love letters to storytellers
Hi and welcome to the newsletter of “emerging” (the professional term for “baby”) indie author Alyssa Sherlock.
about Alyssa
Alyssa Sherlock is the author of the illustrated memoir this is a love story: poems and essays on friendship, love, and mental health (2023). Alyssa regularly writes on the themes of mental health, family, and friendship in her fiction and creative non-fiction. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the CNFC/Humber Literary Review Creative Non-Fiction Contest. She regularly interviews other writers and storytellers about their work through her newsletter, love letters to storytellers. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty 1 territory). You can find out more about her at www.alyssasherlock.com.
what to expect
love letters to storytellers is a monthly newsletter and will land in your inbox the first Sunday of every month. There are three main alternating threads for this newsletter:
> love letters to storytellers - These are interviews with indie or local writers, leaning into their journey of storytelling through the process of their writing or publication. I like featuring authors that are up-and-coming and don’t have a huge audience yet, because you can’t survive a creative career without community… and maybe I just use interviewing other indie authors an excuse to make friends. :)
> writing reflections - In my writing life I try to prioritize self-care, so I talk a lot about that and other struggles of pursuing a creative career, like balancing creative career aspirations with a day job, imposter syndrome, and more. I find these are the posts that connect the most with others and remind me and others that we’re really not alone in this. But, writing being a solitary activity, it’s easy to forget so constant reminders are helpful.
> self publishing bts (behind-the-scenes) I self-published my first book, this is a love story: poems and essays in friendship, love, and mental health in spring 2023 and learned a lot along the way. People a) love asking me questions about the process and b) usually have no idea how the process works. I like providing that background insight into self-publishing, because it really is fascinating! (A reader once: So, how does self-publishing work? Like, you just…apply, or?).
A couple more things…
>Updates on whatever writing I’m working on or any publications I’ve had recently, if that’s your thing. This is the place to hear any of my writing news first.
> And… last but not least, upon sign-up you receive a free, exclusive download of a meditation for creatives (written and audio), to calm your worries when you are stuck or discouraged in your creative pursuits.
