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A.D. Smith

@adsmithwrites

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✍🏽 Writing #TheScotlandBook: the journey of how a year in #Scotland changed my life - in every way imaginable. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #NativeAuthor #AKA1908

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All the stats say 97% of people who start a book never finish it. Having been at it more years than I care to count now, I see why!! Particularly, as an entrepreneur, if that book isn’t directly tied to your business, it’s hard to justify investing the time to get this done.

However, shame is kicking in once again, and I’m on a kick to write and edit as much as I can in these final 44 days of the year. (Yes, thats all that’s left of 2024 my friends. Incroyable.)

So - if you’d like to join me on this crazy journey of attempting to burn a candle at both ends a bit without getting burnt, sign up for my email list on my newly refreshed website: adsmithwrites.com. (Don’t worry; I’m far from an email abuser. Only the coolest and most important stuff will ever make it into your inbox, I promise.)

Thanks as always for your epic and continued support. See ya in email world! by @adsmithwrites

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2 years ago

If you hang around long enough, you’ll end up having to update your website. The one before was just a simple landing page. This one is too, it’s just ridiculously fresh. Check it out, kick the tires and sign up for my emails while you’re there too (yet another thing that needed updating!). by @adsmithwrites

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2 years ago

It’s been awhile. Allow me to reintroduce my work (and, to be fair, my younger self): In her early thirties, Andrea D. Smith was far behind on having everything an American woman was supposed to want - no husband (though plenty of close calls), no home (she reasoned she was far too mobile for that), no kids (goes without saying without the husband...right?). The only thing she really had going for herself was a life full of mounting community responsibilities (creating an endless, dizzying schedule of galas, 5K’s and networking happy hours), seemingly meaningless awards, a wanna-be fiancé who only wants her for the boxes she checks off on his future-political-wife checklist and a mildly successful career she carved out for herself as a marketer (a far cry from her original premed aspirations). #Travelling the world was something she thought might be far outside her grasp - reserved for the moderately affluent or the retired. She was betting on the retired.

This is the story of how she left that would-be “Community Celebutante” world behind to say YES to a chance door that opened up due to some quick wins and global exposure on a new job. Now for 12 months, she has a new lease on life, a #tabularasa of her own, to freshly #explore a whole new world as a resident of #Scotland. Here she learns the surprising joy of #minimalism, what it feels like to #detox from American culture and is granted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redefine the possibilities of her life. #TheScotlandBook
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#alaskannative #tlingit #aka1908 #southerngirl #nativeamerican #nativewriters #nativeauthors #nativeamericanheritagemonth #scotland #scotlandexplore #expat #expatlife #expatliving #blackandlivingabroad by @adsmithwrites

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2 years ago

People won't say it but I know they think it: why'd you write a whole article about getting #divorced? Because I'm a writer. And when life strongly affects me, this is what I do. I write about it. Sometimes the writing can be just for me. But not something like this. Not when I know others have gone through it, too.

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of tired of being made to live in a world of secrecy. Life's too vaporous for that. People will say "I'm here for you," "Call me," "Whatever you need," "Be kind to yourself," and in the same breath say "Don't talk about that," "Keep it behind closed doors," "They don't want anyone to know."

Sigh. I subscribe to the open book life. There's a great power in #vulnerability, as one of my favs - @brenebrown - knows all too well. There's a courage in it. There's #connection in it - if we allow it. And I'm inviting you to connect.

For those who want to read beyond this not-so-little caption: https://bit.ly/darkandstormy2026 (link in bio)

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NOTE: Andrea TheoJohn is my real-world business branding name. A.D. Smith is my pen name for #TheScotlandBook. I know...I'm still figuring it all out (especially now with this impending #divorce). Thanks for your patience... by @adsmithwrites

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19 hours ago

👋🏽 A little update: hey friend. I know you think I forgot all about this book. Not true! Just hard to steal time away for it while also trying to run @theadsagency. However, you’ll be happy to know I’m in a bit of a developmental editing era now. Shifting around chapters. At one point I toyed around with a trilogy (👀 I know) - a South Carolina book (pre-Scotland), The Scotland Book (still to be named) and then an Atlanta Book (post-Scotland). Even written out most of those books! Since then I’ve scrapped that idea and have been pulling in the best chapters from the SC book into The Scotland Book - going back to just one original book. I’ll do some more work on that this weekend amidst regular life (putting up this closet that fell down, putting away clothes, yard stuff, prepping for summer trips, potentially going to SC or AL tomorrow…all the household / life things that need me too).

So that’s my latest update. How’s your world? Are you writing? Summertime-ing? by @adsmithwrites

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4 months ago

Peace doesn’t just happen. In times like these, it must be strategic.

What we’re seeing in Minnesota didn’t happen by accident. It was planned, funded, coordinated.

If an attack on Americans is being carried out strategically, then peace has to be strategic too.

I wrote this piece for the people asking themselves how they can help fight back - without hitting the pavement.

This is what I’ve got so far: courts, laws, budgets, documentation and sustained pressure.

📖 New on the adsmithwrites.com blog:
Strategic Peace: What Everyday Americans Can Do to Stop ICE’s Current Operations in Minnesota (and Prevent This Nationwide)

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#StrategicPeace #PeaceIsNotPassive #CivicAction #JusticeWithoutViolence by @adsmithwrites

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9 months ago

Sharing this for my fellow @entreprenistas author, @girl.let.go:

Are you in the Miami area? Come check out an Evening with Shenise Truesdell Wed, 15 Oct, 7pm at @booksandbooks

ABOUT THE BOOK: You Keep Attracting the Same #ToxicRelationships?!? Just wanting to be their girl?!?

No matter how much you try to choose differently, you keep ending up in #situationships, dead-end relationships, or friendships that drain your energy. It’s exhausting, and you’re tired of feeling like you’re the problem - but deep down, you don’t know how to break the cycle.

💔 The peace you want starts with the courage to let go. Click the link in her bio to get your copy.

#LetGoOrBeDragged #Etiquette101 #BeKindToYouFirst #GirlLetGo #idonotownrightstomusic taken in Books & Books by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Truly was not ready! Here’s really why I did. by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago

Jimmy’s return to air tonight gives me hope - that this country isn’t completely lost just yet. There’s still so much more to work through, though, as we all know. Jimmy said what happened to him and his entire 200+ person team this week was “un-American.” And yet, can we even agree on what “American” is anymore? Seems like an ever moving target, depending on who you talk to.

One thing’s clear to me - to be American should always include the right to make art, to disagree without punishment, to vote, to read, to believe, to hope, to love.

Free speech. More love. Less vitriol.

#freeexpression #artmatters #FirstAmendment #keepcreating #amwriting #democracy @jimmykimmellive #jimmykimmel by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago

Taking a break from the violence that is our world these days to share something lighter. Just a few more #Scottish things I think Americans should know - INCLUDING - a fun fact about my own heritage 👀

What would you add to this list?

#scotland #scotland_insta #edinburgh #maryqueenofscots #crownjewels @1eileandonancastle #blackpeopleinscotland #famousscots #blackscottish by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago

Decades ago, MLK recognized that Sunday is the most segregated day of the week in America. It’s sad that it still holds true today in 2025. Faith without love is hypocrisy. And racism wrapped in religion is still racism. What is your pastor preaching about this morning?

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My thoughts on #CharlieKirk can be found on my blog: adsmithwrites.com (link in bio) #sticksandstones #provemewrong by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago

My girl @drjulialeads let me know #BlackPeopleinScotland was trending on TikTok, so you know I had to weigh in!

PS - I, too, thought there weren’t any black people in Scotland. (I looked it up about a decade ago when I was over there - it was a nominal amount, like 1% or so). I NEVER saw any of that 1% - for quite some time. That is, until I complained about it in a Black Americans in the UK Facebook group. One black woman piped up: “Yes, we’re here!!” And she was right! She and her friends became some of my best girlfriends while I was there. And by the time summer came around, lo and behold: black people started emerging from their homes. LOL. I should have known. “We” tend to not like the cold and rain (the main staple weather of Glasgow), so that tracks.

Don’t let the rain stop you though! If this sugar didn’t melt, you won’t either. 😉
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#blackamericanslivingabroad #blackexpats #blackinscotland #scotland #glasgow by @adsmithwrites

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a year ago