18 Comments
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Daniel W. Davison's avatar

“This is pretty much what I look like.” 😂 Seriously, though, I love the new picture with its “Stranger Things” vibe, not to mention that text font lifted from the cover of every Stephen King novel from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Excellent collaboration with Mr. Ward. He’s a talented artist.

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John Ward's avatar

Thanks, Daniel.

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Nathan Slake's avatar

"and I really do live in a boiler" 🤣🤣

Great stuff, Shaina. And awesome, awesome illustration by John!

I'm here for all the stuff, I take and enjoy whatever lands in my inbox, but happy to hear if a slight shift is helping you focus.

Congrats on the work on the novel! Looking forward to hearing more about that.

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Shaina Read's avatar

As always thank you Nathan. John is amazingly talented!

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Frank's avatar

Exciting Shaina! More of your fiction? Oh yes I say! And the book club reviews are always brilliant. You've been a bit reticent about the progress on your 'baby'...I am so glad to hear that it is coming along still and I can look forward to seeing it in print!

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Grace June's avatar

Oh delightful, good for you narrowing your focus. I’m just at the beginning of my Substack and I’m considering doing the same. I hope it goes super well well for you and happy writing on your first draft! The logo is fabulous, and for some reason, it reminds me a bit of the lighting on the cover of young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder 💞

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Bill Adler's avatar

I love your new logo!

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Shaina Read's avatar

John is amazing!

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Virginia Neely's avatar

Haha. You look happy/amazed/scared/eager in that pic. Gorgeous background, too.

As for self-publishing, check out Atticus.Book publishing made easy, and you can write/edit in it before you finalize, too.

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Shaina Read's avatar

Thanks for the tip Virginia! I'll dig in this week.

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L.C. Marino's avatar

Love this. And I’ve got you on the self publishing when you’re ready. I do this for a living and am more than happy to discuss! 🤜🤛

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Shaina Read's avatar

Amazing! Thank you so much. I will be definitely be in touch.

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Susan Earlam's avatar

I didn't know John was an artist too. I love this refocus and I'm glad you're still doing the book club although I think I've missed many posts due to me own constraints.

I love your take on things so I'm here to stay 💯

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Shaina Read's avatar

I've missed you in the book club Susan! But I totally get it. I can barely keep up ;)

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Susan Earlam's avatar

I've joined the Wolf Hall readalong on here and it's not like me to overcommit. No, not like me at all 🤣🤣🤣🫣🫣🫣

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Shaina Read's avatar

Same! Always and in every way.

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Kathleen Clare Waller's avatar

Such a great reframe! The image and the added voice...exciting. Congrats on making the space to make it happen. Good luck with the novel and enjoy the unstructured days’ work forward. Lovely to hear some background about you and your work, Shaina. ☺️

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Shaina Read's avatar

Thank you so much! The novel is such a long process, but I'm so happy that it finally seems "doable" if that makes sense.

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