Hello, my dear subscribers!
First things first, thank you so much for signing up to be on this Newsletter journey with me. When I started it (after insistent pushing from my friends) I didn’t expect anyone to sign up at all. Not only did the fantastic free subscribers show up immediately, but a good number of you specifically showed up pretty hardcore to support my writing journey financially.
I have a couple of announcements to make that I’m excited to share.
Bi-Weekly
When I was studying in undergrad my friend Kor told me once, "Lana, your pace is so fast and you expect other people to run as fast as you, that’s unrealistic.” Yes, that’s just how Dutch people talk with each other, haha. But also, it was the first time someone confronted me with my pace and expectations, so I’m always extra cautious when it comes to new initiatives.
I’ve heard your feedback loud and clear - it sounds like most of you are behind on both the “Sunday Brunch” and “Spill the Tea”. So, I will be slowing down the pace of the newsletters to bi-weekly instead. In practice this means that in the odd weeks, I’ll only publish “Sunday Brunch” and in the even weeks, I’ll only publish “Spill the Tea.” For those who are unfamiliar with the peculiar European tradition of counting week numbers, this week is week 44. For those who are wondering if Monday or Sunday is the first day of the week; I’m Jewish, so Sunday is the first day of the week, and for those who are all around confused: this coming Sunday November 3rd I will post Sunday Brunch and next Sunday November 10th I’ll post Spill the Tea.
New Podcast
Some of you may know that I have a podcast called “Deep Resonance.” Tamice and I will still be doing that podcast every now and then but they just welcomed their new baby home so it looks like we’re going to be on a short hiatus.
That being said - I want to publish a 12-part anthology podcast about how our perceived notions of the world affect how we treat each other. Each episode I will have a subject matter expert joining us. I already have some amazing scholars who agreed to be on the podcast with amazing topics. The first episode will go live in January and it will be hosted here on Substack (but don’t worry, you can also listen to it on Apple Podcast and Spotify).
Book Progress
This Substack endeavor is all because I want to practice my writing for my upcoming book and to build an interested audience for it once it’s published. While I’m still on Instagram, I don’t post too often anymore and find that I’m much more satisfied here. Probably one of the most positive effects is that I get direct feedback from readers like you, who send me emails about the topics that I write about.
My book was going to be about intersectional theology but, together with my agent, we have decided to move towards writing about how uncertainty and ambiguity can help us better cope with the polarization in today’s world. I’m feeling good about our proposal and while I can’t make any promises, I believe 2025 is the year that a publisher will pick us up.
One More Thank You
And so, thank you again for joining me on this journey. It has been life-giving for me and hopefully engaging for you as well. I look forward to writing every week and, please, keep the emails and messages coming!
You are so welcome! How did you know I was running behind?? So glad you are finding new arenas to explore. Learning from you and thankful for your knowledge & honesty.