Welcome to The Joy Rise, a newsletter from internationally best-selling author and ABC TV presenter, Holly Ringland.
Hello! A very warm welcome!
I’m Holly Ringland, the best-selling and award-winning author of two novels, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, and the Australian non-fiction bestseller, The House That Joy Built, about the pleasure and power of giving ourselves permission to create.
The Joy Rise is where I write about creativity, courage, and connection. I’m continuing to write novels and new books - this is the place where you’ll find new writing from me most regularly between publications.
This is also a place for community. One of the joys of being an author is the connections I make with fellow readers at events, writers’ festivals and online. My hope is that through The Joy Rise we can continue our conversations started in signing lines or on my social media posts so that, together, we can allow ourselves the joy of making the stuff we love, just because we love it. Because our joy is the reason.
What can I expect from The Joy Rise?
My posts and newsletters are focused on creativity, and naming without shame the fears that stop us from making the stuff we love. Though I knew that I wanted to be a writer from the age of three, I lived for decades too scared to write. Learning how to write the stories I love despite the fears that kept me small and silent for so long has changed the way I live. My hope for every dispatch of The Joy Rise that I send is that it might be a balm delivered to the inbox of anyone else whose artistic courage has ever felt flattened by fear.
I’m regularly asked: Why, and how, should I create? Creativity is an innate part of being human. It’s one of the most powerful ways we can respond to what stirs, fascinates and moves us in this life. We know this innately as children, but often, adulthood drives a wedge between us and this knowledge. Slowly, as we age, we can forget our connection to creativity. But creativity doesn’t forget us. As Carl Jung wrote:
What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits.
Subscriptions
Paid subscriptions
From AUD $2 a week on an annual subscription (that’s USD $1.40 or GBP £1) paid subscribers hear from me weekly. Either through a newsletter, which can include:
First-to-know updates on my work including new book announcements, new published pieces, interviews, podcasts, and event/ticket announcements
This Writer’s Life - an essay from my current writing life, joys, challenges, and current work processes
Fevers + Enthusiams - an exclusive piece of my writing you can’t read anywhere else. This might be answering a reader’s questions about creativity, both as a letter and audio file, read by me. Or it might be a personal essay I’ve written on a topic close to my heart, or a piece of my short fiction, or a conversation I’ve shared with a special guest, or video messages/reading from me to you. Or it might be occasional trivia, behind-the-scenes facts and deep dive treasures from my novels…plus more…
The Joy Rise Dog of the Month: a photo and introduction to my canine companions AKA Directors of Creativity and Writing Support
Wild Geese: a list of where I’ve found joy and inspiration each month
On My Corkboard: quotes that feed our souls
Or, through our closed community group chat for The Joy Rise, where paid subscribers engage not just with me but each other (it’s wholesome and wonderful).
Paid subscribers also have access to all free subscriber posts, and the full archive of previous paid posts.
Paid subscription prices
Per month: AUD $10 (that’s roughly USD $6.90 / GBP £5.15).
Per year: get 12 months for the price of 10 - AUD $100 (USD $69 / GBP £50).
Free subscriptions
Throughout each month, free subscribers receive:
First-to-know updates on my work including new book announcements, new published pieces, interviews, podcasts, and event/ticket announcements
Posts including personal essays from me on creativity, my books, and writing experiences and processes
Occasional free taster of my This Writer’s Life diary
Occasional free taster of my Fevers + Enthusiasms featuring an exclusive essay or fiction piece or Q&A reader response
Occasional interview or podcast
Whether you are a free or paid subscriber, I’m grateful that you’re here.
Please enjoy the first full taster issue of The Joy Rise as my welcome gift to you!
In every issue of The Joy Rise, I write about or answer your burning questions about how to reconnect with our inner country of imagination and tend the seeds waiting for us there. Giving voice to the things that can stop us from creating can be difficult - your questions are safe and welcome. Please send yours to me via my website.
If you don’t have a question, I’d still love to hear from you. Please tell me - what would you like to read from me? We’re building this place together.
With a light left on,
Holly
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