Famished author @annajrollins.bsky.social didn’t casually start doing Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo workouts in 2000 at age 12. The videos became an obsession. Read her essay “Billy Blanks, I Love You: Help Me Get the Body of My Dreams: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/billy-blan... cc @eerdmansbooks.bsky.social

Thanks for making Open Secrets a Substack bestseller! Your paid subscriptions go directly to pay our essay writers and have helped us expand to publishing 3 times a week. A new column, sections, and book club picks are coming soon! And check out our latest personal essays: opensecretsmagazine.com

“I met a stranger on a train from Virginia to Texas about twenty-five years ago. We talked for hours.” Read John DeVore’s essay “Secrets of the New York City Subway” in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social! #HispanicHeritageMonth opensecretsmagazine.com/p/secrets-of...

For our Climate section, Ashley Peterson revisits the impact of Hurricane Katrina 20 years later, including how it upended her family at the time and how it impacted the rest of her life. Read her essay at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/hurricane-...

Ethan Hawke Was Here: On Hotel Chelsea & Romance in the ’90s --Michael A. Gonzales reminisces about creativity, charm and a cinema star in 1990s Chelsea. opensecretsmag.substack.com/p/ethan-hawk...

Why does @joshfrmusic.bsky.social treasure this portrait of him by his friend Robert, who has Tourette’s syndrome? Find out in our latest Object-ives flash personal essay, about possessions that have made an impact on us, and learn how you can submit an essay: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/art-friend...

What’s the difference between being alone and loneliness? Discuss it in Open Secrets Book Club on memoir in essays The Loneliness Files by @athenadixon.bsky.social published by @tinhouse.bsky.social. You can ask Athena questions on September 30 at 8:30 pm ET: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

What’s the difference between being alone and loneliness? Discuss it in the new Open Secrets Book Club on memoir in essays The Loneliness Files by @athenadixon.bsky.social (from @tinhouse.bsky.social). Join us for a Q&A on September 30 at 8:30 pm ET! Details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

How did @surviveyourstory.bsky.social lose control of her finances during her marriage and regain financial freedom after her divorce? Find out in her essay “In the Patriarchy, No One Can Hear You Scream,” the latest in our Finances section at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/divorce-fi...

The Center for Creative Writing x Survive Your Story cohost two monthly 90-minute silent write-ins on Zoom. Register to drop in (or out!) at any point & write or work in quiet community. Sat, 9/13, 11A-12:30P EST us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... Sat, 9/27, 3P-4:30P EST us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

"The sun was shining through the picture windows on us. He told me he wanted better for me. We were smiling. He swept his arm around like a wizard. 'I free you from the patriarchy,' he said, and it meant something to me to hear that." opensecretsmagazine.com/p/divorce-fi...

Judith Lam Tang writes in her essay “I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist” about how she went from thinking “How can we make them refer to a single person? It’s too confusing!” to teaching her students about gender respectfully without relying on stereotypes. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bigoted-sp...

Anyone else feel guilty for not working when you’re on vacation, or just me? My latest The ADHD Diaries column @opensecretsmag.bsky.social is all about that: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/is-adhd-wh...

Become an annual subscriber for just $16 through August 31! opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?co... Take part in paid subscriber chats, where we’ll be offering writing prompts and advice from our editors, get full access to our essay writing tips column & help us pay our writers!

Watch our Q&A with Open Secrets EIC @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social and writer Brenden O'Donnell on his experience dating a gay Catholic celibate man he met on Grindr, and what he learned from the relationship: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/interview-...

What would you do if you met a man on Grindr who seemed like a great match...but he was a gay Catholic celibate? We'll be talking to Brendan O'Donnell about this in our first Substack Live Q&A in the app TONIGHT, 8/28, at 7:30 ET! Read his essay beforehand: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/celibate-c...

Hi @longreads.com you might like this essay by Brendan O'Donnell we published last week, "An Extremely Close Encounter with a Gay Catholic Celibate:" opensecretsmagazine.com/p/celibate-c...

Have a personal essay about your hard truths and deepest secrets, or about a pivotal moment in your life? Or flash nonfiction about one of your possessions? Check out our latest writing guidelines and submit by September 30! Please share widely. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/lit-mag-pe...

What's the secret to finding love? For @liuswrites.bsky.social, it was going out to @tacobell.bsky.social with her best friend. Read all about it in our latest personal essay, "Not Sure If He’s the One? Take Him to Taco Bell:" opensecretsmagazine.com/p/not-sure-i...

We've been away from Bluesky for a little while so are late in reposting this but wanted to share it. Thank you to @clmporg.bsky.social for highlighting disability-related essays.

"Successful authors are the ones who keep showing up through failure." Three cheers to @robwhart.bsky.social for his transparency in this great @opensecretsmag.bsky.social essay about the many failures that come before success. JUST KEEP GOING.

What’s it like to be a liberal Tesla owner in Brooklyn who opposes Elon Musk’s political positions and is now despised for her vehicle choice despite making the purchase in 2020 for environmental reasons? Find out in @sammithewriter.bsky.social's bold essay. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/brooklyn-t...

Open Secrets Magazine published my short essay, "I Botched Mother's Day Again," a story about the parentification of the eldest daughter. Check it out here: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mothers-da... @opensecretsmag.bsky.social

And we're so glad that our speakers found our personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live helpful!

Head on over to the 'stack to find out about: my event with @christafaust.bsky.social, the @opensecretsmag.bsky.social event, my release party for THE MEDUSA PROTOCOL, and a Noir at the Bar with a monstrously-good lineup...

Great to hear from Open Secrets Live attendees! We're already brainstorming next year's summit. @mindahoney.bsky.social @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social

The big day is almost here! On May 3, we're hosting personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live in NYC. A few tickets are left! See this thread for our amazing lineup of over 40 essayists, memoir authors, editors, a fashion designer, a card creator & more! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

Happy Earth Day! For a humorous look at trying to become active around climate change by joining a climate organization and being frustrated by its processes, check out Deborah Copperud's essay: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/climate-ch...

What does it feel like to live through multiple smoke seasons in the Pacific Northwest? @ambrown.bsky.social answers this and more in his essay about the personal impact of climate change for our Climate vertical: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/smoke-seas...

Look what we’ve got! Everyone attending our first event, personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live in NYC on May 3, will get a bookmark! Subscribers, you'll get a chance too: we’ll be doing a big giveaway around our second anniversary on April 3. Stay tuned for that! opensecretsmagazine.com

Writers, do you struggle with actually writing? Check out these writing tips from Nancy Slonim Aronie on silencing your inner critic, from her book Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/essay-writ...

Can you be vegan and still face a fatty liver disease diagnosis? As Shawna Kenney found out, yes! Read all about it in her new essay, “How a Health Scare Led Me to Love My Liver.” opensecretsmagazine.com/p/fatty-live...

I wrote this ode to @thatemilyfarris.bsky.social ADHD memoir I'll Just Be Five More Minutes last year. Seemed Women’s History Month worthy for @opensecretsmag.bsky.social since it’s part of my professional history. Likes/comments/shares are appreciated. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/adhd-memoi...

This week at Open Secrets Magazine, Alissa Bader Clark shares her experience caring for aging, difficult parents and what she learned from her mother’s prom dress: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/midlife-ca...

"Here’s the thing about first books: It might not be the book that gets you there. ... I know writers who didn’t hit until their third, fourth, or even seventh book. The unifying factor amongst successful writers tends to be stubbornness, not MFAs." via @opensecretsmag.bsky.social

CW: Cancer. I’m honored to have published this essay by @writingelizabeth.bsky.social today at @opensecretsmag.bsky.social, about her daughter’s cancer treatment and her special stuffed bunny. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mother-sic...

I was honored to be on podcast Freelance Writing Direct hosted by @estelleserasmus.bsky.social. We discussed writing and editing personal essays and my work as editor of @opensecretsmag.bsky.social and May 3 NYC personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live! estelleserasmus.com/128-crafting...

BIG NEWS: @mindahoney.bsky.social and @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social will be our closing keynote speakers Saturday, May 3 at personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live! Plus Jane Pratt, memoir authors, magazine & book editors! 12 tickets left! Agenda & discount: www.eventbrite.com/e/1140713949...

Continuing our string of personal essays on relationships at Open Secrets Magazine, @funkybrownchick.bsky.social shares what it's like to be a single Black woman dating in Europe in this week's essay: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/single-bla... Comments, likes, and shares help us reach more readers.

Day 29 of 100 Days of Creative Resistance: @essiechambers.bsky.social on Fighting Numbness and Nurturing Sparks mailchi.mp/41b9a89edb83... @writingco-lab.bsky.social

I spoke to @raxsha.bsky.social for @mashablebot.bsky.social about hypervisible polyamorous breakups online (along with @polyamwhileasian.bsky.social). Check it out & Merry Christmas Eve! mashable.com/article/poly...

ICYMI opensecretsmagazine.com/p/first-radi...

I finally wrote my first The ADHD Diaries column for @opensecretsmag.bsky.social. I’m hoping writing it will help me get back to regular writing and tackle some of my ADHD productivity issues, and maybe make others with ADHD feel seen. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/adhd-distr...

Hello everyone. For the past few months @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social has hosted my advice column at @opensecretsmag.bsky.social. I'd like to start spreading the word, so here I am to do that. I'll offer tweet-length advice here while also answering longer questions at Open Secrets.

This week, as part of our series of personal essays on love and romantic relationships leading up to Valentine's Day, we have Siham Lee on "The Romanticization of the Organic Meet Cute." opensecretsmagazine.com/p/romanticiz...

Day 15 of 100 Days of Creative Resistance: Meredith Talusan on Political Mindfulness mailchi.mp/547b1aa20c02... @writingco-lab.bsky.social

On this anniversary of Roe v. Wade, check out our latest essay, "From Abortion to Acupuncture," by Brenda Usher-Carpino, about what these procedures taught her about her pain threshold and the cultural expectations put on Black women about pain: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/abortion-a...

Hear @saribotton.bsky.social @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social @cconnell8.bsky.social @brosandprose.bsky.social @johndevore.bsky.social @dirtylola.bsky.social @kellidunham.bsky.social @readandbreathe.bsky.social in NYC on May 3 at Open Secrets Live: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre... 1/2

Hi! It’s Melisse of Memoiring, a #memoir book club w/free author Zooms. Excited to hype memoir + connect with readers + writers on #booksky! Jan Pick: NO ONE GETS TO FALL APART by Sarah Labrie. Grab a copy + join us 1/29! Love memoir? Do tell + I’ll follow! open.substack.com/pub/memoirin...

We're thriled that High-Risk Homosexual and Alligator Tears author @otroedgargomez.bsky.social will be speaking on our identity panel at Open Secrets Live on Saturday, May 3 in NYC! Get tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/open-secre...