🧠 Can I pick your brain for a sec?

May roundup + a poll

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Hi friends,

Before we get to the goods, a small ask.

I love putting this newsletter together each month, but I want to make sure it’s giving you what you actually want—whether that’s inspiration, joy, advice, free books, or just a good distraction from the stew and the suck of what ails you.

If you’ve got 30 seconds, I’d be super grateful if you answered/clicked through these 3 short questions. Totally anonymous, no pressure.

If I missed your favorite part, hit reply and let me know—I love hearing from you.

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If you read the whole thing, feel free to tell me that, as well :) Substack only allows five options!

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You’re the best. Seriously. Thanks for clicking some buttons and helping me not yell into the void.

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Thank you, also, for all the grief books/songs/recs you sent last time. There's something both painful and healing about art that acknowledges the depths of what we feel when we're grieving.

I’m 70,000 words into this grief novel-in-progress—rounding the bend toward completion while other manuscripts wait for homes.

I can’t bear to sit idle (in all things, but especially between submissions), so I write new novels during the waiting. The pen moves forward even as the publishing world deliberates.

My love for writing = my hatred of waiting. Perhaps they’re the same muscle, differently flexed.

Sometimes at night though, I wonder: Is this like the ol’ AA definition of insanity, to write book after book expecting different results?

Optimists would say: No, it’s persistence. It’s faith. In myself. In the power of stories. In the architecture of longing.

My first book, The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (with Cats!), arrived in the world with surprising ease. No agent, no proposal. Just the fortune of the right eyes (hello, Bob at Flatiron) finding my words at the precise moment they needed them.

Now I stand better equipped—an amazing agent, deeper craft, sharper knowledge—yet the path has grown steeper. The mathematics of difficulty have multiplied by 10,000, much of which is beyond my control.

The current political landscape—with rising censorship, book bans, and deepening cultural polarization—is reshaping what gets published, who gets platformed, and how safe or welcome certain stories feel.

At the same time, many readers are overwhelmed or burned out, which means even longtime book lovers are finding it harder to focus, let alone escape into fiction.

So I wait, but not emptily. I fill the waiting with creation.

The hope remains simple and true: When one book finally breaks through, it might clear the path for its siblings.

Until then, I write. Until then, the words themselves are home. I wave to you from these shores.

Advice

Ask Anna: How to handle regret and uncertainty

I need advice about a sexual situation I can't discuss with anyone else. My wife and I have been together for nine years (married for four) with a...

Ask Anna: Mother’s Day advice for exhausted new parents

My husband and I welcomed our beautiful daughter six months ago, and while we're absolutely in love with her, I feel like my husband and I are just...

Ask Anna: How to let go for good

I've been broken up with my ex for almost four months now. I did everything the experts recommend — blocked him on social media, deleted his number and...

Ask Anna: He’s perfect … except for his gaming obsession

I've been with my boyfriend for eight months, and overall, things are great. He's kind, funny and a dedicated teacher. The issue? When he's not working, he's gaming...

Freebies

Eroticafest

Sapphic Spring

Amazing May Romances

2nd Best Thing to Take to Bed: May Rom Coms

Linkspiration

29 ways to celebrate mental health awareness month

Mother’s Day gifts that give back to other moms

All your notes, bookmarks, inspiration, articles and images in one single, private place (My Mind)

A helpful breakdown of the classic creative process and how to work with each phase (Harvard Business Review)

A powerful reminder from Elizabeth Gilbert that perfectionism is just fear in a fancy coat (TED Ideas)

The Spark File (podcast)
Creative prompts, interviews, and strategies to help you catch and keep your best ideas.

Creative Pep Talk by Andy J. Pizza (podcast)
A delightful, high-energy podcast with actionable tips for creative folks.

Dense Discovery: Thoughtful weekly dispatches on creativity, tech, and mindful living.

The Creative Independent: Essays and interviews from working artists across disciplines.

✨ Have a favorite creativity resource I should know about? Hit reply—I love hearing what’s working for you.

Hot Box

Yours,

Anna

P.S. I also have zero updates on the cochlear implant front. I took another hearing test—unsurprisingly, it’s worse. It gets worse every year—and had a brief consult. The audiologist gave me a different pair of hearing aids to try out and in a few weeks they’ll test my hearing WITH the aids in, which is something I have been asking for probably 10 years and is just not done. But how can you know if the hearing aids are helping if you never test them? So, I’ll find out soon. Wish me something (again).