Where my mamas/creative caregivers at? 😊 I wrote an essay about my own struggle with the impossible demands of #motherhood + how choosing rest is one small way I'm choosing to rebel. 💗 I hope it resonates! thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/becoming-c... #creativity #sahm #writersky #creativemamas

During my research for ODESSA I learned that on Mar. 8, 1917, women led a march in Petrograd, demanding "bread and peace," which helped spark a revolution that quickly overturned 300 years of imperial power. Women are, and have always been powerful. #IWD26 #internationalwomensday #womenauthor

Then the next day How will you know your enemy? By their color or your fear One by one You can cage them in your freedom Make them all disappear -Stars #poetry #music #writingcommunity #webelongtoeachother #thepatternshop

I want a #writer friend or group that I can talk to about writing and will help keep me accountable to my goals with daily check-ins. But as a friend, not a coach. And I need them to at least respect that my fanfiction is just as important to me as my “original” work.

THE PATTERN SHOP is a novel about understanding the difference between faith and fantasy, fixing, and healing. For all the dreamers, wanderers, and people who've never fit in, trying to find home. 🦋 www.mariahfriend.com #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #booksky #literaryfiction #indieauthors

What would you do next if you believed your success was inevitable and imminent? #writersky #motivation #inspiration #success #author

This feels like an important quote to share today: In spite of this, to oppression, plundering and abandonment, we respond with life. -Gabriel García Márquez #nobelprize #literature #hope #motivation #resilience

Cheers to 25 year old me who was brave enough to quit my job as a nurse in the ICU to backpack around the world in search of a life that belonged to me. Without you, THE PATTERN SHOP wouldn't exist. 🦋 www.mariahfriend.com/thepatternshop #travelstories #solofemaletraveler #adventure #backpacking

One of the hardest things about pivoting from nursing to writing and trying to make a career of it is the financial uncertainty. In this essay, I reframe what it means to take risks in our creative lives and find success. 😊 #creativewriting #writersky thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/when-there...

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. 🦋 #WIPsnips #literaryfiction #nursing #comingofage #booksky

Takeaways from selling my book, THE PATTERN SHOP at an art market this weekend: 🦋Books sold = 4 🦋Gross sales = $70.96 🦋Vendor fee = $23.17 (30/70 artist split) Read more 👇💗 substack.com/@mariahfrien... #writingcommunity #selfpublished #author #indieauthors #writersky #selfpub #litfic

Notes for my new novel, ODESSA alongside notes from my 3 ½ year old who wants to learn how to write like mommy. 😊💗 #creativewriting #motherhood #writingcommunity #MIS #literaryfiction #inspiration

With funding increasingly scarce for the arts, it's incredibly important to support #localbusinesses and makers. If you're in #Chattanooga, I'll be there selling signed copies of THE PATTERN SHOP this Saturday at the art market.🦋 Come stop by and say hi! #artmarket #supportlocal #indieauthor

What's "hand-selling" and why does it matter for indie authors? Learn how to leverage sales in your favor and build an author platform with intention in this tell-all about the *actual* math of self-publishing! thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/the-actual... #selfpub #indieauthors #writersky

It is February, the shortest month of the year Covered in white, frozen in time it is always the longest in my mind -Mariah Friend, excerpt from "February" #poetry #february #winter #poem

A novel where the landscape is the main character. Beautiful, haunting, immersive. P.S. If you enjoy emotional stories where place comes alive with rich, sensory details you might like my debut novel, The Pattern Shop, too! 🦋 mariahfriend.com #booksky #debutauthor #magicalrealism

#MondayMotivation #WritingCommunity

An honest look at book sales, self-publishing costs, and profit margins ten weeks since launching The Pattern Shop! 🦋 A must read for any writer considering any form of publishing. thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/the-actual... #publishing #indieauthors #writersky #writingcommunity #selfpub

Balancing promoting THE PATTERN SHOP while writing my new novel, ODESSA is hard! But I'm proud to celebrate writing ten pages of new material! It took me 10+ years to write my first book, here's hoping it takes less time for the second! 😂 #indieauthors #writersky #writingcommunity #litfic

My latest newsletter breaks down everything I’ve spent, earned, and learned since self-publishing my debut fiction, THE PATTERN SHOP. The more we know, the more power we have to change the system moving forward. 🦋 #writersky #writingcommunity #selfpub thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/the-actual...

From one writer to another, it's ok if the quality of your writing various (widely) from day to day. It's less about perfection and more about building the habit of writing. Think of it like muscle memory and don't be too hard on yourself. 😊 #writersky #writingcommunity #indieauthors #authors

"She was probably falling for him then. She certainly was now." -The Pattern Shop For those who love messy love stories and the meet cute of a lifetime 🥰 #WIPSnips #literaryfiction #travel #writersky #writingcommunity

The tell-all from a #selfpublished author you've been waiting for! 📊 Total Investment: ~$3,964 in book production costs 💰 Net Sales (10 weeks post-launch): $1,238.72 📈 Progress to Break Even: 30% thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/the-actual... #writingcommunity #indieauthors #litfic #writersky

I’m sharing a tell-all of the math behind self-publishing The Pattern Shop in a newsletter tomorrow (2/19)! 🦋 Make sure you subscribe to Heartbeats so you don't miss it! thebarefootbeat.substack.com #selfpublishing #creativebusiness #selfpub #indieauthors #writersky #writingcommunity

THE PATTERN SHOP is for ✒️Poetry lovers who prefer voice over plot 💗Anyone who’s ever fallen for someone just out of reach 🦋Old souls full of wanderlust and insatiable curiosity www.mariahfriend.com #booksky #indieauthors #literaryfic #writersky #travel #novel

THE PATTERN SHOP is a novel about understanding the difference between "fixing" and healing, home and belonging. 🦋 #wipsnips #ThePatternShop #writersky #literaryfiction #comingofage

Happy Lunar New Year! 🐴 May your inbox be filled with "Yes" replies to your book queries and your royalties be fat enough to fund a private writing retreat.

The words SCARED and SACRED are nearly the same, except for the placement of the letter "C." I think about that a lot. #writersky #indieauthors #creativity

Gathering up some of my kiddo's artwork and some random cards to write "love letters for librarians" today. Can't think of any superheroes that need them more. 💗 #writersky #supportyourlocallibrary #librarians #kindnessmatters #valentinesday

I just made the switch from #Spotify to @qobuz.bsky.social today. If you're going to listen to #BadBunny do it on a platform that pays its artists more. 💃 #vivalarevolucion #badbunny #payartists #love

When art mirrors life and vice versa. Stickers and books 👇🦋 mariahfriend.com Original canvas artwork spotted at the thrift store not included. 😂 #writersky #art #merch #butterflies #migration #webelongtoeachother #thepatternshop

Cost of a signed hardback copy of The Pattern Shop $24.99 Cost of a signed paperback copy of The Pattern Shop $16.99 The feeling of being transported around the world, searching for belonging and fragile threads of hope? Priceless. 🦋 www.mariahfriend.com #booksky #comingofage #litfic #travel

Me: Celebrating 60+ book sales in two months, learning new skills, building my author platform, and taking myself seriously AF. 🙌😊 Everyone else: When are you going to get a real job? 😬 #writersky #writingcommunity #selfpublishedauthor #indieauthors

What I absolutely adored about this performance was the display of our collective humanity. We've all seen too much of the worst of ourselves lately, this moment shifted all that. It was redemptive, powerful, and a call to action. #badbunny #makeart #resist #somosunidos

Are you looking to connect with more writers and creatives who are also busy caregivers, juggling both? Do you need more community and resources as you build capacity? Check out our free monthly resource exchange! thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/february-c... #writersky #creatives #community

This looks like a cool project. I love the extra dimensions she has built into this book. With the additional effort she put in outside the book itself, I’m guessing the writing is great too. Check this out!

THE PATTERN SHOP isn’t just a novel, it’s an experience. You can find a curated playlist for each chapter, as well as similar books I’ve loved, a mood board, and more on my website! 🦋 #comingofage #booksky #literaryfiction #lovestory #travelvibes www.mariahfriend.com/thepatternshop

THE PATTERN SHOP mood board: nostalgia meets courage. www.mariahfriend.com #booksky #bookclub #literaryfiction #comingofage #womensfic

I took some fun “promo” pictures of THE PATTERN SHOP today. This one might be my favorite. My actual nightstand and favorite mug with books that inspired me. 😊 #indieauthor #tbr #booksky #writersky #writingcommunity #cozy www.mariahfriend.com/thepatternshop

I'm giving away a FREE, signed copy of The Pattern Shop in a raffle to benefit #MN and #mutualaid organizations. See details for entry in the comments below! Raffle starts now and ends Friday, Feb 28th at midnight EST. #writersky #booksky #writingcommunity #community

Hi writers! 👋📝 Curious how you go about writing the first draft of a new project--do you go back and re-read the previous pages before writing new ones? I'm doing my best not to edit at all in the process, but still finding my flow! #writingcommunity #writersky #indieauthors #sfd #firstdraft

If you’ve been wanting to build community but the logistics of doing it feel overwhelming, this post is for you! 💞 thebarefootbeat.substack.com/p/february-c... #communitycare #community #communitybuilding #Heartbeats #Substack

Posting this a few days late but so excited to share because it's also the first line of my new MS! 🎵 #literaryfiction #odessa #wip #wipsnips #writersky #writingcommunity

On March 8th, 1917 in Petrograd, Russia women left their jobs to march in the streets asking for bread and peace. This event marked the beginning of the fall of the reign of the czars, who’d held power for 370 years. If history repeats, may some of the good repeat, too. #writersky #livinghistory

While I'm still promoting THE PATTERN SHOP, I'm excited to start writing my next project—a novel called Odessa. Two women, a century apart with one choice: stay or leave? Here’s a little sneak peek of the mood board I’m creating to go along with it! #literaryfiction #indieauthors #wip #booksky

Its intentional. Big business is in the business of sucking every dime off of authors and using hidden threats to do so too. #writingcommunity #booksky #business

THE PATTERN SHOP is for anyone navigating the tension between home and belonging, faith and fantasy, "fixing" and healing. 🦋 #WIPSnips #literaryfiction #comingofage #booksky #indieauthors www.mariahfriend.com/thepatternshop

The Pattern Shop is about the hopes and fears we inherit and the courage it takes to choose home, over and over again. 🦋 #booksky #indieauthors #writersky #comingofage #literaryfiction #bookclub www.mariahfriend.com

January has been off to a rough start—sickness, school closing due to weather, and heartbreaking news every day. Reframing rest as necessary for building resilience is a powerful one for me that helps me have more patience and grace for the healing process. #writingcommunity #writersky #selfcare

Some of my favorite lines of poetry. "The days go numb, the wind sucks the world from your senses like withered leaves. Through the empty branches the sky remains. It is what you have. Be earth now, and evensong. Be the ground lying under that sky." -Rilke #poetry #poems #onavastplain