DUMB PHONES AND BURN IF I DIE JOURNALS

Life of a Bookman

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

A book that resulted in a “burn if I die” journal: If you're feeling a call to be more creative, but don't know what to create, might I suggest The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. This is more workbook than reading book, but I can guarantee it will get your life force flowing. With prompts, exercises, morning pages, and week-by-week exploration, there's a reason this book has a cult following and sits evergreen in the canon of creativity. It's also the reason I told my bestie, “If I die, find the rose-sparkle hard-cover journal with a gold bookmark and BURN IT PLEASE.”

What I'm writing: We're backkkkk. And by “we” I mean, That Novel edits. I've had two months away from my manuscript and just this afternoon my agents' feedback and line-level notes hit my inbox. Let's just say I scream-danced-celebrated in the kitchen with my pup and felt a wash of gratitude for the amount of support around me that kept me at it for the last three years. I've still got really important revision work to put in before it's “camera ready”, but we're so much closer to this bad girl heading out on submission. And that's a beautiful thing.

Women’s Studies

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon: My screen time is out of control. To the point, I'm not even going to report on it here because I don't feel like watching your jaws drop. I say all of this as context for how much I loved this article from the New York Times called A Practical Guide to Quitting Your Smartphone by Kashmir Hill. She ditched her smartphone and moved to a flip phone, something I've dreamed of doing since 2017 when I was writing You're Not Lost.

I don't feel “ready” to go to a flip phone because my group texts are one of the great joys of my life. And I ride a Vespa and rely on Uber and Google Maps. And gosh I love podcasts <excusesssss>. AND YET, I do want to bring down the addiction loop I'm in with picking my phone up, having it on me at all times (except in bed), and mindlessly following every random thought I have down an internet rabbit hole. So! I downloaded and set up the Blank Spaces App, which converts your phone to greyscale and hides everything besides what you absolutely need. Essentially turning your interface from a smartphone into a “dumb” phone. Highly Recommend.

Pass it on

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine: I absolutely binged the last two seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, with the last season bringing me to absolute laughter and then tears over and over again. This is a comedic treasure. And once you watch, don't miss this Vanity Fair interview with the lead actor Rachel Brosnahan on the true love story of this show, which was there if you paid attention all along.

xx

Maxie