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Megan Smith's avatar

Ugh Sooz I love this. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing AND for the years of work and love you've put into the YA writersphere. I've been subscribed to your newsletter for a long, long time (probably since 2015 or so, when I was still in high school myself!) and so much of my identity as a writer I owe to the time and care you took with your writing advice. 💛

Also, i was thinking about this the other day--i am so happy for you!!!! I work at an independent bookstore now, and we cannot keep The Luminaries on the shelf. It's always snatched up super quickly. I know my little bookstore is not necessarily reflective of the larger world, but then I saw your LumiNerds post about three weeks on the NYT bestseller's list, and ahhh!!! That is so, very exciting!

I understand the desire to grow and make progress and shape a more balanced mentality. I also just wanted to share those thoughts while I had time to type out this comment. Wishing you rest and healing in the coming weeks ✨

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Abby Murphy's avatar

As always, so appreciate your perspective and honesty. With two small kids at home, I also feel like there is absolutely no routine (or as soon as I think I've developed one, it changes!).

Recently I went to a writing workshop near me and the speaker guided us through setting a cascade strategic plan for the year. It was PHENOMENAL. You set your vision for the year (sort of like a word for the year) and develop priorities and objectives from there, working your way down to measurable outcomes. As someone who struggles to organize all my creative plans and goals within my family and work life, I found this to be incredibly helpful, since it forced me to break down projects into individual goals (that are super small, but still...). Anyway, your post reminded me of that and how sometimes I have to reassess my own goalposts.

Sending you healing thoughts as you recover from surgery!

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