Dear ones,
I'm writing this from Tenerife, where we'll stay until mid-April, then travel on to...who knows? Maybe Lisbon? Maybe somewhere else. But for now, we enjoy the fact that we don't have to freeze our butts off and don't have to chop wood six times a day to raise the temps inside the house to 10°C. It's over 20°C here most of the time (yes, outside), the birds are singing, and in a couple of weeks the cacti will start to bloom. It's a lovely change from the constant anxiety of the past years, and we're gradually learning how to feel alive again.
It's been almost six weeks since I last wrote to you. I wasn't on vacation (well...not 100%). I was building something exciting for us:
Our Unravelogue community
Why? Because I wanted a safe haven for neurodivergent creatives and anyone whose brain didn't ship with the standard operating system. For people who never felt they fit in or belonged. Where those who want to finally start being creative, and those who are burned out or stuck, can find inspiration and people who get it. Zero hustle culture. Zero productivity hacks. Just a place where "I'm struggling" gets met with "What do you need right now?" instead of advice about waking up earlier or buying a new planner.
We started with 17 founding members three months ago, and here's what happened:
Seventeen people from the US, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Germany, and Spain. 664 hours of showing up for each other and having fun.
Memberships are capped at 100. I'm not interested in scale. I want depth and connection. And holy cow, have we done loads of experiments in photography, doodling, drawing, painting, and creative writing in the past couple of weeks alone!
Want in? We open our doors to new members only three times a year. Join us in January for our first workshops:
Emergency Creativity: Self-regulation tools for burned-out and stuck creatives. 29 video lessons, dropping in January.
Mixed Media Journaling: Deep practice tools to nurture creativity. 33 video lessons, dropping Q1.
Creative Writing (planned for Q3)
Zero experience required. Just curiosity, radical kindness, and the wish to be creative.
It took me 50 years to learn the hard way what neurodivergent creatives need to keep going, through rejections, depressions, burnouts, and uncounted cycles of rebuilding. I have a lot to share. Teaching, mentoring, and helping people are a big part of how I want to spend this next chapter of my creative life (and yes, writing books, of course).
Quick announcement: The Keeper of Pleas audiobooks are now available at Kobo and in my webshop.
Happy New Year, you lot! Here's to more beautiful chaos in 2026, and fewer assholes in politics.
Annelie