Creative, Inspired, ALIVE

Hello, Protagonists!Welcome to another episode of the Creative. Inspired. ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.Our guest, Deepa Anappara, won the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. Anappara is also the co-editor of Letters to a Writer of Colour, a collection of personal essays on fiction, race, and culture. Her next novel, The Last of Earth, is out now.Today, we talk about:- researching historical fiction,- the influence of her journalism on her fiction,- if and how an author should translate a culture,- building bridges between the writer and the character,- and the perseverance needed for publishing.xo,Joanna & Evelyn🎥 Watch the ConversationYou can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack appCaptions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).🎧 Prefer to Listen?Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!Connect with Deepa:You can find Deepa Anappara on Instagram or her website. Her newest novel, The Last of Earth, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Hello, Protagonists!Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, Alive podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.New Year, New Name! - Creative. Inspired. Happy is now Creative, Inspired, ALIVE!Our guest today is Roshani Chokshi, New York Times Bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over two dozen languages, and one of them was even named in Time Magazine‘s Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time. Her latest novel, The Swan’s Daughter, is out now.Today, we talk about:* using mythology and legend as inspiration in fiction,* how motherhood has changed her as a writer,* the long arc of a career over a decade,* shifting definitions of success, and so much more.xo,Joanna & Evelyn🎥 Watch the ConversationYou can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack appCaptions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).🎧 Prefer to Listen?Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!Connect with Roshani:You can find Roshani on Instagram or her website. Her newest novel, The Swan’s Daughter, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Happy New Year, Protagonists!Welcome to our (slightly) new name and logo. In this Letters from the Creative Life post, you can read about what this new name means to us, and what you can look forward to here in the upcoming year. xo,Joanna & EvelynWhat does ALIVE mean?Finding my Tentacle and Showing Up All the Way to LifeLast year, Evelyn invited me to bring some elements of my creativity coaching to this amazing Substack community. In our collaboration, we decided on a new name: Creative, Inspired, ALIVE.You might be wondering, what the heck does ALIVE mean? And you would not be alone. In fact, I struggled to put “aliveness” into words while drafting this post. Every time I tried to define alive, I got lost in a fog of woo-woo buzzwords— presence, energy, alignment, flow, wholeness—but these words do nothing to help you feel what I mean by ALIVE.I asked a friend, “How do I make this real for readers?” She sighed and answered, “Joanna, you have to tell them about your tentacle.” My eyes went wide, and heat rushed to my cheeks. “No, I can’t possibly write a public post about my tentacle. It’s too cringe, too vulnerable, too sensual.” And then I shook my head, because I know when I have this kind of “no way” reaction, it usually means that’s exactly the way I need to go–the way to my full aliveness.Alright, let’s back up a bit. A few years ago, I found myself stepping out of the vortex that is early motherhood. I understood my capacity as a human to a new depth, yet yearned to rediscover my full self again. I wanted to sink my teeth into my existence. Not just the content of life–job, family, hobbies–but the experience of living. I joined a coaching circle and started the work of seeing my full self (especially the parts I wanted to hide), challenging my stories about the world (especially the ones I clung to), and harnessing my creative power more fully.Then, I read Audre Lorde’s essay, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power. I picked it up thinking it would help me understand my pull toward writing romance, and found something far deeper. I found a passionate declaration about the power of living life to its fullest, deepest, juiciest core:“For the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing. Once we know the extent to which we are capable of feeling that sense of satisfaction and completion, we can then observe which of our various life endeavours bring us closest to that fullness.”This is what I wanted to commit to in my next chapter. The power of my deep, creative force that infuses life with passion and meaning, drives authentic action and connection, and challenges mediocrity by demanding fulfillment.So, I made “the erotic embodiment of life” my resolution for 2025. When I explained my New Year’s intention to my friends, I described it like this: I imagine that I have a tentacle, covered in nerve endings, and I wrap it around the people, situations, objects–everything–in my life to feel, taste, smell, experience all of it as fully as I can. Imagine wrapping your tentacle around a piece of chocolate, a loved one’s tears, a sense of accomplishment. Imagine wrapping your tentacle around the words you write, the clay you sculpt, the meals you make.In the first few months, I paid extra attention to all the good stuff—the joy and love in my life—but resisted when difficult circumstances arose. At which point, a wise friend helped me see that I wasn’t showing up to the whole show. Could I find the erotic in the shadow? Could I feel discomfort all the way and see what it had to teach me? So, I started wrapping my tentacle around the challenges—the grief for my father, the crush of an agent’s rejection, the exhaustion of motherhood, the boredom of spreadsheets. And something crazy happened, I started noticing beauty in all those things. I came to feel their essentialness to life. These experiences are what make me whole and perfectly human.While writing this essay, I stumbled upon Ellen Langer’s research at Harvard. In her “I Hate Football” study, she found that asking participants to actively notice new things about an activity they dislike resulted in them enjoying the activity more. And the more they noticed, the more they liked it. Langer says, “We’re brought up to wait for something to excite us…and all of that I think is wrong. Anything can be made exciting.” Mindful engagement helps us enjoy our lives.After a year of living with my tentacle, I got what ALIVE means to me. Alive is paying attention. It’s inhabiting my senses. It’s feeling my body. It’s acknowledging my whole self—the good and the challenging parts. It’s showing up fully in the creation of my life. My tentacle moved me beyond just existing or just doing; it deeply engaged me in whatever I endeavored. And I never felt so creative and inspired. For when you taste the world through your skin, how can you not be moved? How can you not be driven to contribute to it all?A tremendous freedom also came with committing to aliveness because the intention was always in my power to accomplish. External circumstances couldn’t dictate my purpose. In fact, external circumstances often made it more interesting. Sick kid at home today, let me wrap my tentacle around that. Writer’s block won’t go away, ok, what does that feel like? I luxuriated in the texture of my car’s steering wheel and the mix of joy and sadness in seeing my children outgrow their clothes.At the end of the day, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment if I showed up to whatever was. My to-do list could still have items on it, rejection could come, plans could change, but I had a successful day as long as I paid attention.In a short time, my aliveness started to feed back into my work. I not only showed up fully to the page, but my fullness started showing up on the page. I had access to more life to create with. I felt inspired by the simplest things because I noticed them deeply. It felt as if the entire universe showed up simply by my paying attention to it. Creative energy coursed through me.During this year, Evelyn invited me to collaborate in this community. I wrapped my tentacle around the opportunity and proposed expanding from Creative, Inspired, HAPPY to Creative, Inspired, ALIVE. Evelyn said, “Yes!” While kindness and optimism are guiding values here, we also wanted to make room for the multitude of experiences that arise as we persist on our creative journey. We aim to be present with whatever shows up as we make our art and share it.So, what does ALIVE mean?Alive means being present to life in this very moment. It means allowing the wholeness of ourselves, not shutting down any of our parts, but staying open to all that is–the joy and grief, the ease and challenge, the boredom and inspiration. To be with all of it.With aliveness in the mix, we are adding some pieces to our program this year. In addition to our beloved writing and reading content, we’ll offer some new elements to support the fullness of our creativity practices. We hope you enjoy:* Some non-fiction selections about the creative process in our Book Club* Mini coaching sessions to reflect on and embrace our full creative selves* Wisdom from creativity experts, in addition to authors, on the Podcast* Reflective creativity prompts in the Community Chat* And *new* interactive creativity workshops coming this Spring and Fall!We are thrilled to start this new year together in our creative, inspired, ALIVE community. Get your tentacle out and let’s live!Share with us what ALIVE means to you.Have you ever had a tentacle experience?What parts of life could you show up to more fully?What feels alive for you this New Year?P.S. I just started reading The Favorites for our Book Club meeting on January 25th. Swirling inside the world of ice dancing and a Wuthering Heights retelling, yes please! Has anyone else started too? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

(This is the audio version of our latest Substack.)In this post, you’ll find our 2026 preview, including:🎉 Our (Slightly) New Name📚 Book Club Picks for the first months of 2026🫶🏼 Mini Creativity Coaching sessions coming next year📖 January Book Club invite + Discussion QuestionsMore details in our Substack HERE! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Today we have a special holiday edition of the show for you. Our guests are Emily Stone, author of Yours for the Season, and Matthew Norman, author of Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon.Today, we talk about:* the ins and outs of writing books that are timed for a specific season or holiday,* balancing light and heavy topics in fiction, such as love and grief,* what to do when no one shows up at your bookstore event,* handling rejection and building a long career in publishing,* our favorite holiday books and movies, and so much more.🟨 Looking for our community of readers and writers?Join 24,000+ at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,- behind-the-scenes publishing insights, - creativity mini-challenges, - Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, - and more.Podcast booking inquiries:info@creativeinspiredhappy.comConnect with Matthew Norman and Emily Stone:You can find Matt on Instagram. His newest novel, Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!You can find Emily on Instagram. Her newest novel, Yours for the Season, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Welcome back to Letters from the Creative Life. These occasional essays explore the quieter corners of living: small reflections on art, ambition, and the tender balancing act of building a meaningful life in a noisy world. Think of them as letters from my life to yours.If you’re listening to this on a podcasting platform rather than Substack, this will be the last episode of this podcast season. Feel free to dig into the podcast archives while I’m on break.During that time, I will still be writing more essays and behind-the-scenes content over on my Substack, so please come hang out with me there at creativeinspiredhappy.com .***Virtual Launch Party + Origami WorkshopYou’re invited to my virtual Launch Party + Paper Rose Origami Workshop on Sunday, August 17th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.Come learn to fold your own messages of hope—I’d love to see you there! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

My guest today is Simon & Schuster senior editor Lara Jones, who also happens to be my editor for The Incredible Kindness of Paper.Today, we talk about:* how she became an editor,* an explanation of Big 5 publisher structure and their imprints (like Atria and Emily Bestler Books, under the umbrella of Simon & Schuster)* the difference between women's fiction and romance genres,* what editors look for when acquiring books,* how she knows when a manuscript is "the One" and worth fighting for,* behind the scenes of an auction and the making of a can't-say-no book deal* Deeper dive: The Mechanics of How Book Auctions Work* the editorial process - how we worked together and what were our favorite parts* an editor's many hats: in charge of not only editing, but also quarterbacking/coordinating with production, publicity, marketing, sales,* the process of designing cover art, from conception to author input to sales team feedback,* behind the scenes of the publisher on book launch day,and so much more.You’re invited to my Launch Party + Paper Rose Origami WorkshopIn case you missed it, you can RSVP now (it’s free!) for my virtual launch party + origami workshop, where I’ll teach you to make two paper roses inspired by my book. We’ll also talk about the behind-the-scenes of writing The Incredible Kindness of Paper.🟨 Looking for our community of readers and writers?Join 24,000+ at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,- behind-the-scenes publishing insights, - Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, - and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

My guest today is New York Times bestselling author Clare Leslie Hall. Her novel, Broken Country, was also a Reese's Book Club pick earlier this year.Today, we talk about:* what stories draw Clare's attention,* the importance of backlist and how those books can come back to surprise you* pen names and their purpose in publishing,* how she harnesses ideas once they appear,* blending genres: romantic suspense, courtroom drama, and domestic noir* writing class tension without slipping into cliche,* the storytelling advice that completely changed the way she thinks about research and writing,* and so much more.Connect with Clare:You can find Clare on Instagram and her website. Her novel, Broken Country, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!🟨 Looking for our community of readers and writers?Join 24,000+ at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,- behind-the-scenes publishing insights, - creativity mini-challenges, - Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, - and more.Podcast booking inquiries:info@creativeinspiredhappy.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Hello, Protagonists!My guest today on CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY is Hattie Williams, a former book publicist whose debut novel, Bitter Sweet, is about... a book publicist who falls for a legendary author she's working for.Hattie has not only worked in publishing as a publicist but also in marketing and editorial, and before that, she was a musician and songwriter who has toured across Europe.Today, we talk about:* how Hattie fell into writing as a young mother,* her experience in the publishing world and how that informed the settings and stories in Bitter Sweet.* writing complicated, toxic relationships without veering into judgment of the characters,* how her background as a book publicist has helped her publicize her own book on both Instagram and Substack,* whether songwriting affects her novel writing,and so much more.Want more of Hattie?You can find Hattie on Substack and Instagram. Bitter Sweet, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!🟨 Looking for our community of readers and writers?Join 24,000+ at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,- behind-the-scenes publishing insights, - creativity mini-challenges, - Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, - and more.Podcast booking inquiries:info@creativeinspiredhappy.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Welcome to another episode of the Creative. Inspired. Happy. podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.My guest today is Nikki Erlick, New York Times Bestselling author of The Measure, which was a TODAY Show/Read with Jenna book pick. Nikki's work has been translated into 24 languages worldwide, and her newest novel, The Poppy Fields, is out now.Today, we talk about:* Nikki's favorite childhood books,* Her experience first as a travel writer and ghost writer, before shifting to fiction,* Why she's drawn to big, existential questions in her novels,* How she is able to write without thinking about what her audience is expecting of her,* pouring herself into the characters of The Poppy Fields,and so much more.Want more of Nikki?You can find Nikki on Instagram and her website. Her newest novel, The Poppy Fields, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!🟨 Looking for our community of readers and writers?Join 24,000+ at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,- behind-the-scenes publishing insights, - creativity mini-challenges, - Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, - and more.Podcast booking inquiries:info@creativeinspiredhappy.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe