now enrolling for summer semester

a belated May wrap-up and June kick-off

Happy June, I guess?! I’m not quite sure how we’re over a week in, except that this time of year is always a whirlwind. I’ve felt triple-booked as I wrap up the academic year, juggle multiple projects, host friends, and try to maintain as much sanity as possible in the process. (I’m almost certain there’s a very important task I’ve forgotten, a message or ten I’ve accidentally left unanswered, or an event I’m supposed to be at right now, but at this point my brain has declared bankruptcy and I can merely hope for the best.)

For a minute I considered just skipping my May wrap-up, because it’s nearly half a month late at this point. I’m sure I’m the only one who even noticed. But even if it’s delayed, I did want to take this minute to write to you—I started this newsletter as a way to hold myself accountable for gratitude and reflection, and it always does me good to look back at the loveliest moments of the month, to consolidate my learning, and to encapsulate this particular season.

lately

For me, start of summer always means 1,000 Words of Summer season. It’s like a new year in June: a chance to reflect on how I’m spending my time, what I’m choosing to value, and how I might build a container for more joy and alignment.

If you’re not familiar, 1,000 Words of Summer comes to us from the brilliant and generous

Jami Attenberg

. The task is simple but highly motivating: 1,000 words a day for two weeks. I highly recommend subscribing to her Substack and also checking out the book of collected essays and inspirations, which is required reading for my creative writing class.

The project has been inspiring me on many levels, as usual. Some favorite excerpts from the daily newsletter:

Do these not make you want to write?!

I had big aspirations of using the project to log words for a WIP I was discovery writing earlier in the spring in order to jump-start it again, but then I got caught up in revisions on a few other things. It felt like a metaphor for the many balls I’m juggling right now, and I yearned to drop them to focus on one priority. Which says a lot more about me than about 1,000 Words, so I listened to the nudge to reflect on what season I’m entering and what I want its focus to be.

I saw a TikTok recently from a woman who makes herself a “summer syllabus.” In part one, she wonders where all the excitement went from the days of choosing our college courses for a semester; in part two, she shows us her own very cute summer syllabus.

I do love a schedule. So of course I’ve spent some time drawing up my own, dreaming about where I want to put my energy. More luxurious reading, of course, finally catching up on my towering TBR and indulging in the chance to read some things outside of my typical comfort zone; perhaps an art class at the community college, to really fulfill this year’s vision board; definitely those fun side writing projects I’ve been dreaming about (yesterday I clocked 4k horrifically messy words thanks to a few unrestrained sprints, and it felt like joy and freedom); maybe joining a run club to add some community and structure to one of my favorite sanity-maintaining activities?!

The guiding principles: playfulness, ease, presence.

I know I have the luxury (and necessity) to totally redesign my schedule when the school year ends, and many of us have day jobs without the same forced transition. But the process of reflecting and dreaming brought me such joy that I recommend this little seasonal rebrand if you, too, are starting to feel like you’re juggling or on autopilot.

I schedule-sent myself a yearly reflection ritual I stumbled across back in January, intrigued but having already reached full capacity for reflection at that point in the year—and wouldn’t you know it, that email landed this week, right on time. If you want a more involved reflection process, I highly recommend it.

If not, perhaps just a few questions:

• What side quests do you want to embark upon this summer?

• If you signed up for a few “courses” for summer school, what would they be?

• What have you been working on that doesn’t serve you anymore? What can you release?

• How can you take a little better care of yourself?

• What project will you feel accomplished for having undertaken?

I’m looking forward to turning a fresh page and setting my summer vibe. As always, very curious about yours.

learning

Since this last month was a doozy, most of my learning has been in the form of podcasts I can listen to on long drives or mental health walks. So, a potpourri of links and resources:

• Turning to Story has been on fire in their latest season. Some of my favorites:

  • The Power of Prose, wherein Anna makes a brilliant point about how your prose offers a premise to be delivered upon just like a pitch or concept does (read the Cliff Notes here, but I suggest listening to the whole ep!)

  • Specificity, featuring a conversation with lit agent Mike Whatnall that delivered so many gems of wisdom and actionable advice (and made me even more impressed with the work a great agent does!)

  • Romantic Intimacy with Ruby Barrett, which tackles intimate scenes of any kind from the perspective of both craft and therapy lol (lots of unpacking of internalized shame!).

• Anna’s annotating! Check out a really brilliant breakdown of the opening of The Fifth Season. If you haven’t grabbed a favorite book to mark it up lately, I can’t recommend it highly enough; I love reading these observations and want more of them in the world!

• This season of No Write Way just wrapped up, and the final episode was with V.E. Schwab herself. I always love hearing about the writing process of someone who’s built such range and longevity, and there are some wonderful nuggets in here.

• Leigh Bardugo’s on Substack and I’m living for it. Last week she dropped a little “podcast,” but she said she much prefers to think of it as a voice memo to the group chat—and it feels that way! Casual and candid, giving us access to a dream writing mentor. This installment addressed craft tools for writing a book and overcoming the fear involved, and I had to pause it partway through to jot down some quotables (oh, to be so effortlessly eloquent!):

  “Draft audaciously, revise with humility.”

  “Writing’s not about falling in love, but staying in love.”

I’m looking forward to digging in to some craft books I’ve laid aside as part of my aforementioned summer syllabus, so I’m planning to share a deeper dive soon (I suppose it makes sense that in a month of so much output, there hasn’t been as much input to share)—but for now, I hope these short snippets serve as an amuse bouche before the main course.

loving

💕 neighborhood excursions: cat-sitting for friends, long walks through new streets, quick writing dates after work, early dinners, spontaneous happy hours

💕 “long time listener, first time caller”-ing a fave podcast—I’m trying to be louder with my admiration these days!

💕 devouring Truth Is as my first dent in my summer TBR—Hannah Sawyerr is brilliant, and this book had me riveted (I tried to go to sleep at the 50% mark, could not stop thinking about it, and turned my light back on to read the rest)

💕 browsing gorgeous, visionary print magazines at a local newsstand

💕 incidental conversations with strangers at coffeeshops

💕 launching Alyssa Villaire’s wonderful summer witchy romance The Glittering Edge, which is a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and sold out at Vroman’s (the first time this had happened in years, just saying…)

💕 Trader Joe’s root beer float popsicles, which now scream summer to me

💕 rediscovering Rachel Cusk (I’ve been deep diving into her essays after many years of not keeping up on her work, and she’s kind of making me yearn to go back to Italy??)

💕 June Jordan’s poetry: a new-to-me poet, which is embarrassing because she’s a legend, but better late than never I suppose:

💕 The Rehearsal. So late to the game here, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such strange, thought-provoking comedy—I keep thinking about not just the brilliant jokes, but also the existential questions it raises

💕 celebrating Page Powars’s book launch, engagement, and NYT-bestselling status! Pick up And They Were Roommates if you haven’t already—the perfect chaotic trans summer romance

💕 piling up all my summer reads and being sure to dedicate a luxurious sliver of time in the middle of every day to read some more from the stack

💕 an extremely chaotic and serendipitious visit to a ranch (featuring goats, alpaca, and a camel)

💕 making lists of and visiting a bunch of new local gems (cafes, thrift stores, scenic vistas…)

💕 celebrating end-of-year student work, from film showcases to capstone projects to final speeches

That’s all for now, my loves. I’m wishing myself a joyful, restful, expansive, inspiring summer—what flavor are you wishing for yourself? How can we make it happen?

Much love always,

🤍 Emily