Welcome to WIWWISBWMY: A very public prescription for literary constipation
I’ve made meaning with words my whole life, whether as a journalist, copywriter, essayist, blogger, or black-belt shopping-list-maker-lady. (Because let’s face it, my memory is a sieve. Who are these people wandering around Trader Joe’s without a list?! Show-offs.). I have never, ever dealt with writer’s block.
Until now.
About a year ago, I started typing up the book I’d always dreamed of publishing: a collection of funny personal essays from my life. I thought, how hard could it be? After all, these are the stories I’ve told at dinner parties for years: the one about the dog eating my son’s bellybutton, the one about escaping from a goat farm in Italy, the one about the guy who duped my husband and I into taking shower photos on our honeymoon, etc etc. I figured writing it would be as simple as turning on a faucet. Just twist and flow.
Well, I’ve been twisting for a year now, and while I’m exceedingly happy with what’s come out, it didn’t just tumble forth the way I thought it should. Writing the book feels a lot like wrestling in an empty gym. Lots of incremental movement and a fair amount of grunting.
I need a place where the words spill forth, where I can get the light stuff out of the way to make room for the heavy stuff—like sweeping a room before the new couch arrives. And I need an audience. That’s where you come in!
What it is
Subscribe to What I Write When I Should Be Writing My Book and you can expect one newsletter in your inbox every two weeks (never more than that). It might be a list of things inspiring me right now, a recipe or two, an interview with someone cool, or a mini-essay with a chewy little life nugget that stays with you for a while, like the Tootsie Roll in a Tootsie Pop.
Who it’s for
Because I live on the Central Coast of California, my posts may be especially useful to you if you live here, too, but the goal is to share funsies that just about anyone can enjoy. If you like humor, beauty, flavor, depth, and character (oh, and maybe clothes—yup, definitely clothes) you’ll fit in just fine.
Do you need to pay for a subscription?
Do you need to pay to get these posts? Hell no. But if you feel flush with cash and want to show your support for my work, I will gladly take it. And, from time to time, you can expect special posts just for paid subscribers, too.
I think that covers it. Thank you for paying attention to me. It means a lot.
xo,
Jaime
