June 18, 2025

🌻Sojourner's novel in the making: support the story

I'm writing my debut novel, inviting you to join the journey!

Hi friends, 

I hope this week has been gentle to you :)  As many of you know, I shared some exciting news last month: I’m writing my debut novel, and I’d love for you to come along for the journey! If you want to learn more about the children’s book I have forthcoming from Scholastic as well as the new novel I’m working on now, check out an archive of the previous newsletter here! 

For the past year, I’ve curated this public newsletter, where I’ve shared essay reflections and tools for creative living. Starting in July 2025, I’ll continue sharing these resources with you all, while documenting my novel-writing journey.

This novel is important to me for a lot of reasons, but ultimately this book is for young people — especially those who are navigating the loss of a parent— who deserve stories that reflect both their pain and their resilience. It also seeks to shed light on the history of shipwrecks from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and honor the imaginative ways Africans – both on the continent and throughout the diaspora –  have remembered and ritualized this past. Through grief, magic, and memory, this novel invites readers to ask: If the ocean has a memory, what are its many ghosts trying to tell us?

That’s all to say, if this is a project you’d be interested in supporting, I invite you to upgrade to a premium subscription of the newsletter for a small, monthly fee (the premium subscription link is now live!). 

By subscribing, you're helping me take time off from full-time freelance work, pay for essentials, and write with intention. And in return, each month you’ll receive an intimate dispatch from my writing life.

And as a reminder, there will always be a free version of this newsletter that includes my signature monthly blog. If you’re here to enjoy that, you don’t need to do anything!

🌟 The Subscription Tiers

There are 3 monthly subscription tiers to choose from, with each tier offering a bit more immersion into my creative process:

🪴 Tier 1: Lorraine’s Porch – $5/month

For those who want to support the novel writing process and receive written prompts and reflections for their own creative practice.

Each month, you’ll receive:

• 1 Paywalled Newsletter with:
  

  • A personal essay/ blog reflection on my life as an artist  and a specific creative process I’m navigating (click the hyperlink to see what past examples of this have looked like on my blog).

  • A  thematic collection of three creative breakthroughs from my own writing life that month, followed by generative writing prompts designed to help you start exploring your own creative questions.

🌻 Tier 2: Lillian’s Garden  – $15/month

For those who want behind-the-scenes access to my novel writing process, and expanded creative resources.

Everything from Tier 1, plus:

• Project updates on my YA novel — including  character mood boards, inspiration sources, and writing process reflections.

• Curated media recommendations from what is inspiring me lately (books, films, interior design, travel, podcasts, etc.)

🫖 Tier 3: Sallie’s Kitchen Table – $30/month

For those who want deeper support, creative fuel, and more engagement.

Everything from Tiers 1 & 2, plus:

• A recipe I cooked that month and my reflection on what it taught me about a creative process.

• A monthly Q&A thread — Ask me anything about writing, freelancing, creative process, burnout, etc. I’ll respond with thoughtful reflections.

• Early access to virtual or in-person creative co-working sessions, writing workshops, and one-on-one creative coaching slots, when offered. Stay tuned for forthcoming opportunities !
  

If you’ve made it this far in the newsletter, I thank you! The first, paywalled newsletter drops on July 30th. I am asking my community to consider subscribing between now and July 15th, 2025 to ensure you receive the first dispatch. 

If you want to see all the tiers and their offerings in one place, please visit the pricing table on my website here and select your subscription tier from there :)

Thank you all for reading, for witnessing my work, and for all the ways you’ve already supported me. I’m grateful.

from the footsteps of my desires to yours,

🦉sojourner