Welcome Back!
I am so glad you're here, Moonbeams.
A very warm hello to The Meadow community! Thank you very much for stopping by.
When I released The Meadow in the early days of spring, I had been standing at the edge of a cliff I couldn’t see. So, The Meadow that I thought would always be in season, froze just like me, wilted in the heat of the too-hot sun.
Slowly, over the span of this year I’ve been listening to myself, making the necessary changes, planting seeds. Finally, I’ve found some shade. Sometimes it falters when the wind picks up, but I’m making space again and it feels good. There’s still a ways to go, but that’s just life, isn’t it?
It’s been a while since I popped on here to connect with you all, and a lot has happened. I’ve been to Oregon and California, southern areas of Iceland, and I traversed a giant chunk of the Scottish Highlands solo just last month. I’ve done a lot of growing and thinking and generating. So, grab a hot cuppa, if you’re so inclined, sit back, and enjoy this extra special issue of The Meadow. (Please excuse any typos. I’ve been writing this edition since early September and I am immune to all its errors now!)
Subscriptions
When I transferred my newsletter to Substack, I wasn’t ever planning on creating premium content. But then some of you generous wildflowers went and became paid subscribers anyway. I have been thinking, ever since, how I could make this space special for those subscribers, but as an aesthetic soul, I felt uninspired by Substack’s appearance. That is until I came across Holly Ringland’s THE JOY RISE. A Substack as beautiful as I ever could have imagined and so interactive and so inspiring. As always, she sparked something in me. Thus, here we are. Holly, if you ever read this, I hope you don’t mind I borrowed the bones of your beautiful publication and made it my own—in partnership with Mary Oliver haha!
For next month’s newsletter and onwards, there will be a paid component of The Meadow here on Substack. I promise it will be full of bountiful resources, voices, and magic!
Paid Subscriptions
Monthly editions (in the event I cannot make a newsletter, I will notify subscribers via a note here on Substack or on my Instagram [youfoundmarinasbooks] so that you can pause your subscription and buy a coffee instead.)
First to know updates about The Meadow’s seasonal sales.
First to know about Marina Edits’ editorial sales.
My Pen In The Air: a writer’s courage & musings. Every month I will include a written journal entry or audio file with tidbits on my writing life—all of the joys and challenges that come with choosing this path (all from the perspective of an editor working in the publishing industry [aka there is often a rollercoaster of emotions to wade through].
Sometimes There Are No Rules: Industry, Craft, and Other Gathered Seeds. Each month I will answer your most asked questions about writing, the publishing industry, and other related topics. Sometimes these segments might include an audio file of a conversation with a fellow industry professional (authors, editors, unpublished writers, marketing professionals, etc.). Get ready to demolish the walls that block access to what should be easily accessible knowledge! No more gatekeepers.
Your Bones Knowing: Those things that settle my soul. Or, in other words, my favourites! Books, music, TV and film that fill my creative well and make me better at my craft.
Coming Summer 2025: The Meadow bookclub, monthly zoom meetings to chat and grow.
Full archive of posts.
Free Subscriptions
Two (2!) monthly free and very writerly posts that contain advice and musings.
First to know updates about The Meadow’s retreats, workshops, guide offerings, and exclusive merch!
First to know about official opening for Marina Edits editorial services (a seasonal occurrence).
A seasonal edition of Your Bones Knowing: Those things that settle my soul. Or, in other words, my favourites for the season! (Paid subscribers get these monthly).
Occasional Excerpt from Sometimes There Are No Rules: Industry, Craft, and Other Gathered Seeds. (Paid subscribers get these monthly too).
Book announcements (from myself and friends).
Whether you’re a paid subscriber or a free one, I am so happy to have you here in The Meadow!
To revive The Meadow and celebrate all of your being here, this edition of The Meadow contains all paid subscription offerings for free.
Enjoy!
There are lots of announcements this month! And you’re all the first to know! So hold onto your hats, moonbeams!
Marina Edits Autumn Sale
At the start of the Autumn season, we welcomed Kelsey Evans (who who might know as @kelseyconnellywrites on Instagram) to the team! Just one month in, Kelsey has proved to be such an asset!
To celebrate a successful opening, we’re hosting a surprise end of year sale! Any bookings that come inn for spots between now and December 31, you can book with 20% off! This is the BIGGEST sale I’ve ever had. So take advantage while there are still spots available!
Marina Edits Winter 2025 Books Opening!
Speaking of spots! We’re rolling right into the Winter Season (January-April 2025), which means we’ll be opening our books once again! For the general public, our books will open for the Winter Season on November 20th. But for all of you wonderful subscribers of The Meadow, you can start booking now! My books are always open to past and current clients, so January is already filling up.
To book with us, fill out the contact form on my website (marinaedits.com) or via this link and we’ll get working on booking you in!
If you book between now and December 11, all services book for January to April are 10% off! We’re embracing Mr. Bennet—we’re quite at our leisure!
If any young men come for Mary or Kitty, for heaven's sake, send them in. I'm quite at my leisure. - Mr. Bennet
Return to the Wild Retreat
This next announcement is the one that I’m most excited for. Yes, you read that right! I’m hosting my very own immersive, nature-based writing retreat in the heart of the Cotswolds next October 2025. And it is going to be full of magic. I just know it.
October 20-26, 2025
Cumbria, England
10 writers, six nights, lots and lots of creative magic.
Immerse yourself in the breathtakingly serene landscapes of Cumbria with the Return to the Wild Writing Retreat. Nestled in the heart of the Lake District, this retreat offers an idyllic setting to reconnect with nature, storytelling, and your creative spirit. Over the course of a week, you will partake in daily writing critique circles and faculty talks led by experienced authors, designed to inspire and enhance your craft and to rekindle your connection with writing and with nature.
Whether you are a seasoned writer or just beginning your journey, the Return to the Wild Writing Retreat is a haven for creativity and reflection, encouraging you to unleash your imagination in a wild and beautiful setting. Join us for an unforgettable experience that will renew your passion for writing and maybe even inspire your next project!
You, you beautiful newsletter subscriber, get early access to all of the retreat information!
Here’s the link! https://www.marinaedits.com/returntothewildretreat
Password to enter the site: Wild2025
Enrolment opens on December 7, 2024!
I can’t wait to tell stories with you in England!
But I thought, of the wren's singing, what could this
be if it isn't a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.
– MARY OLIVER
This phase of life has called to me to pick up Women Who Run With the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés again. Apt, considering it is partly the medicine I needed to find myself and my craft again—those two things so incontrovertibly intertwined.
“Fairy tales, myths, and stories provide understandings which sharpen our sight so that we can pick out and pick up the path left by the wildish nature.”
That path, for me, is joy. It’s at the root of why I create and I lost sight of that for a long time. I forgot that this dream I am chasing is one born out of the light, not a desire to monetize, but to share and to immortalize. While those are all things I still want, realizing this has offered me the opportunity to step back and reevaluate why I write.
If you were part of Writing With the Soul, you’ll be familiar with The Writer’s Creed. It’s that guiding light I have to come back to every time I sit town to write. Part of that, a very important part is the joy it brings.
So, now it is my job to stay in that grounded realm. To remind myself of my reason, my creed every time I begin to disconnect. The thriller I am writing has been the biggest challenge. I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, but this story is stretching my abilities, honing and challenging what I know about story. I love it so much, but my goodness, I wish writing it didn’t feel like navigating my way through a foreign forest thick with both hazards and beauty. I’ll make my way to the heartwood soon. I know it.
In those darkest parts of my process, I also have to remind myself that I want to write to be a mirror, to be a voice, especially in these darkest of days. As Dr. Estés says,
“… sometimes a word, a sentence or a poem or a story, is so resonant, so right, it causes us to remember, at least for an instant, what substance we are really made from, and where is our true home.”
That is the crux of it all. I write to capture what makes us all human. And what’s more human than joy?
As long as you are dancing, you can
break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just
extending the rules.
Sometimes there are no rules.
– MARY OLIVER
Recently, I came across this quote by Barbara Kingsolver:
“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
This is something else I’ve been exploring lately. I’ve been challenging the rules of writing craft as I dream up new stories. Studying some of my favourite books and pulling them a part. If a story is all roots and trunk and branches, what would happen if I remove one of these parts? Surely it won’t be fatal if it’s just a branch here and there. Surely.
Challenging the rules of writing has come from drafting my thriller. It has so many layers, so many ways of telling, I’ve been spending hours and hours sitting with it, visualizing all of it’s parts wondering at the final shape. It feels like I’m making this story out of clay. It takes every part of my mind, my body, to make one small step forward. It isn’t because I’m sticking to any strict set of rules. I’m trying to listen to how it needs to be told (and I am hoping beyond all hopes that that will be the right way for readers). My one rule is that there must be a happy ending.
So, I’ve got to let go and trust. Which for someone who loves being in control (and works in publishing and therefore trusts in the “rules” of story and plot) is going to be a gargantuan feat of its own.
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
– MARY OLIVER
Reading
How lucky am I to know so many talented writers. Here are four books written by four of my friends and they’re good, moonbeams. Really, really good.
THE WOODSMOKE WOMEN’S BOOK OF SPELLS by Rachel Greenlaw
“This is a story of romance, broken friendship, and staying true to yourself under the weight of family obligations. This sweet tale with light magic will appeal to readers of Sarah Addison Allen and fans of the movie (and book) Practical Magic.” —Booklist
In a magical new direction for One Christmas Morning author Rachel Greenlaw, an evocative and mysterious story about lost love and the magic of coming home, for readers of Adrienne Young and Breanne Randall.
There is an old tale woven through the mountain town of Woodsmoke about a stranger who appears as the first snow falls in winter, who will disappear without a trace as the frost thaws in spring, leaving a broken heart behind.
Carrie Morgan ran from Woodsmoke ten years ago, and the decision has haunted her ever since. Spending a decade painting and drifting around Europe, she tries to forget her family’s legacy and the friends she left behind. But the Morgan women have always been able to harness the power of the mountains surrounding the town, and their spells—and curses—are sewn into the soil. The mountains, they say, never forget.
Sure enough, when Carrie’s grandmother dies and leaves behind her dilapidated cottage, she returns to renovate—certain she will only be there for one winter. She meets Matthieu as the temperature dips, a newcomer who offers to help refurbish the cottage. Before long, and despite warnings from her great-aunt Cora of the old stories, Carrie finds herself falling for the charming stranger. But when the frost thaws in spring, Matthieu goes missing.
Carrie is convinced he’s real, and he’s in danger. As she fights her way across the mountains to find him, she must confront all the reasons why she left Woodsmoke and decide whether the place she’s spent the last decade running from is the home she’s been searching for.
Rachel Greenlaw, the beloved author of One Christmas Morning, returns with another beautifully crafted, emotionally charged, and romantic tale about lost love and the magic of coming home.
"The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells captivated me from the very first page... I absolutely treasured it from beginning to end." —Cecelia Ahern, New York Times bestselling author
FOR SHE IS WRATH by Emily Varga
A sweeping, Pakistani romantic fantasy retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, where one girl seeks revenge against those who betrayed her—including the boy she used to love.
Three hundred and sixty-four days.
Framed for a crime she didn't commit, Dania counts down her days in prison until she can exact revenge on Mazin, the boy responsible for her downfall, the boy she once loved—and still can't forget. When she discovers a fellow prisoner may have the key to exacting that vengeance--a stolen djinn treasure--they execute a daring escape together and search for the hidden treasure.
Armed with dark magic and a new identity, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who betrayed her and her family, even though Mazin stands in her way. But seeking revenge becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse, especially when an undeniable fire still burns between them, and the power to destroy her enemies has a price. As Dania falls deeper into her web of traps and lies, she risks losing her humanity to her fight for vengeance--and her heart to the only boy she's ever loved.
Magic is dangerous. Bound magic is deadly.
Left vulnerable to relentless witch hunters, Ameris will go any length to unbind her magic. Even bargain with Xander, the dangerously attractive fae heir. Caught in a whirlwind of ambition and lust, Ameris agrees to save him in exchange for learning fae magic.
Allies are scarce. Trust is a luxury.
With the witch hunters closing in, Ameris and Xander enact a blood bond, transporting them to the fae kingdom of Elysium. In a world torn by ancient vendettas and ruled by the shadow king, Oberon, Ameris discovers her unbound magic may be key to the throne.
Unbound & used for her power.
Xander will use any tool in his quest to rule – including the sexual tension between them, magnified by their blood bond. Oberon will do whatever it takes to keep the throne and make Ameris his. And he’s not afraid to play dirty to win.
The throne is the prize. Lust is the game.
Captured by Oberon, Ameris is seduced by the very darkness she’s warned about. Torn between the intoxicating allure of Oberon’s shadow magic and her intense bond with Xander, Ameris is left with no choice:
Make her claim.
Or be bound by blood & shadow.
A hilarious and heartfelt rom-com about having it all, slowing down to see the big picture, and finding out that the person you least expect could be your perfect fit.
Josephine Davis has spent her entire twenties building Revenant: a fashion brand headquartered in downtown Austin. When her biggest investor orders Josie to hire a consultant, the last person she expects to be working with is Will Grant – the twin brother of Josie’s ex best friend.
Sure, Will and Josie may have shared one mistake of a kiss during senior spring break nine years ago, but they’ve never been friends. She remembers him as moody; he always thought of her as shallow. Romance isn’t on the table for either of them until they blink, and realize there’s a reason they can’t stay away from each other.
But there’s Will’s sister to consider – whom Josie hasn’t spoken with since their falling out – not to mention, Will and Josie live seventeen hundred miles apart. And it’s not like she has time for a boyfriend anyway when she’s an overworked CEO. As Josie’s burnout looms while she falls deeper and harder for Will, she contends with the fact that eventually, she’ll have to make a choice: stay alone to be productive, or slow down to be in love.
Watching
I can’t stop thinking about this show. Or playing That song (see Listening below). What an incredible feat of storytelling and romance—which really rubbed in the fact that I am very single haha!
Listening
“See Her Out (That's Just Life)” by Francis and the Lights. It doesn’t get any more romantic than an agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi kissing (especially when that newly single rabbi is Adam Brody).
I’ve been gravitating to anything folkloric these days (see my nature-based storytelling retreat ha!), and “The Lost words Blessings” just fits that bill.
Okay, listen. At the end of this year, Spotify is going to know what’s up. It’s going to tell me that “Comfort” by Nicholas Galitzine is my most played song and I won’t be able to deny it. Not one bit. That’s just the way it is.
Even on the darkest days, I hope you can find a sliver of light.
Yours, with best wishes,
Marina x
NEXT MONTH…
Unlocking my story & learning to play again. How I’ve started down this new path & the inspirations that brought me here.