Hello everybody,
Welcome to our 10th and final episode of season one of The Bibliotherapists, a podcast hosted on and celebrating the people of Substack.
And we are closing out in style 🥳🥳🥳 with a conversation with one of the platform’s big success stories and biggest evangelists, Emma Gannon.
Emma, 35, is a bestselling and award-winning author of seven books: including The Multi-Hyphen Method, The Success Myth, and A Year of Nothing.
Here on Substack she publishes the super successful and her new novel, TABLE FOR ONE, will be published this April.
(Fun fact: seeing Emma introduce author Liz Gilbert at an event at London’s Barbican was my inspiration for joining Substack AND moving The Shelf Help Club here in Spring last year. Both women had so many wonderful things to say about the supportive and creative community vibe here. They weren’t wrong. And how cool that I then get to interview Emma for this new all about Substack pod!)
Joining us hot from hosting a creative retreat with our very own Tanya Lynch, in this conversation Emma provides a candid glimpse into the vulnerabilities, challenges and wins of a life as a professional writer.
Her reflections on creativity, storytelling, and the power of books will inspire aspiring writers, Substackers and readers out there.
Emma also shares insights into her creative process, particularly the challenges of her second novel, Table for One, a heartfelt exploration of independence and self-discovery that she’s super proud of, but that took her to some dark places in the writing.
"Table for One is about reclaiming yourself and learning to be solo as a woman—it’s a story of independence and growth.
And it took me four years and a lot of crying on the floor in a fetal position to write. It was really hard."
Emma Gannon
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why Emma loves the fresh page vibe of a new year.
Navigating the pressures of success, and the internal struggle of fulfilling a two-book deal ("The first book was for me. The second one came with the pressure of owing someone something, which I hated.").
The power (and complexity) of solitude.
The power of intergenerational friendship and learning from our elders.
Books as sanctuary and emotional anchors (and reading to reduce our stress levels).
How self-help got her through burnout.
The importance of aunties.
The story of her new novel, Table for One (Emma describes it as an exploration of intergenerational friendship and the beauty of learning to be solo as a woman).
Why she’ll never loan you a book.
SHOW NOTES:
In this episode Emma references a brilliant mix of fiction and non, including several books she used to support her recovery from burnout (and several featuring dogs)…
The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change by Octavia F. Raheem >
Lost Dog by Kate Spicer
Reasons to be Hopeful by the School of Life
The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age by Claudia Hammond
Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Table for One by Emma Gannon
And that’s a wrap! I can’t wait for you to listen.
What a ride this has been. Thanks for all your amazing support along the way.
What was planned as a pop-up ‘let’s see what happens’ podcast project with a stranger I met on Substack became one of my highlights of the year, and introduced me to so many wonderful new people and ideas and probably way too many books.
But we all know there’s no such thing as too many books, right?
So Tanya (now a lovely friend whose morning voice notes from the beach are another highlight) and I will be back in the the summer with a second series of The Bibliotherapists 🙌🙌🙌.
Until then I hope you dip into these past episodes as and when you need them. There’s some real nuggets of wisdom here.
Please share us with the people you love, let us know what you think, and - of course - what you are reading right now…
Toni (& Tanya)
💛
WATCH THE PODCAST
NB while the audio version of the podcast has been polished a bit, we’re definitely not video editors and so the videos of these interviews are the unedited, unfiltered real thing showcasing the reality of various wifi connections from various (often rural) locations + two overexcited book nerds interviewing experts. There may be a couple of bloopers/sneezes/dog barking situations. But there’s something kinda lovely about the real-ness, and it’s a perfect example (I think) of “done is better than perfect.”
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