But in the intimacy of audio (cameras off) we considered questions:

• What art sheds light for you?

• What literature brings you the wisest words?

• How do you let nature in?

• How do art, literature and nature strengthen you?

  • And how can we strengthen each other?

Questions, answers, presence, practice … and of course a little poetry.

I’m going to be making adjustments to the live salon going forward… stay tuned for updates.

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Welcome! Pull up a chair by the fire in this corner of Substack for people who love books—especially novels and poetry.

Embers & Ink is not a ‘content drop’, or a ‘keep up or fall behind’ subscription. I write in forms that reward slow reading—serial fiction, inspirational poems, reflective essays for readers and writers—and see this newsletter as feeding a multi-layered conversation.

Conversation between you and me. Between you and other readers and subscribers. And all to nurture the healthiest strand of the ongoing conversations each of us is always having with ourselves.

Embers & Ink is a space to fire the part of us that loves to read, learn, and grow. The part that knows what we’re hungry for. The part wants a calmer, truer relationship with art, ideas, and what it means to consciously create a life.

Think of this space as one of those old English clubs with marble fireplaces and cushy armchairs, and shelves of well-read books, but with all of us within. Irish, black, brown, indigenous, transsexual, female—the 95% who need to move our souls and hearts if we are to stop the senseless torture and self-destruction the 5% are heaping upon us.

Or if you prefer, think of it as a quiet, creative, reading-and-writing centre. Empty spaces, soft fire, table with a good pen and paper, bell calling you back to yourself.

Or a fire-pit gathering under open sky, a ring of faces watching and listening as the wise woman dances to ancient music.

In short: visualise Embers & Ink as fire in what ever form feeds your flame… so you can make your mark.

What you receive as a reader club member

• A welcoming reading room with subscriber-only posts

• A monthly creative salon with other readers and writers—ask me anything.

• Opportunity to receive my ARCs (Advance Reader copies) and feed back on final drafts

• My weekly fiction episodes all the way to the end

• Advance copies of my books before publication

• Book discounts, deals and special deluxe editions (deluxe members)

• A subscriber Chatroom

How to Join: Click here and choose paid or deluxe

Subscription Plan

Then do three things:

1. Introduce yourself in the chat: tell me and the other members what you love to read, what you’re trying to create in your life, what brought you here.

2. Manage your subscription in your account settings to choose your preferences for email delivery.

3. Explore and enjoy

More details below but whatever lights your fire, however you’ve arrived, and however long you stay, please know that you are so very, very welcome.

A Club for Everyone

You don’t need to be an author, or a creative or creativist, to join the reader club. Though there are lots of writers and other creative types here, and I do write a monthly post for authors, the bulk of the members are readers.

This is a welcoming space. You don’t need to attend the salons, or read the serialised novel, or join in the chat, if they’re not your thing.

You don’t need to read every book, or every post.

You don’t need to be interested in the creative process or describe yourself as a creativist.

There’s lots going on here, and you can focus or wander, as you will. Follow the thread of a serialised story, dip into an essay, let a poem land, join a live salon, drop a comment in Notes, pick and choose whatever your spirit fancies in that moment.

One of the things I love most about running my newsletter and reader club on Substack is how it lets readers pick and choose— follow the fiction or poetry, essays or advice, podcast or salon, whatever suits best.

And leave the rest.

Serialised fiction: the novel as a living thing

I’m publishing my novel in instalments — the story unfolding in real time, as you read alongside me.

• episodes delivered one by one, with that old-fashioned pleasure of waiting for the next part

• behind-the-scenes context: research notes, character dilemmas, voice choices, the occasional ‘how on earth am I going to land this?’

• a sense of companionship through a shared storyline threading through weeks

If you love the feeling of being close to a work as it’s being made, not just consuming the finished product, you’ll love this.

Poetry: One of Mine and One of Yours

Each week a new poem from me and another poet, on the same theme, with background and learnings.

Poetry is where I go to tell the truth without explaining myself to death.

If you’re willing to be moved by a few well-placed words, this section’s for you.

Articles for authors: the real work of publishing

I also write posts for authors from the perspective of a long-time working writers: first journalist, then trad-published novelist, then proud indie author and founder-director of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

This is my personal take, thought pieces on where publishing is headed, what’s changing in indie publishing and what isn’t, inspired by my own writing and publishing experience as a craft publisher of literary historical fiction and poetry.

For you, if you self-publish books, especially in those genres.

Notes: My creative diary

Notes is Substack’s social-media stream — the more informal, in-the-moment space where posts are short, quick, and easy to respond to.

For me, Notes is a creative diary, a way to pass on what’s moving me—a question, a reflection, a recommendation, or a glimpse of what I’m making—and of course the latest news and what’s moving or teaching me in other people’s work.

I also use Notes to post shorter poems or stray stanzas sometimes.

If you like the sense of ‘being in the room’ with a writer as the work forms, Notes will be a pleasure. If you don’t, or if social media makes your head hurt, ignore.

Chat: community without noise

Reader members also get access to the chat space — a quieter corner, where we can:

• talk about what we’re reading

• talk about what we’re making

• share prompts and discoveries, goals and dreams

• ask questions and get answers

• support each other through stuck patches and new starts

You can participate a lot, a little, or not at all. Some people are chatty. Some lurk. All are welcome.

Extras, early releases, and member offers

Members also receive exclusives and early releases:

• offers and discounts on my books

• first notice of events, launches, and special editions

• subscriber-only posts that are more personal, more reflective, or simply too tender for the wide world

  Subscribe now

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Creativity doesn’t belong to the people who write books, or do the other things our world deems to be ‘creative’.

Creative is a state, not a trait. It’s inherent in everyone, can be applied to anything, and enriches every life and every aspect of life.

That’s the philosophy that underlies the new creative salons I’m running each month, as audio lives for my supporting subscribers on Substack, where we explore practices that enhance and encourage creative flow, followed by an ‘Ask me Anything’ (AMA) session.

What is A Creative Salon?

A creative salon is not a lecture or a workshop, it’s a hosted conversation. A regular gathering, online or in-person, where people come together around art, books, ideas, and the creative life.

Historically, salons were living-room gatherings—often hosted by women—where engaged people met to exchange ideas. Our monthly salon here on Substack keeps that spirit. It’s a digital hearth for creative conversation.

What makes it a creative salon rather than a chat, or a class, or even a workshop is the intention. We carve out this space and time for ourselves to foster creative flow.

You don’t have to be a ‘creative’ to join in. You don’t need to be ‘good’ at discussions. You don’t have to like poetry, or intentional planning, or any particular form of practice.

You just need a curious mind, a love of books, and a willingness to take some time and space for yourself each month, while the moon is shining out its heart for you.

Come and ask questions, make comments, join in the practices, share your findings. Or come and lurk, if that’s what you fancy.

Details on how to register are below. I’d love to meet you, share some creative conversation with you, and spark some fire.

What happens at your monthly creative salon?

Our monthly salon is a safe space to experiment, say things out loud, test ideas, share works-in-progress... or listen along. Bring a notebook for f-r-e-e-writing.

This is not a space for critical analysis and there’s no room for pretentiousness or intellectual flat-waving. Just people who love books meeting to talk and think about creative flow and do a little flow practice, together.

I set the scene with a short explanation of our theme for the session, read a short poem as a gentle ‘arriving,’ and we do a review of the intentions we set two weeks before, under the dark moon. Then we have a guest interview, followed by the AMA.

Here’s the order of events:

• 0:00: Welcome and short settling poem and exercise for creative presence.

• 0:05: Introduce this month’s theme and prompt.

• 0:10: F-r-e-e-writing: a private, pressure-free zone to review the intentions made two weeks ago, log any accomplishments, choose what you want to renew and what you want to release.

• 0:20: Text Chat.

• 0:30: Dialogue: I interview a living author/publisher and we talk about creative flow in the light of their work.

• 0:50: Text Questions & Comments

• 0:55: Second reading of the poem

• 0:60: FAQ and informal chat: Ask me anything.

  Session ends when everyone has had their say or their questions answered.

The salons are held monthly, at full moon time, usually at 5pm UTC.

Who Attends?

We are a diverse group united by a love of books and a wish to live more creatively.

Join us if:

• you’re reshaping your life: starting something new, finishing something old, discovering a deeper rhythm, returning to creative ways after a gap—and are keen to apply proven creative tools more widely in your life…

  • or if

• you care about words: read books, love language, and are curious about how creative work gets made…

  • or if

• you want to create more fully and more freely…

  • or if

• you like my books or some other aspect of my work and want to know more about the creative process behind the scenes.

My intention is that you come away from each salon feeling inspired by our guests and by our extraordinary community—with perspective widened and energy uplifted.

If it sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love you to join us.

How to Register

The salon and community chat are for paid subscribers.

Once subscribed, you’ll receive salon attendance details, other emails, and app alerts. You’ll also be automatically admitted to the chatroom. Do drop in and introduce yourself.

See you on the far side!

I came to Substack for community: to get closer to readers, to other authors—especially writers of literary fiction and poetry—and other creativists: those brave people who want to apply the creative process to everything in life.

It’s been so good reconnecting with the many people I’d lost track of when Twitter, Facebook and Instagram went down the broligarchy-ad-algorithm plug hole.

Our chatroom here on Substack couldn’t be more different.

It’s subscriber-only: a haven where we can talk together, in text and live audio salon, about books and poetry and what it takes to create them.

And to create any good thing in this world.

I’d love you to join us.