Hi friends,
Just dropping in with a post-proper in place of my usual Friday Members’ Chat thread to share what’s happening over the coming weeks and months .
But firstly, if you’re new here (hi!) I’m Lindsay…
On Sundays, I share personal essays on parenting and post-therapy, perimenopausal midlife. Sometimes they’re video podcast episodes where I chat about caring and creativity with folk at the intersection of the two; sometimes I dig into goings-on in this reading and writing life like I did last Sunday:
Over in the Membership, I share a new audio episode and bonus bits of my memoir, Held in Mind, every Wednesday. This book is on submission right now, so that’s why these episodes live behind the paywall. You can listen from the start right here:
I also run expressive writing courses on Zoom for the Membership…
Course updates
The next 4-week run of Writing for Better Mental and Physical Health based on the Pennebaker Method launches on Thursday 9th May 2-3pm BST with replays and resources available for folks who aren’t joining us live. Upgrade to the Membership before the 9th May and you’ll get the Zoom link:
The next Seasonal Session will be on Wednesday 5th June 8-9pm BST to mark early summer. Find out more about these Members’ sessions in this video. The Zoom link you need for this will be shared at the start of June:
Finally, a reminder that registration for September’s run of Memoir in a Month is open. Over half the spots are now taken so get your details in quick and I’ll reply to you with confirmation of your spot / waitlist position.
This will run for Founding Members (who get an annual Membership on top of MiaM’s 10 hours’ teaching time, a 1:1 and month-long support in our virtual classroom for £150 which is frankly ridiculous value) on the five Mondays in the month 1-3pm BST.
As always, replays and resources are sent out to everyone after each session, and for anyone who’d rather work at their own pace (though the live sessions are lovely) here’s a beauty of a testimonial from one such re-player,
:“Memoir and CNF writers: Lindsay Johnstone‘s stellar Memoir in a Month course is an absolute revelation. I was asynchronous for most of the course, and still found it so inspiring and fun. It’s given me so many new ideas about how to approach writing from life. Lindsay’s a master community-builder, too, which is what makes all of her courses so special.”
Meet up news
Excitingly, I met fellow west-coaster
on Notes at the start of this week who – with a speed and efficiency I’m still reeling from – suggested we set up and co-host the inaugural Glasgow meet-up at West Brewery near the city centre on the evening of Thursday 16th May.The registration link is right here, and with the guest list filling up, I can only agree with
that Scottish Substackers are on course in our bid for (SS/world?) domination. ‘Twas ever thus…I should say that wherever you happen to reside, you’d be most welcome on the 16th. We’ll even let east coasters over the threshold. Promise.
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about a collab between me and
on harnessing the power of audio on … This session (pencil in Friday May 10th) will be open to Claire's Diamond members over on Sparkle on Substack, and she's generously extended it to my Membership community, too. We'll be talking about how to best use audio on your publication and digging into how that might look for you during this one-hour workshop. I am such a fan of audio and video here and cannot wait for this.OK, I’m officially on holiday so signing off for now, but I threaten to darken your inbox again on Sunday if the words that are swirling around my head during this coastal break get in some sort of order over the next 30 hours or so. In the meantime, here’s a view:
Wishing you all a lovely weekend and please tell me what you’re up to.
Lindsay x
I have no regrets being a member of Lindsay’s community! I have attended both of her writing courses and wish I could stay in that space longer, pulling apart my own thoughts and examining them with a gentle curiosity she teaches all her students to adopt.
You’ll get plenty of writing examples, experience insight from other writers who join you from all over, and dedicated time working on your writing. Is that not the most important thing in a world competitive for your attention? We need time to think about our work and where it’s going! Despite the significant time zone difference, I happily gave up my work lunch and then some to participate in her classes. I’d do it again!