Why subscribe?

This is such a good question! I’m using this space to put up pieces that have been a joy to write and that I hope will bring pleasure to you as a reader. I’ve always felt like stories carry medicine—which is part of why we tend to them and share them the way we do. (This became more and more clear to me when I took on a primary role in caring for my aging parents.) I am also a fan of devotional living—which I see as caring for the earth, the water, my elders, my children, my spirit, and art in many forms. To me, time is one of the most valuable resources we have, so I try to fill as much of it as I can with love.

This is what I write about here. I know that your stories have medicine for me and I hope that some of my stories have medicine for you—even it’s just a little uplift in your day, or permission to be more yourself. I see this as a place to share what I’m making, but also as a place where we can connect and find ways to prioritize soul-driven work. Who would you be if you led with your artistic soul—in everything, not just on the page, but in all your work, in the kitchen, or at the bar? Maybe you’re already doing this! Hurray!

Paid subscribers make my work possible

Your subscription helps me bring work the world that I couldn’t publish elsewhere. It helps me take care of my Dad. (I am so grateful for this!) This is also where you can sign up for and attend one of my online writing sprint workshops—more info about them at the bottom of this page. Subscriptions at all levels are greatly appreciated! I love writing and connecting to you.

Subscribers receive:

- Essays on family, helping my Dad manage Alzheimer’s, and doing my best to be graceful about it

- Craft essays on accessing artistic flow and other fun creative practices

- Essays on practical magic, including letters from my cat

Bio:

I am a bestselling author of two books published by Simon and Schuster: Later, at the Bar, and Recipes for a Beautiful Life. Later at the Bar was a NYT bestselling, a New York Times Notable Book, and short-listed for the Story Prize. My memoir, Recipes for a Beautiful Life was a book of the month pick in The New York Times Motherlode, Redbook, and Bookriot. Live performances include The Moth Radio Hour, Tedex Asbury Park. Other pieces have appeared in national publications including The New York Times Book Review, O Magazine, Real Simple, Saveur, The Washington Post Magazine, Tin House, One Story, Ploughshares, Ecotone, The Best New American Voices and The Best American Travel Essays. My short fiction has been short-listed in Best American Short Stories. I worked as an editor and staff writer at Seventeen and CosmoGirl and was the co-creator and Executive Editor of the green-living magazine Fresh Dirt Ithaca.

I also have an Etsy shop, draw cats, read Tarot cards professionally, and am a practiced meditator with over twenty years of yoga and mystical studies. You can find out more about that on my website: www.rebeccabarry.net.

What readers say about my books:

Later, at the Bar:

“Read this book.” —Danielle Trussoni, The New York Times Book Review

“First-rate.”—Publisher’s Weekly

Recipes for a Beautiful Life:

“Recipes is anecdotal, funny, and telling, with the kinds of momentary glimpses of ordinary days that reflect something larger—and funny. Did I mention funny?” —K.J. Dell Antonia, New York Times Motherlode

“Rebecca Barry looks straight at her life and describes it—sometimes hilariously, sometimes movingly. Her generosity of spirit makes for an engaging, wise, and delightful read.” —Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia and Cursing Mommy.

“Rebecca Barry writes about writing while balancing two children with her other arm. In the end this is a story of all of us who strive and settle while still managing to laugh, which is easy because Barry is sly and very, very funny.”—Julia Sweeney, author of If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother.

“This woman was me. Somehow, she had reached inside my heart and revealed myself to me, told my story far better than I ever could.”—Steph Auteri, BookRiot (and also author of the wonderful stack:

“Dip in and dip out without missing a beat or the message: Contentment isn’t about getting everything..but finding magic in the mess.”—Redbook

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Writing Sprints: Take the fear out of the THE BLANK PAGE and make a first draft in 40 minutes

Some of our best work is done quickly, simply by diving into creative flow without thinking or planning. One of my favorite ways to do this is through a practice I call “writing sprints.”

In this generative workshop we write a piece using a series of consecutive prompts specifically designed to move a story along and help you create something cohesive, spontaneous, and fun.

By the end of the workshop you will have:

• gotten your butt in the chair

• written steadily for 40 minutes

• made something awesome—a solid start to a new piece, a missing paragraph to an old one, or possibly even a finished piece. (I’ve seen it happen!)

• found a new way to dive into your work that takes the dread out of THE BLANK PAGE

We will write (or draw, if you’d like) together for 35-40 minutes, and then I will stay on the call for another 15 minutes to chat and answer questions.

If you can’t make it that day, no worries! You will have access to the replay video, so you can do the workshop on your own time.

There is a powerful alchemy that comes along with this process—it allows us to access the intuitive magic that comes alive when we are creative without thinking. Every time I do one of these writes I end up with something that has more life to it than the pieces I plan and plot through carefully. The alchemy is even stronger when I write with other people and I can’t wait to make something wonderful with you!

These workshops are free for paid subscribers.