This is exciting!

Source: @indieauthoralli.bsky.social

I'm only four months post launch of my self-published novel, The Pattern Shop and I've been sharing as much as I can about the *actual math* including sales, investment, etc. along the way!

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/the-actual...

I finally made a @thestorygraph.com account and when I searched for my book, THE PATTERN SHOP to see if I could add it to my profile, I discovered someone had already left a review!

This is what a total stranger on the internet had to say 🥹🦋

#booksky #writersky #storygraph #literaryficiton #travel

I'm writing a historical fiction novel about two women a century apart, both trying to answer the same question: stay or leave? It's called Odessa and I'm just starting the first draft! 🌻

What about you?

I get really excited when I check the email I set up through my website because it’s where all my book orders come in. Unfortunately, it’s also the address I used for my state taxes account.

Today’s mail wasn’t the exciting kind.🫠😄

#authorfail #writerfail #writersky #writingcommunity #indieauthor

For the dreamers and world travelers who feel grounded by life—THE PATTERN SHOP follows Eleanorah, a young nurse wrestling with the limits of her love and the power of her choice as she reaches for something worth saving, even if it’s only herself. 🦋

www.mariahfriend.com

#booksky #literaryfiction

I think it's design! Something about how easy it is to scroll, it's almost like muscle memory for our thumbs, haha!

Our phones are so much more addicting than our laptops/computers. The next time you reach for it, ask if you can do the same task/check the same app on your laptop.

It might be a little clunkier and give you less dopamine.

But maybe that's the point. 😊

#writersky #writingcommunity #indieauthor

Heck yes! So simple and powerful. Love it.

📖✨ April 20 is Right to Read Day—and words have power when everyone can understand them.

This week, consider donating a book, supporting literacy orgs, or sharing a title that gave you a voice.

Reading is a right. Let's protect it. 🧡📚

#RightToReadDay #FreedomToRead #WritingCommunity

Hi! This is a gentle reminder that procrastination might be the sign of a scared nervous system. I finished THE PATTERN SHOP slowly, because that's what felt safe and helped me keep going.

What gives your creativity a sense of safety?

#mentalhealth #creativelife #writersky #writingcommunity

Helicopter seeds and unexpected timing 🌱 Writing Odessa Week 4

If you’re also writing, mothering, and building something brand new with heart and grit and sometimes self-doubt, this letter is for you. 🌱

substack.com/home/post/p-...

#creativewriting #wip #literaryfiction #keepgoing #indieauthor #writersky #writingcommunity

The Pattern Shop: a book club for nurses · Luma "If Eleanorah's hands couldn't tell fear from love, how could she heal?" Read The Pattern Shop, by Mariah Friend, a literary fiction novel featuring Eleanorah,…

I'm hosting a bookclub just for nurses and other healthcare providers to talk about THE PATTERN SHOP.

Join us! 🦋

luma.com/394x0j9k

#booksky #bookclub #nursing #nurses #healthcare #selfcare

Today's #WIP. Sticking to my goal of "words on a page" and not editing the first draft at all. Hard for a perfectionist like me! 😬

P.S. I'm sharing the whole process of writing Odessa, from rough draft to published novel.

Follow along?

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/two-women-...

#writersky

Why consistency doesn't work for me What a week of pink eye + solo parenting taught me about creativity

“Be consistent” is a crappy hold-over from capitalist culture. It doesn’t serve us as women, artists, or humans.

Nothing in nature is consistent, it’s cyclical.

What do you think?

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/why-consis...

#creativelife #momlife #writersky #writingcommunity #creativepractice

Thank you!

Hey mamas, what if giving up your dreams for theirs was actually teaching them that one day, they’d have to do the same?

Go to the art class.

Write the book.

Take a long weekend getaway, just for you.

One day they’ll be thanking you for showing them to never abandon themselves, no matter what.

If you live in or near #Chattanooga, come see me in support of indie book store day. I'll be signing copies of The Pattern Shop!🦋

#indiebookstores #booksky #indieauthors #localauthors #literaryfiction #authorevents #wanderbinder

As a former ICU nurse, I know what burnout feels like in my bones. And I'm determined not to let that creep into my creative life. The question is...how?

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/when-the-w...

#selfcare #creative #amwriting #burnout #nursing #indieauthors #writingcommunity #writersky

Hi! My debut novel The Pattern Shop is about a young #nurse who realizes she can't save her family or her patients so trades her stethoscope for a backpack and a one-way ticket to see if she can still save herself. 🦋

www.mariahfriend.com/thepatternshop

#solofemaletravel #literaryfiction #nursing

When the work is resting instead of writing Writing Odessa: Week 3

Anyone else struggling to feel motivated this Monday?
Me, too. 💗

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/when-the-w...

#mondaymotivation #writersky #writer #indieauthors #writingcommunity #selfcare #creativemamas

OMG I spent 6+ hours on TurboTax last weekend. Congrats on getting it done! Phew!

Happy Friday writers!

Just a reminder that I'm an actual human, writing words from my mind & heart, and that we still exist!

Share a favorite line you're working on and don't forget to support #indieauthors!

#writersky #writingcommunity #amwriting #humanartonly #noAI #humanmade #author

This is beautiful!

Gentle permission slip:

Just because you have the time, doesn’t mean you have the energy. It’s okay to stop, pause, and rest. 🦋

#creativerest #creativity #writingcommunity #writersky #selfcare

Happy National Poetry Month! 🥳

This is an excerpt from a poem I wrote while pregnant with our little one.

You can read the whole poem below. 💫

#nationalpoetrymonth #poetry #poem #motherhood #writersky #poet

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/miracle-974

What I’ve gotten done this week as a writer/mama with limited time:

✒️Submitted three poems for our local writer’s guild poetry contest
🎼Made progress on Odessa, specifically with Katarina’s character
📚Had a book sell at one of the indie bookstores in town!

What are your wins? 🙌

#writersky

Hey mamas, if you're already feeling anxious about your summer schedule and balancing your creativity with childcare, you're not alone. 💗

And you might enjoy some of these letters!

thebarefootbeat.substack.com/t/motherhood

#creativemamas #caregiving #writersky #writingcommunity #artandlife

And THAT'S how you support your writer friends, my babes.

Congrats to you @mariahfriend.bsky.social!

Thank you!! 🥰

Not me, working on pitching articles about women and healthcare (specifically women IN healthcare), avoiding working on my new manuscript...😬

Oh, the various ways writers can procrastinate, even when we're still WRITING! 😅

#historicalfiction #amwriting #writersky #writingcommunity