Introduction
If you’re wondering who the heck this Jennifer Carnelian girl is, well I am here to tell you all about her, or me.
Update: New Name, Who Dis?
I have switched to writing under a pen name!
Switching to a pen name has been on my mind for a variety of reasons – keeping my personal life & writing life separate being the main reason, but choosing a pen name was much harder than I expected. I have discussed a pen name change since 2020 with various friends but mostly hemmed and hawed about it. I knew that the name I wanted would appear like inspiration and it sort of did just that.
I also will not deny that a huge part of wanting a pen name was because my real name is absolutely insufferable to figure out a signature for. 😂
With my new pen name came a plethora of changes across the internet that took a lot longer than expected. My Twitter handle is now @jencarnelian and you can also find me on Instagram now too under the same handle – I’m new to IG & would love to connect. I have also switched this publication URL link to theamateurhour.substack.com
Second Update
I have been in the process of restructuring my Substack to give you the reader the control you deserve.
Right now, everyone has been migrated over to receive all Substack posts I publish, but you can now pick and choose which of my Substack posts you would like to see in your inbox.
My Substack is now divided into 3 Categories. On Writing, News & Updates, and Personal Essays. For those of you who have been here for the past 5 posts – you know that sometimes I have a lot to say that can wind up being deeply personal. I am overjoyed that people have found inspiration or even seen themselves reflected in those posts but if that’s not your cup of tea then I understand and I am putting the control in your hands.
So here is how to navigate the newsletter now and subscribe to exactly what you want to see.
Everyone has been migrated to all sections currently, below is a quick sampling of what each section would feature and how to change what you receive in your inbox. This post today is a News & Updates post for example.
My substack sections:
Personal Essays 💌 — long-form posts that ruminate on how my lived experiences inform how I approach my art. The good and the bad.
News & Updates 📚 — Personal updates such as monthly recaps, pertinent news, and any exciting bookish news/updates.
On Writing 📝 — writing advice, publishing insights, & the creative life.
Subscribe to everything for the full experience. Or pick and choose what you want to read. Example: If you only want to know news, you can subscribe solely to the News & Updates section. You can update your subscription preferences here.
End of the Year:
I can’t believe it’s already December! 2022 has zoomed by and while we still have a large chunk of the month left I wanted to do a little recap on this year.
Wisdom/Lessons I Wish to Share
The only writing advice you need is to keep writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s once a month or once a year. As long as you're writing, the words will add up.
Read books that excite you! If a book isn’t exciting you, set it aside & pick up another one till you find one that does.
Celebrate your small wins!
Prioritize your health (mental & physical) over your art. When you feel great, you will create from a better place.
Get off socials – even if it's only for a day.
Drink more water and wear your SPF every day. Yes, even on gloomy days.
Favorite Columns/Articles I Have Come Across This Year
Matthew Salesses’s NaNo Pep Talk
“I tell my students that the process of writing, like the process of living, is a valley. You begin with a beautiful idea—when it lives only in your imagination, it is a beautiful thing—and then you begin to write, and somewhere along the way, whether in the writing or in the revising, you realize that you cannot make the thing as beautiful as the idea. Then you are in the valley. This is the place where many writers stop writing, stop revising, where many people stop growing, stop trying to be better people—not because they know they are in descent, but because they are afraid of descending still further.”
Viet Thanh Nguyen's NaNo Pep Talk
“You need a little talent to be a writer, but I’ve seen writers more talented than myself who never published or who stopped writing. Stubbornness, endurance, and persistence are much more important.”
Daniel Jose Older – Writing Begins with Forgiveness
“Here’s what stops more people from writing than anything else: shame. That creeping, nagging sense of ‘should be,’ ‘should have been,’ and ‘if only I had…’ Shame lives in the body, it clenches our muscles when we sit at the keyboard, takes up valuable mental space with useless, repetitive conversations. Shame, and the resulting paralysis, are what happen when the whole world drills into you that you should be writing every day and you’re not.”
Erin Fulmer – Writers We Need to Talk About Creative Burnout
“The reality is that burnout demands rest. You must actually do nothing, no matter how strong your conditioning otherwise. You must stop doing the thing you loved until you love it again, or you will only learn to hate it.”
Favorite Books I Read (So Far...)
It feels remiss to do this section right now considering I read a majority of my TBR in November and December. I have read a lot of wonderful books this year & most I have talked about in previous newsletters so I decided to narrow down by choosing 4 books that stuck with me this year.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams – Black love and Black joy and hope and ancestors and invisible illness and all the complicated shit of life and childhood and unfairness and complexities of individuals, but mostly love.
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn — this sequel to Legendborn was everything and Tracy’s writing is gorgeous & riveting!
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert – It was everything I needed in a book. It was gorgeously written, fast-paced, filled with intrigue and heart, and made me giggle like a schoolgirl in some parts & gasp in terror at others.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – There are books you stumble across that you read and wonder how people are not yelling about it. This was one of those for me.
Obsessively Listening To
Indigo by RM - I am in love with this album that was released a few days ago. Currently, I would have to say that I am greatly partial to Lonely.
Renaissance by Beyonce - cultural reset!!! And I am still playing it. Alien Superstar & Heated duke it out for top spots for me.
Places I Visited
Here are just some places I visited this year. All photos were taken by me on my 35mm film camera with Kodak Portra 400.
Los Angeles, March 2022 — Little Tokyo at night
Aruba, May 2022 — A mated pair of flamingos
London, October 2022 — a landscape of the back of the London Eye
Lastly, I want to thank you all so much for subscribing and being on this journey with me. This Substack has become such a solace & I am grateful to each of you who subscribed. I hope you all have a wonderful December and that you stay warm! I hope the rest of the year is filled with love, fun, laughs, and rest.
I will see you all in 2023, where I shall wax poetically about beginnings.
Socials – Stay Connected!
your newsletters are always so soothing!! super excited for more in the new year, and ofc will be eating up all your categories <3