Do you want to know a dark secret?
Discover more from The Writer Gal Letter
Do you want to know a dark secret?
Plus 1300+ Furreee books for ya!
Mahalo,
I’m listening to Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince which is part of a brand-new secret book playlist I’m listening to because…I’ll share the reasons in just a minute, Postmate. Before that, it’s secret-sharing time. And this one…it’s dark.
I was going to do this post as a video, to be honest, because it is just that kind of a week but I am too tired to put on makeup and prettify myself for the camera so you’re getting this heartfelt handwritten letter, instead. :) Anyway, here goes nothing. And a short poll for you in the middle.
When I was twelve years old and neck deep in my Nancy Drew/Danielle Steel books (we only had those kinds of books in my local library), I had this vision of myself. Of one day growing up and being one of these amazing people who get to write these books. Bring these stories to life. And I was HAPPY every day! Literally, giddy with the idea of getting up, parking my butt on a desk somewhere, and writing my stories to life. (Like I am this edition of TWGL).
My twelve-year-old little baby self did not understand the sheer scope of all the things the average writer has to do now. If I tell you, your head will freaking explode, Postmate, but suffice it to say, most of the writers you adore are competent, if not excellent, at the following skills - video editing, entertaining people with short, relatable/witty things, juggling finances and spreadsheets like we are all data analysts, scribbling ideas on whatever surface/device is available, understand ever more data for Search Engine Optimization on no less than four platforms, and content marketing (which is ten different jobs rolled into one).
There is actually no time to write books when you’re writing books, now that I think about it.
And I am naively optimistic, even when I have done it (pretty weirdly, badly) for the last five years thinking that I am still supposed to be giddy, acid-trip-happy every single day to park my butt in my chair and do this job!
Postmate, I am not happy like that. In fact, some days, some months, some weeks I actively HATE this thing I do.
It is still my favorite thing in the world, and I am awed by this privilege I have of entertaining you with my stories but, DAMMIT, it is OVERWHELMING!
SHOCKER, am I right?! Let me paint you a picture if you don’t believe me:
Just this month
I’ve dealt with books being banned and unsearchable for no reason whatsoever.
Proofed (edited) a whole ass book in one day.
Plotted two more books in a week.
Uploaded a lot of my books as paperbacks on two different platforms and dealt with no less than 25 queries on each platform.
Wrote some words.
Deleted all of them
Wrote them again in first person and loved that.
Made a bunch of teasers for social media and considered it work. (It is. But it isn’t as well-paying as butt in chair and write them words in a new book for you).
Come up with something so AMAZING and funny for July I am actually loving writing again. Except for today, today I’m stuck and I HATE being stuck and not able to write words!
This is not a pity-me, poor-me TWGL, Postmate. I’m happy to do all of this, throw myself on the capricious anvil of reader opinion over and over again, and get my heart chopped off. I fully choose to be a writer, to be a storyteller, with my own sanity and this is the price I pay for it.
I just didn’t know the price to pay for doing it is also to hate it sometimes, ya know?
Do you feel like that about your job or your life? Like you could just pack it up and move to a different town and waitress like a boss even though you’re clumsy AF? I swear, twelve-year-old me would be confounded seeing Author Aarti talking this way about the only dream she ever had growing up. But maybe she’d just bury her head back in the next book and leave Author Aarti to sort her shit out in her own way.
And with that extremely clumsy segue, let me get to the point of this Friday edition of The Writer Gal Letter. (Apart from the fact that I finally created a Novella thread for everyone asking for it and sent it on Tuesday!)
It’s Stuff Your Ereader Day!
If you've been a Postmate for a while, you know I participate in a quarterly freebie book haul which is now widely known as Stuff Your Kindle Day. (It's actually available for ALL e-readers, not just Kindle as informed by more than 14.5 MILLION views on Tiktok.) If you're new, you're in for a treat because TODAY'S THE DAYYYY!
This is a one-day-only sale where you can grab all the freebies your heart desires, sorted by your favorite reading platform and then by sub-genres - all the major subgenres like new adult, paranormal, contemporary, romantic suspense are all covered.
If you think it’s TOO much to scroll through 1300+ books (baby reader Aarti disagrees), I am here to help you out! Do ctrl/command+F and search the terms or even authors you're interested in (small town, single mom, best friend's sister, age gap, he falls first, billionaire romance etc.) to find books categorized with those keywords! It'll narrow the selection to make it a bit more manageable. Or go wild with all 1300!
Days of Our Lives is FREE!
My freebie this quarter is Days of Our Lives, which has never been EVER free since it was released in December 2019. It is also my most favorite book I’ve ever written (shh, we don’t tell the other books).
A F.R.I.E.N.D.S mashup set in Maajhi Mumbai with five goofy best friends and one clueless new guy? Get Days of Our Lives.
Want a feel-good, angsty, funny, passionate, romantic comedy? Get Days of Our Lives.
Get. Days. Of. Our. Lives.
Search for Days of Our Lives in the pink button below and smash it! :D
A young woman longs for freedom from overprotective parents…
Another wants to desperately please her proud parents…
Another hopes to be the perfect daughter-in-law and mom-to-be for her parents and in-laws!
Shashi, Anu, and Meher are best friends exploring the meaning of love, commitment, motherhood, and marriage with disastrous, often hilarious results.
They are joined in their journey by Arjun, Shashi’s brooding fiancé, who has his own reasons to begin a fake engagement…
Charlie, the mysterious bad boy, whose secrets might destroy the new love he’s finding with Dr. Anu, his childhood crush…
And Avi, the clueless husband, who can’t seem to please the love of his life, Meher anymore.
Six friends, three interconnected love stories, and an homage to the City of My Dreams – Mumbai, Days of Our Lives is a dramatic romantic comedy with lots of heat and heart.
That is all I have for the last June TWGL, Postmate. But I will be back next Tuesday (or as close to Tuesday as I can manage :P) and tell you all about the AMAZING thing I have planned for July! :D And yes, I don’t hate that part at all.
xx
Aarti