Natasha Lester's Blog, page 6

April's Magazine Is a Love List!

How to write the monthly magazine when you haven’t been doing anything remotely magazine-worthy because of grief and all its attendant strangeness? That’s what I first thought when I started writing, but when I reflected a little on the month that was, I realised that while some months look on the surface to be more worthy of comment, months are not just about events and news and experiences and activities. Months are also about gestures and notes and the unexpected.

Something I learned, which I...

The Mademoiselle Alliance

When I drafted this newsletter on Friday, I started out with the announcement of the title for my 2025 book. But then on Saturday, a man walked through Westfield Bondi Junction, a shopping centre I spent the best part of a day in just two weeks ago with my two daughters. The man stabbed eighteen people (according to latest reports), killing six and hospitalising twelve more. Five of the six people killed were women; one of those injured was a nine-month-old baby.

Most of you know I have an eight...

The Getaway Car (Ann Patchett’s, Not Taylor Swift’s!)

New notebook.

Fear.

Scribbled sentences.

John Truby’s Anatomy of a Story.

Excitement.

Fresh flowers.

A new Scrivener document.

A cup of tea.

An urgent desire to look up random and irrelevant things on the internet.

An entire unknown story waiting to be found.

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m sitting down to write a brand new book. And those ten things are the companions I have to hand every time I face this part of the process. The flowers and the tea are self-explanatory; comfort and beauty. I hope the f...

March Magazine: Wow, That Struck a Chord!

Wow, last week’s post about quitting social media really struck a chord with a lot of you. I received so many emails, aside from all the comments on the post itself. A lot of the emails were from authors and it made me realise I didn’t go quite far enough in discussing the much used phrase “author platform”. So here are a few more thoughts before we dive into March’s magazine.

For most fiction authors, the things you generally hear about author platform are a lie. Certain types of non fiction and...

March Magazine: Wow, That Struck a Chord! Plus, the Title for My Next Book Is ...

Wow, last week’s post about quitting social media really struck a chord with a lot of you. I received so many emails, aside from all the comments on the post itself. A lot of the emails were from authors and it made me realise I didn’t go quite far enough in discussing the much used phrase “author platform”. So here are a few more thoughts before we dive into March’s magazine.

For most fiction authors, the things you generally hear about author platform are a lie. Certain types of non fiction and...

March’s Monthly Digest: Goodbye Social Media

The year is nearly one-quarter gone and I’ve been reflecting on many things over the past month, especially after having lots of conversations with writer friends. One of the things that keeps coming up in those conversations is social media.

If you’ve been with me on Substack from the start, you’ll know I came here because I was tried of being an unpaid content producer for Meta who, let’s face it, don’t need my blood, sweat and tears. But I’ve kept my social media going, albeit on a slightly r...

The Edit: What It Is, How I Tackle It, Why I Love It

As promised, I’m coming to you via video today so I can both explain to you and show you exactly what the mysterious “edit” is that all writers talk about with a mix of fear, tears, excitement and fatigue. Of course, I can only talk about how I approach an edit and I’m sure there are as many different ways to tackle it as there are books. But it’s inter…

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The Bijoux Magazine: Something Personal, Something Swift & Something Sydney

Hello to all my amazing subscribers! I don’t know how your February has been, but mine’s been a blur. I spent two weeks in Sydney over two separate visits, and while I was there, the developmental (or structural) edit arrived for my next book, so it’s been slightly busy! (I’m doing a video in next month’s other paid subscriber post about how I tackle the edits, so look out for that.)

The wonderful thing about being in Sydney is that I was able to catch up with quite a few of my writer friends (al...

February’s Monthly Digest: I’m Going Into the Writing Cave!

It’s supposed to be the week where I publish the monthly Magazine but I have so much author news to share that I’ve decided to swap the weeks around. It’s been a crazy start to February—I’ve been in Sydney helping my daughter move into her uni accomodation, which has meant a lot of walking up and down Broadway and into and out of the CBD with arms full of pots and pans and cutlery and sheets and everything she needs. I think I walked a month’s worth of steps in a week and carried twice my body w...

Rhythm, Writing and Reflections on Summer

It’s about half past ten in the morning, I think. I’m not absolutely sure; I gave up clocks and watches a few days ago. All I know is that the sun is white-gold, the wind low and, through the window, the sea beckons. Time to marinate myself in sunscreen. Pick up the cabana chair, sunglasses, hat. Walk over the lawn, which bleeds into white sand. I take fifty steps and I’ve arrived.

There’s nobody at all on the beach. Just sand, powder-fine, cowrie shells sunbathing lazily near the water’s edge. ...