Call for Submissions!

Let's dream big together...

This is the first summer our family won’t have any childcare in a while, and I’ve been making A Very Detailed Plan. (It makes me feel better, even if no one else cares!) I’ll still be booking manuscript critiques and coaching sessions. I’ll still be writing in the cracks of my days. But I’ll be sharing less online, so you won’t see me on Instagram or Substack as much during the summer. Before we take a break for the season, I want to do something that feels big and bold…something that celebrates this beautiful community that we’ve created.

One of my favorite parts of the Mothers Who Make interviews is when someone shares a project they’ve been dreaming about.

😎Mary Joan Cunningham said “I’d love to write words for an art installation; like recorded spoken word or poetry set to images and a music track. So I’d love to work with a really great music producer or composer and a visual artist. Think Dr. Dre, Frida Kahlo and me.”

😂

Julie Vick

wants to bring her mom-jokes to “a TV writer’s room or SNL.”

☕️

Tanmeet Sethi, MD

said, “I am dreaming of a podcast in collaboration with another woman of color. A conversation over chai so to speak.”

📚Briana James said, “I’d love to make an illustrated adult book about libraries.”

✏️

Noha Beshir

wants to collaborate with Ann Patchett or Elamin Abdelmahmoud on a nonfiction project and “write a sweeping multi-generational novel of an Egyptian, Muslim family in Canada”

📿

Kristen Drozdowski

wants to “collaborate with wellness spaces. This could be painting a soothing mural on a wall in a yoga studio, or collaborating with someone working in a wellness field on a product or experience for facilitating healing and personal growth in others.”

📸

Aliza Sir

is hoping to interview her grandmother. “I told her I wanted to interview her for platonic love and she said, “Why???” Hopefully I can convince her one day. I think two of the greatest memoirs of all time are Hold Still by Sally Mann and The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. They both go deeper than the individual — breaking below the surface to their broader family origin story. One of my long term creative goals is to use a mix of different mediums (photography, writing, drawing, etc.) to create this type of unique record and tell my own family’s story.”

Are all of these things going to happen? No. That’s not the point!

Are all of these things totally possible? Yes!

When you read about these dream projects, do you feel like cheering? Do light you up? Do you think “I want to see that”? That’s the point! And I can guarantee you none of these projects will happen if we don’t dream big and hold the vision—for ourselves and for each other.

So now I want to open this question up to the community…

Who would you love to collaborate with? What’s a dream project for you?

This is a chance to:

• Dream big

• Surprise yourself

• Get inspired

• Connect with each other

• Find a collaborator

• Cheer each other on

How do you participate?

All you need to do is reply to this email by April 1st. I’ll collect the answers and share them sometime in May. If you’re feeling shy, you can ask me to leave your name off, but I hope you’ll be brave! If you have pictures that go with your idea, you’re welcome to send those in too. You can also let me know if you want me to encourage people to introduce themselves as potential collaborators or offer resources in some way or if you would rather they simply cheer you on and leave it at that.

If you’re a reader, I hope this will encourage you to introduce yourself and feel more connected to the community. If you’ve already done a Mothers Who Make interview but you haven’t answered this question or your answer has changed, please feel free to share a dream project.

Your dream project doesn’t have to be something you’re going to work on this summer. In fact you might never work on it! One of my dream projects is writing a series of modern fairytales. That one might really be happening! I’ve also thought about building a space for creative mothers that’s part Korean spa, part library, part interactive museum, part playground, all sanctuary. It would be dripping with flowers from Stephanie Forshee and

Kristen Drozdowski

could paint the murals. There would be childcare, food, books, friends and mentors, lots of loose materials for tinkering and making…So far the closest I’ve gotten is creating Nebula Notebook, but I think there’s value in dreaming big and sharing those dreams. Let’s inspire each other. Let’s name what we want. Let’s remind the world we are FULL of good ideas.

Oooh I can’t wait to see what you’ve been dreaming up!

---

If you enjoyed this post, please 💛 it so others can find it or share it with your favorite creative mothers.

PS—The fastest way to grow as a writer is to book a manuscript critique or a creative coaching session with an expert.

My clients get agents, sell books, and win awards. They also learn how to find ease and joy in the creative process, so they can keep going when life gets hard.