Next Draft 'Zine #5 - December 2022
Creating personal change, pumpkin pie, bits and bobs
Welcome to Next Draft 'Zine #5. In case you missed any articles over the past few weeks:
"On Being a Writer" - the steps that led me to take the leap to full-time writing
"How to Create Change - Support" - I had a fantastic response to the first piece, and several people emailed me to ask exactly how I did it. That led to a 3-part series on how to create personal change. Or, more succinctly, how I transformed my life. The first ingredient to successful change, in my experience, is getting support from others. The article explains why you need it as well as some suggestions on how to find cheerleaders.
"How to Create Personal Change - Inspiration" - The second ingredient to successful transformation is inspiration. There are inevitable ups and downs, and your supporters won't always be there, so you need to find others you can emulate and look up to.
Delicious, Delectable, Divine Pumpkin Pie - For the holidays, a history of pumpkin pie, health benefits, an 18th century recipe - and more!
What to Do When You Hate the Holidays - I’ll be honest. I don’t like the holidays. Find out why and what you can do to feel better this time of year. Includes tips to spread a little joy to others.
I’ve gotten a little sidetracked with articles related to the holidays. Next week will be the final installment on creating change (being still), and the final two weeks of December cover food waste and my year-end wrap up. January will re-start the focus on indie publishing and promotion. (Gotta mix it up every now and then….)
A huge thanks to Winston Malone at The Storyletter for highlighting Next Draft in his publication. The Storyletter is a place for readers and writers to get together and support each other. Check it out!
The Guardian recently published an article about people who made colossal life shifts and wrote books about it. It seems there's a new book genre called radical reinvention. I'm all for it!
For those in New York City or those who love the place, there's a fantastic substack called "Cafe Anne." Anne writes entertaining articles about interesting people, places, and things in the five boroughs. This month, she published an article on community fridges, including the East Village Neighbors fridge at S'MAC, 12th Street & 1st Avenue. I'm one of the co-founders of the fridge, so I was tickled to see the piece.
You can purchase a copy of Rock Gods & Messy Monsters at your favorite online retailer, including all Amazons worldwide, Paperback and ebook available. In about the second week of December, the RGMM ebook will be available outside Kindle/Amazon for the first time. More info to come.
Excerpt of a review from the Independent Book Review - "Rock Gods & Messy Monsters by Diane Hatz is a bullet-hell critique of corporate and mass culture by way of Theodor Adorno filtered through the whimsy and humor of writers like Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut....The best kind of absurdism; the kind that wears a veneer of the surreal while having the grisly guts of reality right underneath." (Full review)
Rock Gods & Messy Monsters was one of Bookbub’s “Most Frequently Wishlisted Books” a couple weeks ago.
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I have a Medium account if you’re a member. Right now I tend to be cross-publishing, but I’ll most likely put some original content here in Substack and on Medium as time goes on, and I get the financial side of my writing career sorted out. (Meaning, I don’t have time right now to write original pieces in two places, promote a book, and write a new one….) But please follow me there if you’re a Medium person.
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If you’ve noticed a difference in the way I’ve dated this, I’ve decided that from here on out, I’m going to date it the upcoming month. No need to look back when there are so many exciting things ahead.
Next Draft is broken up into different sections to cover several topics, including the main Next Draft category (monthly zine mainly), My Books/Fiction, Indie Publishing & Promotion, Self-Care/Spirit, and a couple others. If you’d like to receive one or a couple of these topics but not all, please visit my About page for instructions on selecting specific areas. (Scroll down the page.)
Thanks for the mention Diane!