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 $2 a week with an annual subscription (that’s USD $1.40 or GBP £1) paying supporters of my work receive regular posts from me each month.
This is mainly through email newsletters (or posts via the Substack app) which can include a mix of the following:
First-to-know updates on my work including new book announcements, new published pieces, interviews, podcasts, and event/ticket announcements.
Reflections from my current writing life: the joys, challenges, and processes in how I write and create, such as how I prepare to begin writing a new novel, or, reflections, like the eight words that changed my writing life.
An exclusive piece of my writing you can’t read anywhere else. This might be answering a reader’s questions about creativity, as a letter and/or 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, as well as share your animal kin and company to your creativity.
A curation of things and places where I’m finding joy and inspiration.
Quotes that I collect like shells and pebbles in my pockets, to share and feed our souls.
Our closed community group chat is where paid subscribers engage not just with me but each other (it’s wholesome and wonderful).
The notes I write to myself at the beginning of each month, which I share with the hope that they might offer a spark of resonance. Take on any that do and of course leave any that don’t.
A dedicated space for everyone in the Joy Rise community to share our news, offerings, and announcements.
Paying subscribers receive ALL free subscriber posts, and the full archive of paywalled posts.
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 can receive:
Free subscribers may also occasionally receive:
My This Writer’s Life journal
Fevers + Enthusiasms featuring an exclusive essay, or new piece of fiction, or answers to reader questions about creativity
Interview / podcast / conversation
Whether you are a free or paid subscriber I’m truly 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 the 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 - if you have a question you’d like to ask me about creativity, they are safe and welcome here. Please send yours to me here.
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,
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