Reading time: 5.19 1,263 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, A really, really good tomato is worth the wait and the effort and, sometimes, the travelling. Itās why my greenhouse is full of tomato plants of different varieties. Iām excited about all of them, but particularly the WlĆ decks, which is a heritage tomato. Big, beefy, and red. The kind of tomato you see in old-timey childrenās books, perhaps drawn by Beatrix Potter. A client sent me some seeds a few years ago, and I...
5 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 6 min read
Reading time: 1.47 421 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, ā”ļø 1. They allow (at least elements of) the writing process to be fun. Why so serious? ā”ļø 2. They burrow through their discomfort and elbow their ego out of the way to get to the substance underneath. People donāt want a surface level book; they want depth. They donāt want our āooh what will people think of meā prose; they want our down-and-dirty truths. The secret? š„Write the stuff youāre not sure you ever want anyone...
7 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 4.20 1,030 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Okay, Iāll join in the weather commentary. ITāS HOT. So when I went to gymnastics this week, my plan was mostly to stretch and not move around too much because that room was approximately the same temperature as the surface of the Sun. But I did want to do a couple of somersaults into the foam pit because Iād been away for a couple of weeks. You need to keep doing them otherwise it gets scary again. Taking a run-up...
10 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
Reading time: 2.03 406 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Terrifying things I have done: š§Æ Starting a business after getting fired. (And letting go of that shame.) š· Swerving my business and going ALL IN on the thing that makes my heart singā¦ during a global pandemic. š Saying YES to Joe after Iād already failed at marriage once. š» Saying YES to a client who asked if I could ghostwrite a book for them, when I had never done that before (and now itās what I do!) š Writing every...
12 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 2.02 482 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Thereās this picture of me I found. I was about 14 years old, I guess, wearing my uniform of denim jacket, tassled skirt, purple Doc Martens, baggy top, and āam I doing this rightā smile. I was also sporting the remnants of an unfortunate curly perm. GOD, WHAT WAS I THINKING! Then, as now, I was wishing for hair I did not have and would never be able to achieve. Some things never change. Other stuff does, though, like my...
13 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 0.40 156 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, I spent this weekend doing a fancy jigsaw and reading a book in my parentsā garden, and I rarely do this amount of chilling. This is what it taught me: Ha, just kidding. No brotivation here. Just chilling. Although I did get up this morning without worrying about literally everything and instead thinking How can I be a little bit better today than I was yesterday, and a little bit better tomorrow than I am today? Just...
14 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Reading time: 3.54 925 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Was in the very swampy gym last night. Went on safari to find a pair of 5kg weights and a pair of 2.5kg weights. Round and round the moist, festering weight room I trekked, cursing the fact that they have air con in the cardio room and swamp fumes in here. And also cursing everyone who doesnāt rack the weights where they should be, in size and weight and colour order thus necessitating said swampy safari. There were...
17 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Reading time: 1.15 297 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Iām standing chest-deep in the Caribbean Sea, chatting to a stingray wrangler who is guiding one of these magnificent sea-flappers into my arms so I can commune with it for a moment, and the main thought that pops into my head? Not: āWow, these creatures are glorious, look how they glide!ā Not: āMy goodness, how many people get the chance to swim with stingrays? Iām so lucky!ā But: āMushroom with wings!ā My main...
18 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 3.16 775 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, I think a lot about saving the world, but the truth is the world will be just fine without us. It'll thrive, actually. I remember hearing David Attenborough say that not so long ago and it caught me like a punch to the stomach. Itās not really about saving the world. The planet will bounce forward from everything humanity has done to it. Different, but strong. Stronger without us. What we really mean when we talk about...
19 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read