#101 A Slow Sunday Scroll ☕️
another round-up of juicy things: an amazing hotel | a creativity cruise(!) | book recs.
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I launched my new book, A Creative Compass this week—my first book on creativity, and I’m so proud of it. I’ve always known I wanted to write in detail about living a life full of devotional joyful creativity. I knew I wanted to do something small and wholesome to celebrate it.
I’ve been doing this thing recently where I let the Universe sort of lead the way. I knew I wanted to do something small and wholesome to celebrate the book, but doing a fancy dinner is expensive and quite an undertaking. I was in chats with the wonderful Emily from Stories studio, who I worked with before (those of you who attended my Her Table event last year will know how amazing her food is.)
I got ill, and didn’t confirm the date (my publication date), and then the date got booked up by someone else. It wasn’t meant to be.
Then, a few months later, I received an email. The other party had ended up picking a different booking date:
“The 25th is still available if you are considering a dinner for your new book launch. I would love to work with you again if the stars align!”
This was my sign. I replied immediately. “YES, let’s do it. THE STARS ALIGN.” ✨✨
So I invited twenty writer pals around a table in East London with the help of Emily. We crafted a menu together, filled the tables with blue delphiniums, and my publishers helped organise goody bags. Emily’s Substack is What Chefs Eat and she loves to combine storytelling with food. It’s so up my street, and it was such a joy to work with her again. We also celebrated Hungry Eyes, Dawn O'Porter’s new memoir, which tells her life story through food and captures the joy of bringing people together around a table.
I was so happy all night—to be surrounded by creative women I admire, around one long giant table, chatting and laughing (and fanning ourselves of course) and talking about everything from what we’re working on, to what gigs we’re going to (Lily Allen to Bad Bunny), to the ways we are cooling ourselves at night during this London heatwave. I felt really moved that so many people showed up for me, even though it was clearly going to be a sweaty evening. It was perfect, and with every year I get older, I become more and more aware of how ridiculously lucky I am.
That younger version of me, who stayed up writing her blog after work, even though she felt silly sometimes for trying? She’s pretty chuffed with all this.
Pssst. If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Emma Gannon, a writer and author of nine books across fiction and non-fiction, writing about creativity, wellbeing, and living life on your own terms.
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Every other Sunday, 80,000+ readers enjoy my Sunday Scrolls: a curated mix of books, podcasts, articles, and joyful links. Upgrade to read the full round-up below.
As one reader put it: “Taking a stroll through Emma’s Slow Sunday Scrolls is the literary croissant and coffee of my Sunday morning. A delicious, indulgent way to ease yourself into the day.”
P.S. Would you like to win A Creative Compass flipchart? Perfect for putting on your desk to inspire you, with quotes from the book—on living a creative life. Just leave a comment and I will pick three people at random :)
I feel bad admitting this but..