Happiness Sprinkles + Book Club ZOOM Link
Killer whale massage, pizza cake, midlist books, and more
Hello, Protagonists!
Welcome to this month’s edition of Happiness Sprinkles—a soft, joyful roundup of small things worth smiling about, what’s been filling my creative well, and a few wonderful things you in this community have been reading and writing.
In this post, you’ll find:
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight - You’re the Hero of the Story
📖 Book Club Details + Zoom Link
Reminder! Our “Read Like a Writer” Book Club meeting is this Sunday, July 20th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom Link at the bottom of this post
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
A few quiet delights I’ve loved this month—and hope you will, too.
Killer whale massage tools - Wow, animals continue to surprise me with their resourcefulness! Apparently, killer whales off the coast of British Columbia and Washington have figured out how to use stalks of kelp to groom and massage each other.
What is a Midlist Book? - This thorough, explanatory piece by Simon & Schuster/Atria editor Sean deLone explains why “midlist” is a great place to be if you’re aiming for a long-term career as an author.
Medieval Book Shrine - I didn’t even know what a book shrine was, but one that was buried in an Irish lake has been lovingly and carefully restored after a 39-year process and is now ready for book nerds everywhere to ooh and ahh over it.
Cake artist - The video tagline seems just like shallow, silly fun, but I’m in awe of bakers like this who design, sculpt, and paint cakes with such incredible attention to detail. Wedding cakes may get most of the attention for cake artistry, but I’d argue that this kind of talent is just as amazing:
In case you missed it, you can RSVP now (it’s free!) for my virtual launch party + origami workshop, where I’ll teach you to make 2 paper roses inspired by my book.
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight
Every month, I love highlighting what you are creating. Here are a few wonderful projects from our community:
👏🏼 Ava G. finished the first draft of her first manuscript! She’s not ready to share the idea yet, but she still wanted to celebrate hitting this milestone because she’s always dreamed of being a writer. Congrats, Ava!
👏🏼 Jeannine Ouellette has signed with a literary agent! Congrats, Jeannine!
Want to be featured in a future post?
Just reply to this email or leave a comment with a 1–2 sentence description of what you’ve been working on. It can be as polished or messy as you like—we celebrate it all here.
📖 “Read Like a Writer” Book Club — This Sunday!
You’re invited (even if you haven’t read the book):
🗓️ Sunday, July 20th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT - ZOOM link below
📚 Book: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
“Read Like a Writer” Book Club is for our community members who want to dive even deeper into how great books work. Come nerd out with us! 🤓
💬 During the book discussion, we’ll chat about:
There are many POVs—do they work together to form a cohesive arc, or do some feel extraneous?
What might have been the reason for keeping or cutting these in the screenplay?
Who is the most surprisingly compelling character—and why?
The voice is both satirical and emotionally sincere. How does the author balance those tones?
Does it ever feel like the book is winking too much at the reader?
The author immerses readers in a lavish world, often pausing to detail clothes, food, and social history. What techniques does he use to pull that off without info-dumping? (or does he fail?)
What major structural or character changes did you notice between the book and screenplay?
If you were to adapt your own story with a sprawling cast, what would you keep in mind after reading this?
💬 During the “behind the scenes of writing” portion, we will talk about:
How do you build a long and sustainable career in publishing if your first book (or two) is not a huge success?
Why is the “mortality rate” in publishing so high (many authors do not publish more than two books)?
Author visibility—how do you keep readers aware of your books when you’re not actively launching a new novel?
How can you introduce new readers to your backlist while you’re working on your next book?
Wishlist: we’ll see if we can answer these questions:
Are there any great craft books on self-editing (i.e., how to take your draft to something polished enough that you can query or self-publish)?
Are there any case studies/examples of publicity and marketing campaigns that made a book “big”?
I think this is going to be a wonderful conversation!
Zoom link is posted below the paywall to keep our gathering cozy and private.
(This also prevents any non-book-loving Zoom crashers!)
If you’d like to join us in the Book Club, you can upgrade to a paid membership here:
or:
Or refer friends to receive complimentary months:
1 referral = 1 month free
2 referrals = 3 months free
3 referrals = 1 year free
✨ Note for fellow introverts:
You are welcome to come as you are—cameras on or off, display names changed or unchanged. No pressure, just presence.
📹 This session will be recorded for those who can’t attend live.