Lemon Soul Slices - April 2024

My 'not a newsletter' insight into writing life and my top recommendations of the moment!

This is my third ‘Lemon Soul Slices’ since I embarked upon this crazy little thing called Substack. This is my (irregular) round up of writing life, updates on my forthcoming book, Breaking Waves, as well as Book 2 (oh and Books 3, 4 and 5…); what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to, and the latest on that job in Antarctica!! I actually started writing this in December, and then decided I didn’t want to join the ‘end of year round up’ melee…and then somebody ate January, February and March, so here we are.

Considering I wrote my previous Lemon Soul Slices a week before I got the book deal, it’s safe to say that quite a lot has happened!! Just six months ago, Breaking Waves was still ‘under submission’ (i.e. being farmed out to publishers) and it was not looking good…I was all set to (happily) self-publish, but sometimes life turns on a sixpence, and when you least expect! Read on…

Life

Last time I wrote about going ‘all in’ with the writing, and so the ‘walk and talk’ coaching business that my sister and I formed three years ago (when we finally evacuated our ‘big’ careers - mine in aviation, hers in education) closed this month. Do I feel sad? Actually, no. It was a very active choice for both of us to come away from it, but running it was also a very necessary segue from our former lives to where we are now. A transition between ‘there’ and ‘here’…where ‘there’ represents corporate life, everything you trained for, striving to match ‘traditional’ life expectations, grasping at the ladder, not always sure which was was up… and ‘here’ represents retirement (for her), writing life (for me). Living on our own terms, making our own choices. Lives that are equally full but altogether more fulfilling. For those three years we got to work, and create together, and that was a joy, but sometimes it’s all about knowing when to walk away. And no life experience goes wasted, it all just gets woven into the bigger tapestry.

So writing life is still very dog-filled, as that still pays significantly more than writing (!) but I also have had some wonderful writerly experiences so far this year, an absolute highlight of which was the

Alnwick Story Fest

in the gorgeous village of Alnwick in Northumberland in February. It was such a treat to meet with other writers and Substack connections who have become firm friends. I have a piece coming out on this shortly, but it really was the most life-affirming and inspiring few days, I feel very lucky to have been able to attend.

I also attended the London Book Fair this year, which was a very different experience from last year. Back then I was ‘on submission’ and nervously and excitedly pacing around whilst my agent pitched Breaking Waves. This year I have a book deal, and book two isn’t yet mature enough to be on submission, so it should have been relaxing but to be honest it was overcrowded, overwhelming, overstimulating…although I did meet up with some brilliant people, I’m not sure I’d go again.

Just this weekend I managed to do one of my favourite writerly things, escape for a couple of days to the magical Gladstone’s Library in North Wales. It’s a wonderful place to retreat to, to write, to rest, a true space for creativity. Home life doesn’t really facilitate writing in the way that I need to write - a grabbed five minutes here, an hour there, and each time I’ve visited Gladstone’s I’ve come away with a couple of chapters in the bag, and so it was this week. (Top tip - if you are a member of The Society of Authors you get a discounted rate so it’s really reasonable, or I think if you are clergy, but I do not fit that category!!). Exclusive excerpts from Little Tufts of Tea coming soon.

Substack Life

Substack continues to be a place of inspiration to me; of welcome, of kind words and comfort. I do love the community here, and although I struggle to keep up, it’s very much a source of positivity - long may that continue! There are so many brilliant writers on here but here are a few I’ve come across in the last couple of months and whose work I’ve really connected with:

Clover Stroud

- On The Way Life Feels: the acclaimed memoirist writes on themes of creativity, motherhood, grief and so much more, with ‘radical honesty’. It’s a treat.

Candace Rose Rardon

- Dandelion Seeds: ‘an illustrated newsletter in search of beauty and wonder in the world’. I have just come across this one, and it’s simply gorgeous.

Noha Beshir

- Letters from a Muslim Woman: Noha writes so beautifully on ‘the multi-generational immigrant experience, mental health, faith and motherhood’. I always come away from reading her work with a deep sense of connection and reflection.

Jeannine Ouellette

- Writing in the Dark: A mesmerising blend of first person articles along with brilliant writing prompts and ‘seasonal writing intensives’ based on her years of teaching experience. A lovely community resides here.

Book Life - Breaking Waves

Well in October last year - I got that call from my agent. An offer had been received to put my book out into the world from an independent publisher called Icon Books. I wrote about it all here, the deal was signed end November, and I’m just about to receive the first round of edits from my editor next week. The feedback so far has been very positive but I’m super nervous, I’m not gonna lie!!

I might have had a celebration or two with my closest friends and family, and at the place where it all began - the lake. After the structural edits, the next phase is the copy edits, typesetting, final proof reading, cover design (I’m sooo excited about that) and then advance proof copies will be available to send out to journalists/authors for reviews/endorsements etc. eek!!! If you’re interested in the ins and outs in more detail, you can follow it all on my Book Deal Diaries series right here on Substack. Pre-orders on the book will be available from September…

Book Life - Little Tufts of Tea

I have now completed the ‘Tea Sommelier’ training I spoke about last time, and am being assessed next month with some blind tastings and a thorough examination of my tea knowledge. The course was brilliant, although quite intense, learning about teas from Taiwan, Japan, Africa, China, Sri Lanka, Korea, Vietnam, Nepal and of course…India…

In January I had the most incredible experience visiting India with my mum for a cousin’s wedding, and much of what I learnt and experienced is currently seeping its way into this book. I’m still not sure exactly how it’s all going to pan out but I do love this exploratory stage - where nothing quite makes sense but I get the odd ‘golden thread’ that I can weave in. It explores my own heritage through stories told to me by my mother, along with how we pass down our culture in ways other than words - here through the medium of tea. I’m sure it will all change beyond recognition over the next few months but my main aim for the moment is to get this into a coherent book proposal with sample chapters to start the whole pitching process again! Watch this space.

My recommendations:

Amidst all of that, here are some of the highlights of what I’ve been reading, watching, listening to over the past couple of months:

Reading

Twelve Moons by

Caro Giles

is a beautiful memoir on mothering, loss and reconnection; on the force of womanhood, and the power of the natural world in healing and soothing the soul. It is both gentle and ferocious, with such beautiful and evocative writing, I felt the wind in my hair and in my heart right there alongside her.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang is an astonishing book. Written by an Asian author, it tells the tale of a white author who steals the manuscript of a dead Asian author (the book centering on Asian experience), and passes it off as her own. Described as a ‘satire of racial diversity in the publishing industry’ (i.e. lack of), it is excruciating, cringey, sharp, funny, brilliant. I wouldn’t say it’s subtle (!) or the characters particularly likeable, but it does give a really interesting insight into the debate on cultural appropriation and who is ‘entitled’ to write about what subjects and why. Aside from that it is spot-on in terms of aspects of publishing and what goes on behind the scenes. If you’re a writer, I think it’s an absolute must read, and if you’re not, it’s just a damn good story. It would be a great one to discuss!! I listened to this on audio which I highly recommend.

Thanks to

Katy Wheatley

I got to see Nina Stibbe talk in London a few months ago, and bought two of her books - Love, Nina and Went to London, Took the Dog. Love Nina is a series of letters written by the author to her sister when she worked as a nanny in London in the 80s. It is laugh out loud funny, the writing is so warm and personable, it is altogether very life affirming. A joy!

I finally read The Island of Missing Trees by

Elif Shafak

after many years of wanting to, and it is a treat. The central character of the fig tree is surprising and strangely comforting. A constant presence amidst the turmoil and disruption, a soothing voice throughout. Set in Cyprus, it is described as a ‘rich magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal’. Yep, that’s exactly it.

I’m currently reading (well listening to) The Red of My Blood written and narrated by

Clover Stroud

, a book I was nervous to read as someone who has also lost a beloved adult sibling in traumatic circumstances. Three chapters in and I am mesmerised. It’s simultaneously a quite different experience to mine, yet also so very similar. It highlights the nature of grief, depicts the rawness in the immediate aftermath, and is so lovingly and beautifully told. I look forward to the rest of the book.

Coming next:

I have sooooo many on my pile, but I think I’m going to plump for a couple of fiction books I was gifted for my birthday - The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, and Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili - one set in Ireland, one traversing Georgia, I’ll let you know how I get on. Also in anticipation of

Luisa Skinner

‘s first ‘gentle book club’, I’ll also be reading ‘Weathering’ by

Ruth Allen

exploring our connection to rocks and mountains, our own ‘weathering’, and ‘a deeper understanding of the ground beneath our feet to better serve ourselves and the world we live in’. I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these already?

Watching

Well seeing as I last wrote a ‘slices’ round up before Christmas, there has been a lot of watching!! Highly entertaining ‘TV lite’ such as The Beckhams, And Just Like That. The brilliant follow on series of The Morning Show - I really rate this show, great cast, insight (perhaps?!?!) into the TV industry and really perceptively flawed human characterisations - one of the better one of the crop in my humble opinion. Time is a brilliant, although not uplifting British prison drama with a superb cast - Stephen Graham and Sean Bean in the first series, Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance and Bella Ramsey in the second. Highly recommended. (and if you didn’t see Blackbird - the US Prison Drama with Taron Egerton - it is beyond brilliant - outstanding TV).

I’m also simultaneously ploughing on with True Detective (variable by series), The Crown (also variable by series) and Euphoria - extremely intense and I am not the target audience age demographic for sure, but it is brilliantly acted. It’s just one that I need to take intermittent breaks from.

Next up: I’ve been recommended Griselda, Kin, Blue Lights and Fortitude - people keep sending me Arctic/Antarctic recommendations…I’m not sure why (apparently the 4th series of True Detective with Jodie Foster is a corker set in the Arctic).

I have also whisked my way through Oscar film season on the big screen. Although it seems to polarise people, I was blown away by Oppenheimer (OMG that pun is criminal), mesmerised by All of Us Strangers, and found Wicked Little Letters wickedly joyous (I don’t think ever seen anything with Olivia Colman in that I haven’t loved #nationaltreasure). Saltburn was extraordinary, and is a film best described in emoji….👨‍🎓🏰🛁🤢🎉☠️🪦🍆😱🕺… you gotta watch it… but my absolute favourite of all of them was Poor Things. I really wasn’t sure about this one, even when I began watching it, but the performances by Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe are utterly captivating. With glorious costumes and sets and an extraordinary score, it’s quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen, although I wasn’t expecting quite so much ‘furious jumping’ 🤣. Wonderful all round.

Listening

On planet podcast, I have listened to some intriguing and heartbreaking stories. Back to my aviation roots with ‘Transfer’ the truly tragic story of Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala who died in a mysterious plane crash over the English Channel - with this series asking the highly valid questions as to how and why he was even on that plane in the first place.

Love Janessa is a cautionary tale of ‘catfishing’, the power of internet manipulation with intent to dupe and deceive, and how people will believe what they want to believe; and Scamanda is a jaw dropping story - also about the human capacity to dupe and deceive, and the extremes some people will go to for their own personal gain. All very binge-worthy. Amidst these I love dropping in on the Women’s Prize Bookshelfie podcast episodes, where host Vick Hope interviews authors from a variety of genres as they come together to celebrate the best books written by women.

I also appeared on these two podcasts talking about life changes, big decisions, bravery, fear and everything in between:

My best bits

On my own Substack, these are the my top three pieces in terms of comments and engagement and are also very special and personal to me. If any are in archive and paywalled and you would like to read them and are unable to become a paid subscriber at this time, just let me know and I’ll send you a coupon 🫶

So there is never a dull moment! I’m still waiting to hear back from the Antarctic research station (!), and as I wrote in the above piece, I don’t expect working there to actually be the outcome, but what has started to happen is the flickerings of a fiction idea set in that environment, so perhaps that’s where this is all going to go! That’s book 4, and book 3 is under wraps for now but you will be the first to know!

I’d love to hear if you’ve seen or read any of the above, what has piqued your interest, and what your favourite recommendations are too.

As always…

Love & lemons 💕🍋

Em xxx