Thursday September 14, 2023: Newsletter Recommendations
Daily Diary: Day 1109: Brief Check-in: Yesterday was a very good day, all around. A good night’s sleep, the cooler weather meant that I got in both my morning and my after dinner walks. I also did 20 minutes of my chair pilates, and I am feeling stronger. And, in addition to my daily posts, and a scheduled phone call, I got 1078 words written!
Today I should get in the two walks, but this is my busy day with noon zoom call, followed by a scheduled phone call, and writing my recommendations post and putting together my monthly newsletter that goes out tomorrow. Won’t be surprised if I don’t get anything on the novel written, but tune in tomorrow and see!
On to the newsletter recommendations!
My plan was to try to get through most of my recommendations at least once before doing a repeat, but this morning the Oldster Magazine (which I mentioned in my first recommendation newsletter) had an essay that was just too perfect for me not to jump in and recommend. The writer of this personal essay, Laurie Stone, had just discovered Only Murders in the Building and more importantly just discovered Selena Gomez. I just loved reading this piece, especially after watching the newest episode of the tv show last night. So, do go and read it.
And by the way, who do you think did it?
Back to regularly planned recommendations. A number of the newsletters I read regularly I am calling Lifestyle/Advice newsletters, but since a lot of us who are writing substack newsletters are writers, much of the advice that is being dispensed is directed at writers.
The first newsletter, Aging Well News, hasn’t been around long, and is written by Janice Walton, who is 83. As the title implies, her advice is primarily directed at seniors, although I would argue that everyone might find her posts useful. For example, the questions she poses for herself at the end of the post called Winding Down, could be asked by and benefit someone of any age.
Another newsletter I follow is The Hyphen by Emma Gannon.
Gannon is writer, was a successful podcaster, and she has written a novel and several non-fiction books, the lastest called The Success Myth. She seems to represent a certain demographic of women who were very busy and successful in their twenties and thirties, but who are now asking questions about what they want their lives to look like going on from here. In short, they are some of the people who might find Janet Walton’s Aging Well News of interest. I particularly enjoy Gannon’s Sunday Scrolls, often finding links to articles that I enjoy but might not have found otherwise, like this one about a writer who is still writing in her 90s.
Not surprisingly, a number of other substack newsletter writers have followed Gannon and are therefore referencing her newest book (because of course Gannon is doing what she needs to make sure people hear about the book.)
I found the post yesterday on a newsletter, The Red Fern, by Helen Redfern that I subscribe to that references Gannon’s book particularly relevant.
I followed Redfern because she directs her advice specifically to writers and in her about page she says the purpose of her monthly newsletters is sharing: “Essays about mindset: burnout, lacking self-belief, procrastinating, failing, fearing success - there is so much to make sense of as I navigate my way through creating this Substack, writing a book, growing a writing and mentoring business and exploring and experimenting with the online creative tools at our disposal.”
However, I thought her most recent newsletter post, where she shares the “four nuggets of wisdom” she got from Gannon’s book, would be useful to anyone who struggles with self-doubt—which of course means pretty much everyone I’ve ever known!
Hope you find some of these pieces of interest, even if you don’t want to go on and subscribe.
Meanwhile, just a reminder that in addition to this daily newsletter, once a month I do put out a newsletter devoted to letting people know about new publications, discounts on my ebooks and audiobooks, as well as links to other discounted books within both the mystery and science fiction genres, as well as a raffle to give away spotify codes for free copies of my audiobooks. The next newsletter goes out tomorrow, so you might want to go and subscribe, see below.
In case you aren’t sure how you got here, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. This is my newsletter reflecting on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully. If you aren’t already subscribed but are interested in doing so, you can subscribe for free by clicking the little button below. If you enjoyed this post, please do click on the little heart and/or share with your friends, and I always welcome comments!