Building my indie tribe
Reflections on a crazy and fun June
In this week’s newsletter, I’ll give you:
🔪 Random reflections from the month of June
🔪 Adding to my summer reading hopefuls this week is SKYE ARDEN. She is offering an exclusive FREE psychological thriller book: The House She Never Left. I’m a sucker for psych thrillers, so this one has my attention. 💀
🔪 What I’m reading this week: A Line Draw or Printed: Six Routes from Madrid by
.
The importance of building a tribe…
When I set out on this journey back in 2020, I went in it alone. I was too afraid to reach out to another author, but I knew I needed other like minded people to talk to.
I thrust myself into the social media ring and began posting under an author account. It was fun at first, but as the years went on, and the process of my first book was taking so long, I didn’t feel like I had much to contribute. I did not really meet anyone that I considered close and felt isolated. My posting became less frequent and I lost momentum to build my brand.
Shortly before I launched my book last fall, I knew I needed to try again. I joined Substack and the first person I came across was
over at Musings by Mika. Naturally, having the same first name as me, I was drawn to her. (I mean, come on! How many Mika’s/Mica’s does one come across in a lifetime!? It was serendipity) She posts about finding your tribe every month and I love the concept. She is building a community of like minded individuals and helping others find their people. I felt like this is something I needed to lean into a little more.A few weeks ago, I announced that I would be starting a podcast for self-published (also referred to as indie authors.) This was a way for me to learn and to help others in the process. It required me to step outside of my comfort zone and find people to interview. So this month, I set out to do just that.
What happened next blew my mind…
After reaching out to see if anyone would be interested in meeting me, I met four incredible humans willing to talk to me. I did not know them and they didn’t know me, but they were willing to meet with me and share a bit about themselves. These meetings were incredible and nurturing for my soul. It reminded me how powerful human connections are! How having people who get you are so important. And how we, as humans, have more in common than we sometimes think. We want to be heard. To belong. To forge friendships. To feel included.
So to
, , , and , thank you. I am so thankful I have found you and I appreciate every moment that you spent talking with me about all things writing, all the laughs, and your knowledge and willingness to help.And to those I will meet soon…I can’t wait to indulge in the art of conversation with you.
🔦 Author Spotlight:
Each week, I will be spotlighting an author! This may be one that has an I’m reading or one that I have personally read. This is my way to support authors and introduce you to authors you may not have heard of yet!
I’m eyeing another psychological thriller this week and adding to my summer hopefuls. This week it is Skye Arden’s, The House She Never Left. This is a free download this week and I’m looking forward to checking it out.
I’m currently reading ’s A Line Drawn or Printed: Six Routes Through Madrid. I had the pleasure of meeting Jayne over Zoom for a podcast project I am working on and had so much fun speaking to her. It is a collection of essays and stories about her experiences moving from UK to Madrid. Her ability to tell a story is captivating and I’m enjoying every second of it.
If you're ever curious about what I’m reading, you can follow me on Bookbub or Goodreads where I post what I’m reading and reviewing, or sometimes via socials on IG and FB!
Until next time, Night Crew…
My books:
You can find my book, DEEP IN THE WOODS, at any indie bookstore, your local library, Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, Audible or where ever you like to get your books. (if you don’t see it on the shelf in a brick and mortar, just call them and ask them to order it for you!) And to those that have taken the time to read and review my book, thank you! It means the world to me.
Small towns are full of secrets. In this small town, some of those secrets are buried deep…
There is something magical about stepping out of our comfort zones and meeting people that turn out to be like us, willing to share with everyone those stories we decided to write, those characters we dared to give birth, that consume our days and nights until they are somehow trapped in the pages of our books.
Nice to meet you, Mica, happy to know you :)
I found you through Jayne Marshall. I’m going to subscribe right now!