The Literary Sipper

Whether it be a towering stack on your night table like mine, its own pristine bookshelf in your library, or a haphazard list in the back of your planner, what you read next can be a hard choice. In this week’s episode, I let you in on my future choices, and then we get to see if I actually get to those books or if i get sidetracked by new shiny ones beckoning me from my local indie.

Let me know what’s on your TBR list, so I can add it to mine.

x A<...

Companies mentioned in this episode:

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Valentine’s Day is coming and whether or not you celebrate or believe in the commercial nature of holidays, I am all for a reason to look at poetry about love. And if February makes me feel all the feels, then poetry in February is one way to escalate all of those feelings. Today, we look at three relatively modern ones. I mean within the last 20 years. We don’t need to go all the way back to Sappho or WH Auden to find the best romantic descriptions. Poetry lives and breathes as a reflection of our own times.

Well, here we are again. It’s cold out, the sun may or may not be shining, the holidays have finished, you may or may not have put away all of the decorations. So now what? People tell you it’s time for arbitrary resolutions and a push towards productivity. But the winter season says it’s time to slow down, make friends with the darkness, and look inward.

But you do you.

And if you want to do you with others, Tania (taniawalshyoga.com) and I are running our Winter Workshop on January 30, 2025 and regist...

It’s the end of another year, folks. And it’s time to recap 2024 and all of the reading I managed to do.

Here are a few of the books I highlighted for you to check out:

Get your last minute shopping done at the bookstore.

Live by the mantra: one book for you, one for me.

It’s what you want for Christmas anyway.

And whenever possible, shop local.

Merry Merry.

x A

In our Let Go and Begin workshops, Tania Walsh and I always start with the symbol of the doorway. Are you closing a door, opening a new one to a room you’ve never entered, or revisiting a dusty room that needs a good airing out?

This idea came to me after reading Donald Justice’s poem “Men at 40”. I loved the metaphor of the “softly closed door”. I felt incredible empathy for these men who now looked at their life’s choices and could see that they would no longer be able to take these roads that led to fr...

When I am unsure of what’s to come, I turn to poetry. When I feel sad, I turn to poetry. When I feel lost, in love, overburdened, underwhelmed, dazzled or dreary, I turn to poetry.

After the election, these three poems filled the void.

What poems have you turned to this November?

Let me know in the comments!

x A

Do you have friends who are ten years older than you?

What about ten years younger?

Diversity is also about age. Understanding the generations that bookend yours is more than just reading the myriad memes on the subject. It requires an open hear and a generous ear.

If we want to honor the classics and expand the canon, we need to broaden the audience.

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You are an artist. Plan your day accordingly.

Micro Plan and Macro Plan.

Then be ready for it all to change in a moment.

Do your best and make sure to make room for your creative life.

x A

Here is the episode on planning your retreat!

When you select your next book, might I suggest you stray a bit from your preferred genre? Try some poetry, a thriller, historical fiction, memoir. Try something you don’t usually reach for. As the days get darker and shorter, we may find ourselves wanting the familiar, the cozy book that echoes the way we hope to spend our time. However, it may be a great time to get yourself tucked in with some tea, but let your brain go on an adventure.

Here are some links to some of the books I mention, the Libby App, an...

While we all know that looking at art makes us feel something, we get caught up in figuring out the right meaning. What are we “supposed” to see becomes more important than what we are, in fact, seeing. Make sure to spend time looking, seeking, observing, connecting to the visual. It will help you make sense of the world, no matter what your preferred medium may be.

We are all looking to retreat from the pressures of this election season that’s for sure. Have you made actual plans to do so? To take time away and delve into your creative self? You could finish your draft, you can dive into meditation or yoga to find your center. You could surround yourself with other artists for inspiration. You could learn a new skill or technique to add to your arsenal.

Learn to Re-TREAT yourself.

What would fill you up? Take time to think about it and then put it on your calendar.

Take your time to write a real, live, gorgeous, letter today. To someone. Anyone. Get a stamp. Mail it. Then do it again. And then, when you’re ready to read some gorgeous letters, try these on for size:

Here is a link to the Steinbeck letter I read and the Dostoevsky letter I didn’t.

And if you want to be extra sweet, write a review for my wherever you listen to this podcast.

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Get to those bookstores, people. It is time. Time for tea and time for books. My favorite time.

Let me know what you are reading. Let me know what you are sipping.

Here is the link to the Fall Reading Guide.

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Don’t let the stores fool you, you still HAVE TIME! Four more months remain until the new year. What were those resolutions you made around reading last year? Can you add something new to your fall reading? Can you play with when you read? What you are reading? How you are sharing your finds?

Let me know what goals you want to reignite as we move towards 2025.

And if you haven’t take a look at my Fall Reading Guide for inspiration.

And as always, let me know what you are reading!

Welcome back to The Literary Sipper!

I didn’t mean to take such a long summer break. But, alas, it is what it is. We had a lot of travel this summer, and like many, my creative goals took a backseat.

I did plenty of reading and writing though, so we will touch on that in future episodes. As a former teacher, September feels like the new year, anyway!

The goals this year are to deliver a weekly podcast for you and a bi-weekly Top 5 Sips to your inbox.

This week we...

What are your creative rituals? Do you light candles, only write in the morning, pair your dance practice with your afternoon coffee? How do you let your brain know that it is time to plant the seeds of your latest venture?

Do you have different rituals for exploration and other ones for polishing, editing, and the work of being an artist in the modern world: newsletters, mailing lists, wuery letters, connecting with fellow artists or your audience?

This week we get into the concept of rituals and of course if you haven’t investigated Mason Cu...

A deep dive into the summer reading guide I put out a couple of weeks ago. You can listen to me give spoiler free summaries for some of them and a rationale for how I organized the rest.

But what I really want are pictures of your tote bags full of books!

Currently Reading: Let Us Descend, Jesmyn Ward

Happy Summer everyone.

x A

The feeling that we are all shouting into the void is pervasive in art making. Why does it matter? Who is even listening? Why should I even sit down and write or draw or make something from nothing?

I refer you to a one Mr. Jeff Tweedy in his wonderful book, How to Write One Song. In the very first page of the book, before he even gets to page one, chaper one. he writes:

“We have a choice — to be on the side of creation, or surrender to the powers that destroy.”

I can...

I am not sure how you define classic literature. I am not sure how I define it anymore either. However, I know there are a slew of books I was supposed to read, but time, energy, degree requirements, diversions, and fill-in-the-blank reasons, I just didn’t get to. And when you’re daily writing and work centers on books, well, we all know that there is no such thing as the bottom of that TBR pile. That’s part of the beauty of walking into a bookshop or library, the notion that you will never get to read all of it...

When someone transforms our favorite book into a film or television show, bookworms have a LOT of opinions. Some of us refuse to watch any interpretation, some of us look forward to the visual adaptation, some of cannot wait to bash any new version that comes along. When an adaptation is done well, it can exist side by side with the book in perfect harmony separate, but the same, like a twin of sorts, like A Handmaiden’s Tale. But when done poorly, it can gut us. I am looking at you The Scarlet Letter.

There are so ma...

In honor of National Library Week (last week anyway!) I wanted to talk about one of my happy places. Do you have your library card? Do you seek out the large city libraries on your vacations? Do you use the library for a quiet space, inspiration, research? Let me know. And if you haven’t read Susan Orlean’s The Library Book, I highly recommend it. It remains one of my all-time favorites.

I suggest you head over to your library today and bring home a big old stack.

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Hi Friends,

This is the eternal question: What do I do with all of my old journals, scraps of ideas, notebooks, and napkins? What if they hold the key to my best work and I am too blind, or too lazy to go through them all to find it? Well, this week we talk about: Intention.

And also, how are you using them now?

We also talk about the disappearing ephemera of writers, in general.

I mention “The Booksellers” a great documentary about the rare book deals in NYC. It was produc...

Hi Friends,

What creative pursuit can offer you a second chance at being a beginner? Here are a couple of great links to check out about some of the people I mention on the podcast this week:

Enjoy and let me know what your pairings are.

x A

If you didn’t receive this book as a gift this year, go get it for yourself at your local independent. It’s worth it.

Here is a link if you need it.

If you did receive it as a gift, lucky you. You are loved. Read it and start practicing.

If you need a gift for someone, this is a good one

.

But the greatest gift you can give to yourself and to others is the time and space to be creative.

x A

Hi All,

I know it’s been a while. But here I am, ready to encourage you, gently, always gently: Begin Again.

Did you download this list at the beginning of the year and promptly forget about it? Did the new sunny days inspire something in you to pull it out? Great. Now pick one. Don’t worry about which one. Don’t overthink it. Just start somewhere. Any of them should be the momentum you need to get going on this creative journey.

Here is the link to the list in case you mis...

I certainly hope your 2024 reading list is off to a great start! All the books I mention are listed on my Substack. Here is the link in case you missed it!

Book List 2023

Also, I am still currently reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. What are you reading? What was your first book of 2024?

x A

Happy New Year, friends. As we head into 2024, I wanted to start with the most requested topic of 2023 and then ease into my 2023 Book List next week. So enjoy this throwback picture to warm weather and when my son was so into The Stand that he forgot to take his mask off after a doctor’s appointment. Also, in case you wanted to know, my younger son was playing in a baseball game at the moment my husband took the photo, an important game as I remember, but I tend to watch when he is playing and not so mu...

Well, Tis the Season to be shopping. Fa la la la la. For some of the people on your list, books make the perfect gift. For those who listen, it is also an excuse to go to the bookstore. I subscribe to the one for me, one for you book shopping mantra. Here are some links to the ones I mention in this week’s episode:

In this week’s episode, we discuss the three books I’m thankful for (right now, anyway). Like most lists, they are subject to change with the season, the mood, and the moment you ask me to remember them. So here are a few links to the books I mention, in case you are in need of some new books for the rest of the year to finish out 2023 with a bang.

As artists, we long to be in the flow state for as long as possible, but sometimes we can feel like we’re wandering among the trees aimlessly. Yes, it’s beautiful, covered in snow, crunchy branches under our feet, songbirds in our ears, but we have to find the way out at some point. For many artists, goal setting can be painful. This week’s episode talks about the how and why goal setting is important and hard.

I don’t have a lot of links this week, so here are some notable books on creating and of c...

This week's episode is a starter kit to recognizing the role of body work in your creative life. There are a lot of names thrown around, book titles offered, and even a Walt Whitman poem at the end. But above all, honor your body the way you do your muses. Without it, you couldn't make anything.

Here are some links to the people, books and poems I mention:

This week we are talking about how creative pursuits can sometimes leave us with an emotional hangover: that hollowed out feeling like we have given over so much of ourselves how can we ever hope to fill up again. I assure you, dear artist, you will.

Here are some links to some of the things I talked about this week.

Pete Holmes on Zach Braff’s Podcast

Pete Holmes’ You Made it Weird Podcast

Dr. Huberman and the sun in the morning

Joseph Campbell’s A Hero with A Thousa...

We are so lucky to live during a time when the myth of the artist emerging fully formed has been debunked. The artist is a person, just like you, who has made the choice to fill their space and time seeking the common core of our humanity.

Here are some links to things I talked about this week you may want to check out:

Sometime you need a kickstart into living a more creative life. Here are three small things you can do this month to help. If you need more ideas, head over to my Substack posts, and there is a free printable of 20 creative prompts for October. I will leave that link below along with some others to things I mention in this week’s podcast.

Keep writing. Keep making stuff.

x A

Here are the links for the week:

In this episode, we talk about the fear we have about our own voice. We talk about the cringey feelings when we first hear our recorded voice and the trouble that translating our own voices through our art can bring up.

Here are links to some of the things I mention that you may like too:

Keep using your voice to usher more art into the world.

x A

In this episode we talk about asking for space to create, claiming that space, leaving that space and sitting and doing the good work! Then returning and returning and returning.

In this episode I mention a few things you may want to check out:

And as always if you would share, rate, text someone you know the link…all the things. I would love you even more.

x A

What do you think? Should you take that class? Did you already sign up? Let me know!

Here are some links to things I mention in the episode:

Keep Making Good Work.

x A

Helen Frankenthaler, Round Trip, 1957

A continuing conversation regarding self-care. If you missed the Substack post on the topic, here it is.

Let's Try Creative Self-Care Instead of a Hot Bath

Amber Vitti Hill

Ever since the great pandemic of 2020, we have been inundated with the “rules of self-care”: morning routines romantically filmed with dreamy filters for YouTube, calls for daily 90-minute yoga sessions and artisanal hot tea, long showers and nature walks, mani/pedis and massages. These all sound wonderful and healing, but when you break those activitie…

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