Ephemera Newsletter Iss August.4

(Creativity and Motivation Weekly)

Welcome to the Ephemera Newsletter, baninga! (Lingala for “friends”).

Dear Readers,

So many thanks to those who have already become paid subscribers! Not only are you generous, you’re also wicked kewl. Won’t others join you in your illustrious circle of cool kids? Yes, we hope and believe others will. Please do consider a paid subscription to help us continue to deliver our newsletter content as well as improve & expand. One intrepid reader suggested we review small publishers and their books. A fantastic idea which we intend to follow through with upon reaching our subscription benchmark. We’d like to hire a writer to cover that topic and provide miniature reviews. Before then, we’re very humbly endeavoring to realize a dream of compensating editors.

Now after 39 issues (!) we’re hoping we can respectfully invite upwards of 1-2% of our list to support us. We’ll certainly bray and buck with bountiful joy! Can we get to 100 subscribers from a dozen?

As a note, this week’s letter has a paywall.
As a reminder, the first issue of the month will be entirely free to all.
As an enticement, remember, yearly subscribers will be able to submit to our Write-In Residency for free 2x per year. We’re reading apps this fall to award 2 applicants.

The yearly comes with very clear added value. The monthly with full access to every issue and archives. Gracias. Tack. Obrigado. Xiè xiè.

We will remind folks for a bit so thank you in advance for allowing us to make a case. Sunny & warm we aim to inspire and uplift. Drafting, now on to the meat of why we’re here…

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Cooling, cooling, yet this hemisphere has some more days left in the warm embrace of our local star, with updrafts and floaty bursts, maybe a couple of weekend beach days, a full sun-to-set romp in a public park, a hiking excursion or road trip, or an exquisite staycation: doing little, reading and creating a lot. Staying good at experience means opening the mind to the new, means plasticity, means invention. We want that for everyone, for our practice and craft, for new thoughts are a true blessing, for the ability to capture what we mean and how we perceive is paramount. Upon our mounts we more directly commune. Which is why we endeavor and keep climbing, keep to our routines of bringing 3 zines, awards, jobs and juicy extras. Introducing the breezy pop duo Tennis and their summer-fashioned retro tunes, the working artist Cameron Schmidt and his graffiti-illustration style and direct-to-consumer mindset. Apropos, a book on the business of being a writer; apropos, an Intersante on exercise and the brain. Stay doing, stay physical, for we have long time-lines we writers (consult your palms!). You never know when we’ll arrive full force all of our powers aligned for a magnum opus.

Heavy may be our feet, those of us who’ve kept up the hike & haul, slung a bag over shoulder, pitched a tent, or trekked beyond the point of bliss. Maybe city-living is what we’ve managed, walk-ups and heat rising like urban swamp ethers: oh those sharp bursts of noise; oh those originless internal pangs of this or that, those egregious disruptions. But let’s bugger on. It’s too soon, too soon to tarry. Too many warm evenings to dither. A hot pulse of ambition awaits us if we are open to self. Sift through any stalls. Imperative: you must find your craft and meet your practice as they shift and flow. It’s our individual job to nurture ourselves, those little us-beings, elusive sprites of self difficult to pin. Ride with them. Entice. When they surprise, drop everything and record. Find an elixir or domain that reliably alights. Find and hold and milk and practice the art of discovering the new signal as the old inevitably wanes. If you’re flagging, imbibe our letter, revisit our archives and we’ll keep building signals, attempting to bridge gaps for you, with you. Comments and participation aid the process. Sharing reinforces gained insight. Your signups flatten the hills of our work. May your pens expectorate your delicious creative cud. Don’t yet rest.

We’ll heave beyond our strength with your appreciation!

Botondi (Gratitude)

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~We’re so happy you’re here!~

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The Write-In Residency

We want to support writers and readers and given the risks & fuss involved with traveling, what better way then to host someone where they are. Hence, The Write-In Residency. We send you a curated package of books and gifts, $300 bucks to upgrade your space, and will publish a short essay about your experience.

Folks will be able to apply directly via Submittable or become a paid yearly subscriber to Ephemera and then apply for free (subscribers will be sent a special link). Read about subscriptions here. Support us and we’ll continue to support you. Tack!

or

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Featured Music: Tennis

The married, indie retro pop duo Tennis swoon for sounds from the 50’s through the 70’s. Epiphany, to an extent, lead to their forming their band and bond aboard a sailboat, back after college, during several months at sea….