Adventures in a (mainly) Wonderful World - July

My new book 'Save Me from the Waves' is out now – a Stanfords ‘Book of the Month’ and Lovereading 'Staff Pick'. If you've read it - please review it on Amazon (it means so much to me).

Happy Sunday. It’s me - in your inbox -  with my monthly instalment of my ‘Adventures in a (Mainly) Wonderful World’.

I wasn’t planning on sending this out today, I was planning to get it to you on the cusp of June into July. But now July is well underway, a new Government has just been elected in the UK, and I’m writing from Montenegro (my Country 51 for all the fellow country-counters among you). I’ve come for a ten day adventure with my dear friend Tara (the same Tara who features in all my books). (And ps. yes, I did arrange a postal vote).

We’re having an amazing time. We spent three days on the coast in the Bay of Kotor which is stunning. We are now in the national park of Durmitor – where we’ve been white water rafting, zip-lining and yesterday we climbed Bobotov Kok – the country’s highest mountain. And today we’re heading to the incredible Lake Skadar which is the centre of the country’s wine region so, yes, we will be tasting it. In fact I should say ‘continue tasting it’. We’ve tasted some great food too.

I know all this sounds like we’ve having a holiday – but we’re also working as we’re in the early stages of developing a ‘something’ together. It might be a book but for the moment we’re just calling it ‘a project’. What we do know is that our something/project/book is provisionally entitled ‘Your Shit is Your Superpower’. I first created this phrase when I was writing Save Me from the Waves. Something about it ‘landed’ (like that other phrase I’ve commandeered ‘Live Big and Brave’). It’s now become the key take-away message in all the talks I give. Tara likes it as a title too (which is a boon because even though we’re great friends there are lots of things that we don’t agree on!).

The writing world is ever changing and part of me wonders whether this ‘project’ of ours might end up being developed here on Substack – which is the social media platform I’m writing to you from today. More and more writers and creators are coming over to it and using it to develop their online community. All the FREE subscribers to my Substack mailing list get this newsletter which I call ‘Adventures in a (Mainly) Wonderful World’ in their inbox monthly (hopefully on the cusp of one month into another but with occasional slippage). This includes headline news of what I’ve been doing / got coming up / am currently working on.

But I’m also developing a small and special community of PAID subscribers on the platform (what I’m calling my Big and Brave Substack Family) who are becoming more closely involved in my writing and work. If you’re one of them already it means a lot to me to have your support and if you’re not yet – you might want to come over and join us. Subscription is usually £5 a month / £50 a year but here’s a 50% discount code available for the next 48 hours.

If you join my Substack Family now you’ll get a chance to be involved in the development of the ‘Your Shit is Your Superpower’ project. Tara and I have been brainstorming ideas, and voice-noting them whilst in Montenegro – the first post is going out to my Substack family this evening…

To be honest these days most of the work I do in the world is done for love not money. I’m definitely not expecting Substack to make me a millionaire. But there’s something about the financial commitment that helps me feel like the work I’m doing is important – it encourages and emboldens me to show up and believe that I have something important to offer to the world and that people care. So I’d love you to join us, and even if I say so myself it’s quite an exciting collaboration…

You probably all know my CV (author / arts producer / adventure activist - unlikely athlete turned (astonished) record breaker as a result of my decade long pursuit of motherhood). And Tara’s is awe-inspiring. Firstly (given the title of our book) it’s important to say that, like me, she’s been through a lot of SHIT. In fact I often say she trumps everyone I know on trauma. (She laughs when I say this but she also hates it because she’s adamant that the shit stuff in our lives has no hierarchy). Secondly, her sporting achievements far exceed mine (she’s even competed for Australia). So I know she won’t (can’t) object to me saying that in our friendship she’s definitely the ‘sporty one’, not me. Just check out the pictures of us both in our swimming costumes to see! But although I’m classified as the ‘arty one’, Tara is also a beautiful creative writer and speaker – her moving first book Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders has been translated into multiple languages. And, if all that wasn’t enough, she’s multi award-winning too – honoured by the (late) Queen for her career as a firefighter, and has very recently won the ‘Chancellor’s Medal’ for her PHD research.

Intrigued by our collaboration? I hope so!

And so, just before I sign off in other headline news I’m edging towards the end of what has been a very busy few months for me. I’ve done over 30 public events so far this year (literary festivals, bookshops, bookclubs, libraries, schools, corporates, community groups and more) as well as a plethora of podcasts and press. It’s been exhausting but exhilarating. I love adventuring round the country with my ‘one woman show’ (which is what it kind of feels like) often with a suitcase of books in tow like a travelling saleswoman. I have two more events coming up this July – the ALSO Festival in Warwickshire and Hammersmith Bid in London.

I’ve also been taking some tentative first steps towards a new phase of activism following the publication of the shocking New York Times Article: ‘For female climbers, dangers go beyond avalanches and storms’ All I want to write publicly about this at the moment is what I’ve written in my book Save Me from the Waves (Although I have spoken about it in a bit more detail to my Big and Brave Substack Family in my post About THAT New York Times Article (which is another reason to become a paid subscriber as it’s where I share the most raw and vulnerable parts of my life). Suffice to say I am one of the 47% mentioned in the article and stand in solidarity with all the women in it.

And that’s the end of this month’s edition of my adventures in a (mainly) wonderful world. Send me news of your world and adventures if you have a moment to write - in the comments on this post or by direct message. I’d love to hear them. Communication is a gift and I’ll always reply (even if I’m sometimes a bit slow because I’m on an adventure - like climbing a mountain or riding a zip-line).