An Introduction
Hi, I’m Abby, a writer, storyteller, marketer, reader, gamer, and professional procrastinator.
I created this newsletter because the word multipotentiality kept coming to my mind when I would think about my creativity, hobbies, and passions. Anyone who knows me knows I have too many interests and love each of them with such an impassioned fervor. It is a blessing, but if I am not intentional it too easily becomes a curse hindering my ability to finish projects and integrate every aspect of my life together. When I combine that desire to do everything and anything that comes my way with an American work culture that links productivity to worth, I have a real disastrous combination.
For the last couple of years I have struggled with some of the worst depression, anxiety, and panic I had ever experienced. With the help of therapy, meds, and the most incredible support system of friends and family, I started to take baby steps to create the life I wanted (and needed, because let’s be real my body was on the verge of collapse). Today, I started a new job, which feels like a culmination of all those little steps. Job changes can seem like the simplest changes, but this one change felt like a complete shift in my being. I am creating and writing again, and I am filled with so much energy to chase every minute of my day. I had no idea life could be like this ever again, and I’m so glad it is.
So in an effort to continue weaving more intentionality into every aspect of my life, 🌿 Multipotentialites 🌿 was created. This newsletter, blog, scream into the void, whatever you want to call it, will include musings on my current writing projects, latest reads, and other thoughts to harness joy and creativity in each passion and endeavor with careful intentions and mindfulness. This is just another one of the many steps toward creating the life I want.
If this is something that you find intriguing, I hope you will subscribe and join a community of fellow multipotentialites. You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter for some more writing, creativity, and life content. Whether you stay for a long time or are just scanning through, thank you for being here.
Love Isn’t Dead, and Neither are You
I rarely reread books. The ones I do reread are the typical Pride and Prejudice or Lord of the Rings for some comfort and nostalgia. However, The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston is the first contemporary romance that I no doubt will be cracking open at least once a year.
The main character Florence Day is a ghostwriter who also has a unique talent of seeing ghosts—a talent that forced her to leave her small hometown. In an effort to protect herself, Florence holds every secret she can close to her heart. Only her best friend Rose knows Florence ghostwrites for one of the most popular romance novelists of their time. Her family, who runs the Days Gone Funeral Home, are the only people who know of (and believe in) Florence’s ghost-seeing ability that she shared with her unique father.
In a series of unfortunate events, Florence breaks up with her fellow writer boyfriend, loses faith in love, and, as a result, sails past a contracted deadline that she failed to get extended with her new editor for the next ghostwritten romance. Then Florence’s dad passes away. She must return to her hometown for the first time in a decade to say goodbye to the one person she felt truly understood her. Her time home forces her to face her feelings of failure, mend her neglected family relationships, and start to work through her emotional unavailability. In the midst of all of it, Florence’s editor confronts her on the porch of her family’s funeral home, but to Florence’s surprise, he’s a ghost. As she tries to ease his journey beyond, he reignites her belief in love and happy endings however unlikely they may be.
I guarantee this book will have something to say to you. Whether that’s dealing with the inevitability of death, working through grief, bolstering self-worth after failure, or reconnecting with family this book has it. Poston’s authentic inclusion of queer characters and knack for weaving the supernatural into reality also makes this a delight to read. When I turned the last page, I closed the book and hugged it close to my chest while tears rolled down my face (in a good way, I swear).