#68 A Slow Sunday Scroll ☕️
San Fran, literary tarot, and my new novel
Welcome to The Hyphen! I send out a 'Sunday Scroll’ email every other weekend and it’s full of things I’m reading, loving, inspired by. For just £1.30 a week (if you subscribe annually, you can read everything behind the paywall!)
It’s been a rather busy couple of weeks in terms of booky ~announcements~ over here! I’m excited to be a non-fiction judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize and I’ve just announced my brand new novel called Table For One which is now available for pre-order! <3
Last week I was away in a beautiful house called Villa Pia on the Tuscan-Umbrian border at
’s brilliant Haven For Stories retreat. Curiosity led me there. I am working on a new non-fiction book and wanted to go away somewhere for a change of scenery and get around 10,000 words written. I was dazzled by the beautiful illustrations of Italy on the website and I thought it would be a nice opportunity to attend a few creative writing workshops for fun while getting some quiet writing done amongst peers.At Villa Pia, in the Umbrian medieval town of Lippiano, there were panoramic hilltop views with beautiful morning fog and orange light peaking through. I felt miles away from normal life. My room was basic; no distractions or overt luxuries. I made a new friend called Anna who lives on a farm in Wales, we sat next to each other at dinner each night and laughed a lot.
The Wifi was patchy which was a win for my writing. I wrote cosily next to other writers in a kitchen in front of a big stone fireplace, and a different cake was on offer every day at 4pm (mint, orange, pear, chocolate!). Haven For Stories has just announced the 2025 spaces already; I recommend it if you want to be around 20+ other writers all fizzing with their own projects. It’s a full, intense week and does feel long; time and space stretches differently at Villa Pia. The only thing I opted out of was the late nights (and booze) because this granny likes to be tucked up in bed with a book by 9.30pm.
(Side note: I’m also running my own Tuscan retreat in May next year. I’ll be taking everyone through my creative unblocking workshop (it’s not just for writers, it’s for anyone wanting more creativity in their lives) — and there’ll be with lots of leisure time in between. We’re 70% booked already. Grab your spot here.)
I’ve spent the last few days fighting off a winter lurgy and binge-watching Rivals on Disney+. Pure cosy silly escapism, as you’d expect from a Jilly Cooper novel, lots of glamour, rivalry, sex, money and gossip with a Bridgerton-esque vibe. Just what the doctor ordered. And lemsip.
Right now, as you read this, I’ll be in America. I’m heading to Las Vegas to see Adele perform at Caesar’s Palace with my Mum, something we recently booked on a YOLO whim, and then I’m visiting one of my best friends in San Francisco (and I may even drop in to the Substack head office while I’m in town!) If you have any San Fran recs please let me know. It’ll be an interesting time to be in the U.S for obvious reasons. No doubt I’ll fill you in on my trip soon. I’m looking forward to finishing Rivals when I get back, and not leaving the house again for a while.
Hope you enjoy today’s Sunday Scroll! XOXO
Now for your reads and recommendations of the week: Your Slow Sunday Scroll ✨
I love pulling these round-ups together for you. Below are lots of juicy links, podcast recs and in general things I’m loving.
