series from the summer. I haven't forgotten about that either!)

I am ready to sleep for about a year. 😰

But I realized that this is just a season, and it will pass.

And that it's okay to take a break. And that maybe you needed to hear that too—that it's okay to give yourself some grace and just do the best you can.

Ultimately, I had to pull out of the Escape the Plot Forest Summit this year. If you wondered why I'm not in it, that's why. Daniel and I tried so hard to make it work, but the universe seemed to be telling both of us (he had his own series of trials at the same time I was dealing with my own craziness) that we needed to stop pushing and just go with the flow.

So that's what I wanted to give you today: permission to do nothing.

Or, if you want to just passively learn while you you relax, check out one of my Super Chill suggestions above and veg out. 🥰

My emails are going to be sporadic for a while, but I have some REALLY EXCITING THINGS planned for Black Friday week (seriously, you will not want to miss these very special offers!!). I promise I haven't forgotten about you or abandoned you. I just need some "me" time for a few weeks.

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PS! If you're like "I don't need a break! Gimme something that will empower my actual story!", I gotchu! The students in my Story Intensive (the high-touch weekly cohort program I'm delivering right now) have been raving about how much the backstory exercise has helped their character and story development. Check it out here:

Or, if you're already a student and want to work on a new hero, click here to get started now!