My First Monthly Newsletter On Substack and Announcing Brunch and Books!
First of all, thank you for subscribing to read my writing here on Substack. Every single subscription gives me a little boost and renewed hope that sharing my writing is worth it! Secondly, a confession…. I am learning how to use all the features on Substack and I have been doing a bit of faffing about in terms of the different options that people can subscribe to. Most of you should be subscribed to my main Substack publication ‘Days Like This’ and will receive the writing that I do once a week, usually on a Friday and occasionally some other day like a Wednesday when I have a messy week!
I have also put my ‘Monthly Newsletter’ as an additional option to subscribe to. It will provide a summary of what I have been writing about, information on what I have been up to, details of things that are coming up and include recommendations to various bits and pieces you might enjoy such as books, articles, podcasts, films, general culture etc. So, I am sending this first monthly newsletter to everyone but if you want to receive it going forward, maybe you could check your settings and see if you are subscribed to it… Here’s a ‘how to’ that I hope makes sense!
Managing Subscriptions
Click on Open Online at the top of this email…
Click on you/your account in the top right corner and then ‘Manage Your Subscription’.
Scroll down and you will see Notifications.
Make sure any options where you want to receive updates are turned on (in green)! (There are additional options such as my Book Club and specific writing on faith and spirituality in case that interests you).
What’s coming up? … Brunch and Books: The Stages of a Woman
I am very excited to announce that I am running something! On four Saturday mornings (10am to 12pm) from the end of March to the end of June (25 March, 22 April, 27 May, 24 June), I am offering a themed ‘book club’ over brunch focusing on ‘The Stages of a Woman’ at my home in East Belfast.
The cost for the four weeks is £40 (to cover catering, costs and fees). There will be delicious coffee and food, the opportunity to discover more books, meet new people, have meaningful conversations and find shared connections. I have curated a range of (fiction) books which will allow plenty of room for discussion about the various stages of women’s lives and the impact they have on us. You can find out more about it on my Substack Book Club at https://deborahsloan.substack.com/s/book-club and you can register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brunch-and-books-the-stages-of-a-woman-tickets-567021786427. I have included a photo of the books we will be reading.
If you are interested in this but Belfast is not convenient for you, do let me know as I may consider running it elsewhere or online. For this first themed ‘book club’ I am suggesting women only as it may raise sensitive issues but I am also planning to run another ‘Brunch and Books’ from September where we read fiction that focuses on different world cultures and religions.
What have I been writing about recently?
Here are some of the pieces that I wrote over the last month…
Slow Cookers And A Waste Of Talented Women…
Six Months After Resigning – Where Did I Expect To Be?…
Are You Going To Do Angry Writing?…
After Children, There is Marriage Again…
What else has been happening?
ABBA…
On the day after Valentine’s Day, I headed off on a short trip to London for my 21st wedding anniversary (I didn’t go on my own, I took my husband with me! But we left the children at home!). The highlight was going to see the ABBA Voyage concert at the ABBA arena which is a purpose-built venue in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, just a short walk from Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. All I can say is that if you get the chance, do go! It is both a nostalgic and a futuristic treat and I am still trying to get my head around the virtual avatars which show the group as they were at the height of their success in 1977. It is an event where anything goes - from those dancing in full seventies disco attire to the more sedate seated introverts like me whose bodies barely move. I have referenced it in the piece of writing ‘After Children, There Is Marriage Again’…
House and Interiors stuff…
If I hadn’t ‘wasted’ twenty years in higher education before escaping at the end of July, I’d maybe have tried my hand at interior design because that is probably my true passion (after writing, of course). So, it’s been lovely to have our home featured in the April 23 edition of Ireland's Homes Interiors & Living (it's not us on the cover but there are loads of photos inside the magazine). Copies are available from all good retailers so if you are in Northern Ireland/Ireland, it's a great magazine so do pick up a copy! Here’s a photo of the magazine strategically placed in my house plus a few taken by the wonderful photographer Sarah Fyffe that actually feature in the magazine. I love a nosey around people’s houses and the best place to have a look and get interiors inspiration is Instagram so if you want to see more of my house updates, I usually share these on my Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/deborahjsloan/.
I think that’s it for this month. I don’t want to overwhelm with recommendations as there’s been a bit of admin to cover this month but there will be more of those next month! I’ll share my next monthly newsletter in early April so do subscribe to it if you are interested in getting these updates.
Happy Saturday and thanks again, Deborah
Your home is amazing! I love all the graphic prints. If I wasn’t in London I would love to come to your brunch and books!