Happy New Year! I figured that a brand new year was a good time to change things up here at my Substack newsletter. It will still be released monthly, and will contain updates about books, classes, library events, and other important Ruby Finch related items, but I’m going to add some new categories and take some things away, because life involves constant evaluation and change.
I’m so grateful to those of you who have signed up for this newsletter, and who have been so supportive and kind about my new business venture. It means the world to me. No one ever accomplishes anything alone, and every writer hopes to reach readers with their words and ideas. I’m grateful to those of you who have read my work for a long time, and those who are new. Everyone is welcome to this online newsletter space. Pull up a chair, settle in, open up your heart and I hope you stay awhile and find some inspiration and community here.
If you are looking for more personal and vulnerable writing from me, I invite you to browse my author website at julianneharvey.com where I write monthly(ish) posts on my life. Most of my educational conference and Pro D day speaking for teachers is over there as well.
One-Word Feeling Check-In
How are you feeling right now, in one word? My word is hopeful. Some years, I’ve felt sad when December turns into January, but this year I find myself filled to the brim with optimism. Physically, I feel better than I have in a long time thanks to some medical interventions, and I’m bursting with ideas for Ruby Finch and for my own writing projects.
In 2024, I feel ready to work. But also to rest. And to really notice my life as I’m living it. To feel grateful for the people around me, and the laughs and tears that we’re privileged to share together. I want to be as present as possible this year. How about you? What are you feeling right now? And what are you working on in 2024?
Book Corner
I re-read a couple of holiday favourites in December (Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham) but I had lots of time for new (or new-to-me) library books as well. Is there anything better than snuggling under a blanket and reading by the light of the Christmas tree? It’s one of my all-time favourite pastimes.
My top three recs for the Book Corner are Keep it in the Family by John Marrs (my buddy Toby told me about him and this book was way darker than I usually read but damn was it good!), Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simons (a fun debut and anything picked for Reese’s book club is a must-try for me), and I See You by Clare Mackintosh (creepy novel about stalking on the London Underground with flipping POVs that kept me guessing until the end).
Happy reading, everyone! What’s in your TBR pile right now?
The Soul Says
Every year, I come up with a set of words or a phrase to focus on and grow into. I write about this over at my author site, and that post will be coming sometime in January. For the last few years I’ve encouraged/forced my husband and kids to come up with their word(s) or phrase along with me, and this year my daughter chose Soul isn’t found online.
I thought this was brilliant, and it inspired me to add a category here for whatever my soul might be mulling over when I write this newsletter. Right now, as we turn the calendar over to a brand new year, my soul is saying one word: Slowly.
The thing about our soul is that it whispers to us. We have to quiet down the noise and distractions in us and around us in order to hear what it wants. And my soul wants me to go slower. To notice more of my life as I’m living it. And to stop worrying so much about all that I have on my to-do list. Right now, front and centre, I’m going slowly. How about you? What is your soul saying right now?
Library & Community Writing Classes (+ Jamesy Harper’s Big Break!)
My full event schedule is on my website, and more dates are added regularly, but for January the only Write Your Novel or Memoir class is at Parkgate Library in North Vancouver from 1-2 pm on Monday, January 22nd. If you live nearby, please come and write with us!
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching some Key Building Blocks workshops for fiction and memoir for Semiahmoo Arts Society and for Port Moody Library. All of this will be in March. These sessions will be longer than the intro Write Your Novel or Memoir class and do a deeper dive into some key craft elements in both genres. I’ll be developing this material over the next couple of months and I’m excited for some in-person teaching this spring!
As for Jamesy Harper’s Big Break, I keep hearing from more libraries in BC that are adding the book to their collection (New Westminster, Salt Spring Island, Vancouver Island to name a few) and I wanted to share a copy of the book that I checked out of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. If you are a library lover like myself, please request the book at your local library as this will really help Jamesy Harper to succeed out in the world. Much appreciated!
TV Recs
With Ava home from university, we took a brief break from our tear through The Sopranos and watched a few movies (Wonka, You Don’t Know Jack on Max, Sly and May December on Netflix) but we found time over the holidays to watch a few series.
I have complicated feelings about The Crown, with colonialism and excessive wealth creating a minefield of issues in our world, but as a young woman in 1997, I know exactly where I was when I heard that Princess Diana had been in a car accident in Paris (I was playing mini golf with Jason and our friend Marc) so I was eager to watch her episodes in the final season.
Ava wanted us to try Fellow Travelers, and I thought the various timelines and stories worked well to focus on gay rights, AIDS, McCarthyism, and politics from the 50s to the 80s in Washington, DC. I’ve always loved Matt Bomer and he’s excellent here. For something light, we returned to season two of Only Murders in the Building, and I found myself giggling at so many of the episodes. It’s good, silly fun, and by the very end we get Paul Rudd, who is a pure delight.
Write Your Novel or Memoir Online Classes
My first online writing class begins TODAY with five writers and I am thrilled about it! I worried when I started to build the material on Canvas that I wouldn’t have anything to say about writing novels or memoirs but it turns out I was brimming with ideas on craft, process, and creative practices as well as designing forums to workshop and check in with our feelings each week. Isn’t that always the way? We worry that we won’t be up to the job, but when we go to prove our knowledge to ourselves, it tends to be there.
Ruby Finch Books is built on the tagline Intuitive Courage. Most of what we seek out in the world actually lives inside of us, if we are brave enough to slow down and look inward. Our intuition is powerful. I knew, in some unspecified manner, that there was a better, healthier, and more hopeful way to teach a writing class. I believed it, deep in my soul, but I didn’t know what that meant until I sat down to build each section of this class. And now I’m halfway through the twenty-week curriculum, with the Plan and the Start sections built, and I simply cannot wait to dive in with writers who are willing to be honest about the joys and challenges of writing along with me.
This current class will run until the middle of May, but I’ve put the next class schedule up on my website now. If you want to join us in October for the next 20-week class, please reach out to julianne@rubyfinchbooks.com and we’ll chat. I hope you’ll join us and big thanks to the first five writers in this novel and memoir class who are taking a chance on me! (and P.S. - I have some in-person creative writing classes coming up this spring in the Vancouver area - please see my website for more details!)
Flower & Teddy
Both cats have been soaking up lots of love from Ava while she was home from university for Christmas break. Flower will let her do absolutely anything to him, including embarrassing him with a soft tortilla on his face. Ted has a bit more dignity than that. I think Theodore might be the most photogenic and gorgeous cat we’ve ever had, but he’s my baby and I fully admit to being biased.
Flower and Teddy wish you a very Happy New Year!
Libraries forever,
Julianne and Ruby Finch Books