I'm setting my newsletter out to thaw because it's easier to eat that way
The Newsletter That Came In from the Cold
Well, look what blew in with the wind! At least this message isn’t carrying any virus particles, which is a good start. If you’re scratching your noggin wondering who this Bentley/The Write Word guy is, I don’t blame you. I haven’t sent out regular monthly messages since late 2019, but not because I forgot how to type.
I’ve composted the curdled thinking that led me to suspend communications here, and I’d like to resume, if you’ll have me. Again, you’ll get communiques on writing, publishing and books, but with extra frosting. Over the past year and a half, I’ve been working on a couple of books, and I’m going to spill some of the self-publishing squirming I’m experiencing with that process, including details on getting editors, a cover designer, publishing setup and marketing.
That’s for my memoir of my years of high-school shoplifting—I’ll get into the other book later. (My mother is in heaven now, so you can’t tattle on me regarding that naughtiness.)
I’m also going to include links to my latest published articles, as before, as well as a list of curated links to pieces that generally explore improving mental and physical states, because lord knows the last couple of years have mangled our mental states. Sometimes those links will be directly writing-related.
What I’m asking of you is to stay with me, and to let me know if there are any topics—from my mangled perspective, of course—you’d like addressed on writing and editing work and the publishing world. I will only lie if it’s absolutely necessary.
We can trade cocktail recipes too, if that’s your thing.
So, once more unto the breach, my friends. The monthly dipping into the inkwell will begin soon. (Well, since my handwriting looks like the inkwell tipped, I’ll confine the visuals to type.)
And if you gotta unsubscribe, because that’s what you gotta do, go for it. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
See you in the ether, Tom
Links for Thinks
Chatting With the Bourbon Sasquatch
Me on a video chat with the Emperor of All Things Bourbon (AKA Steve Akley) on one of his many podcasts. I'm in my '66 Airstream office, blathering about shoplifting, Las Vegas, and yes, whiskey.
22 Tiny Mental Health Habits That Can Improve Your Life In 2022
Label what you’re experiencing.
“Name it to tame it” is a phrase coined by Dan Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, and is often used by other mental health experts.
“If we experience a surge of distress or anxiety, research has demonstrated that merely verbal labeling of our negative emotions can reduce stress by up to 50%,” explained Ariella Morrow, lead physician at Sameday Health.
The Importance of Mental Stillness and How to Create It
"Being herded from one decision to another (with our emotions used as a cattle prod) isn’t just a bad life – according to many great minds, it’s not living at all. When the chaos of life tries to drag us off our path, we need to hold our ground with stillness."
10 New Year’s Resolutions That Are Good for the Soul
“Every morning, wherever I am in the world, I go outside before I look at a screen. I’ve managed to do this consistently for about four years. Often I go outside just for a few moments. But as soon as I step outside, I not only find my senses coming alive, I also find myself feeling smaller — a creature in the midst of creation, rather than the god of a tiny glowing world."
[Note: some of these suggestions are tough for me, but worth a look.]
The Case for Doing Hard Shit
"Most people rarely step outside their comfort zones these days — we’re living progressively soft, sterile, temperature-controlled, over-fed, under-challenged, safety-netted lives. And it’s slowly limiting the degree to which we experience our, as the poet Mary Oliver put it, “one wild and precious life."
