Straight from the Heart: Reflecting on Substack and Introducing Birthright
A New Year, A New Novel.
Hey all!
Belated happy new year! 🎉 I wanted to send out this first update of the year much sooner, but finishing the editing of Birthright kept me busy longer than expected. Priorities of a writer, you know 😌 Still, I’m optimistic it will be all worth it when some time in the future you get to read Birthright!
Birthright?
Yes! That’s the title of my new novel (well, at least for now – who knows if it will change when we get closer to publishing) and I’m so excited to put the first news about it out into the world. When you tell people that you are writing your second book, everybody is curious and supportive, but many still wonder if you will really finish it. So, unveiling to the world that the first manuscript is finished feels like both a public declaration and a commitment to ensuring this story will make its way into bookshelves and e-readers.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. More about Birthright in a bit. First, a few thoughts on this Substack.
Over the holidays, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want my Substack to be. When I started it in spring 2024, it was just an experiment, and I had no clear idea what I’d write about. My “public writing studio” akin to a painter’s atelier is what I called it back then. Initially, it felt incredibly liberating to have this space with no purpose, a pure playground for fiction and sharing thoughts. But in the midst of launching The Human Relief Project, subconsciously, it became less of a free creative space where I share things straight from the heart, but a more polished version aimed at keeping you all engaged in my journey.
That’s neither what I want this Substack to be nor what I want it to become.
Rather, I want it to remain a space where – without too much overthinking – I can build and have a community of like-minded people who are interested in my near-future fiction and curious about the journey of becoming and being a writer. A community where – even though it is digital and asynchronous – we can build deeper connections. A community with whom one day – maybe decades from now – I can look back at a life lived to the fullest, one novel at a time.
What does that mean practically?
To be honest, I don’t know fully yet (besides more emojis). But I’m certain that purely the intention of building a community with this Substack, and sharing straight from the heart as if we were all sitting together, having a conversation in my writing studio (our home office needs some more upgrades to deserve this label 😄), will change what and how I share. That, and your preferences shared in the poll at the end of this mailer.
So, with this out of the way, time to move on to fulfilling a promise I made to you all in December: A little sneak peek at Birthright 📖
PROLOGUE
They headed to the bar for a refreshment, their minds turning over the final words of the couple that had just finished speaking on stage.
“Can you imagine how the child must feel?” she asked, her eyes wide with concern.
“I can’t,” he replied with a calm voice. “It is not good for any kid to rely solely on the limited wisdom of just two people.”
“Not just limited wisdom,” she said, her voice rising with outrage. “These two haven’t even been professionally trained in child-rearing. No AI support at all! Imagine that.”
He gave a small nod. “Yes, my dear, and that’s exactly why it has become so rare for children to be born and raised this way.”
“It shouldn’t just be rare,” she shot back. “It should be forbidden.”
She kept shaking her head, but then something shifted in her expression and a flicker of calm washed over her. Her shoulders relaxed, and she let out a breath as she scanned the room. “Look at society. It’s obvious that the new ways are clearly superior.”
“Don’t worry, my love,” he assured her, handing her a glass of water from the counter. “Time will take care of this. A decade, maybe two, and no one in their right mind will voluntarily give birth to a child, let alone raise it themselves.”
“Let’s hope you are right.” She glanced back at the stage, her gaze sharpening. “May these two soon be considered fossils from another age.”
What does the prologue spark in you? Share your thoughts with me (comment below, email me, or DM on Instagram), I’m so curious to hear more 🙂
The initial Birthright manuscript is currently with the Alpha readers who will provide me with the first round of feedback, which I’ll then work into the second iteration of the manuscript in April. With that, I plan to approach agents and publishers. I’m still in the decision-making process here, so, expect a revival of my previous “self-publishing vs. traditional publishing” article 😄
While Birthright is being read by the Alpha readers, I’ll spend some time on trying out different ways to get The Human Relief Project into more hands, including: getting the e-book onto Apple Books, Kobo, Tolino etc.; testing an AI-narrated Audiobook; and translating it into German version. I have to admit, this entire book promotion game is even harder than I anticipated. Since marketing and sales are not my forte, it’s a steep growth journey. Any ideas you have to get the book into more hands are more than welcome! 📣
Last but not least, I have a little ask for you: I’d like to understand better what and how you’d be most interested in hearing from me. Community-building is a two-way-street, and by answering this short poll with only two questions, you will help me to focus more on what is relevant to you 🙏🏼
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my updates and being part of this community!
If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so. Not only will you get every update from me straight to your inbox, but it will also help this Substack to be discovered by more readers on Substack’s platform.
If you are already subscribed, I’d kindly ask you to share this Substack with just one person that you think would genuinely enjoy my writing and following my journey. Who would be better than you, who knows me and my writing so well, to judge who might be interested in it 🙂