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NEW BLOG POST!! 📚
I’m back from my vacation.
New book release.

#boosktagram #bookreleaseday #blogpost #novelesquelife #blogger

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Have you ever tried to get a book published? . . . And tried, and tried, and felt like scrapping the whole thing!? Then this week’s feature is for you.

Anne Marie Wells shares the story of how her travel memoir Happy Iceland came to fruition. You can also read the book's prologue to get a preview.

Here's a snippet from Anne Marie's journey to publication:

Happy Iceland began in 2016 when I had an idea while on the precipice of sleep. I knew I was going to Iceland for my 30th birthday. I knew I was just going to wing it instead of devising an itinerary, but then, as if a ghost whispered the idea in my ear, I had the notion that I would travel around the country finding the locations Icelandic locals’ happiest memories took place . . . AND . . . I was going to write a book about it . . .

But how does one write a book when they have never written anything outside of a blog post before? I started by asking my writer friends and acquaintances. What books should I read? What courses should I take? And so I started. Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark; Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt; and literally dozens of others. If it was available through my local library, I checked it out.

While I was on my adventure, I took copious notes: everything I saw, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, every person I encountered, every place my feet landed. (You’ll have to read the book to get more details about all of that.)

When I returned home, though, I felt so intimidated by the project, I couldn’t get started. Seven months after returning to The States, I hadn’t done anything aside from transcribe my notes onto the computer. As a way to force myself into finishing my first draft, I wrote up a contract with a friend of mine. I had to send her two chapters every two weeks, or else I had to pay her $100 cash. I was working as a nanny, so $100 was a lot of money for me to have to fork over if I failed to meet a deadline. (And she was just enough of an a**hole to hold me to the contract if I tried to abandon ship.)

Read the full piece: https://wildroofjournal.substack.com/p/the-no-that-broke-my-spirit-the-story

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Pre-orders for Happy Iceland should be available soon! Ahhhhhhh!!!! 🤯🤯🤯

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In November, CLP alum and Marie Wells self published a book of writing prompts titled Write Some Cool Sh!t: 366 Prompts to Rekindle Your Creativity through her own publishing house, Star Belt Press. At the book launch, fellow CLP alum, Dr. Julia McDonald, served as a special guest who chose a prompt from the book and read what she created in response to the prompt. Swipe to read the prompts and these two alumni’s poems.

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Happy Birthday, @camaricreative ! And thank you for sharing your response to the January 1 prompt from Write Some Cool Sh!t!

If you need to untether yourself from New Year’s resolutions, this prompt is for you!

(And if you’d like to watch the full recording from the November book launch the link 🔗 is in the bio!)

If during the year, one of the prompts in Write Some Cool Sh!t inspires your writing, let us know! We’ll repost your work and share it in our stories! :-)

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Proof copy arrived! I’m so excited to be one step closer to getting this book out into the world. Book launches November 29. Pre-orders start September 1 🙏♥️🫶

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ICYMI … Write Some Cool Sh!t is coming November 29, 2025. Available for pre-order September 1 😎

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Book cover reveal 👀 😬

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