This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com Hello Protagonists! In this post, you’ll find: 🎥 The video replay of our September meeting 📚 Your invitation + discussion questions for The Everlasting, our next Book Pick 🗓️ Upcoming Book Club Picks 💛 RSVP & Zoom link (below the paywall) 💕 Joanna The “Reading with Wonder” Book Club is for our community members who want to dive deeper into how great books work and reflect on their creative process. ✨ Come connect with us! ✨ 🎥 Replay: We Need Your Art If you missed our last book club meeting, you can now watch the full replay above. We had such a fantastic discussion of We Need Your Art and talked about: * Does the world really need your art? Our first discussion point centered on Amy McNee’s core argument and the title of the book WE NEED YOUR ART. Some members questioned whether the world really needs a lot of “bad art.” Others argued that while the world may not literally need every individual work of art, people can become more fulfilled, self-aware, and connected through making it; therefore, art has value even when it never becomes commercially successful or reaches a large audience. We agreed that art serves us in the act of creating regardless of the quality. * Are you really an artist? We talked about how difficult it can be to identify as a writer or artist before receiving traditional markers of success. Many of us hesitated (and still hesitate) to claim that identity because we fear judgment or questions about what we’ve published. We all agreed that finding a sense of internal validation before sharing work can help center us, and that markets are selective and unpredictable, and rejection does not determine the value of our art. * We want an audience! We all agreed that wanting to be in conversation about our art and wanting an audience was natural, and that audience does not have to be enormous. A small group of people who genuinely connect with the work feels meaningful. We also discussed the tension between creating for ourselves and creating for the market. Many felt market awareness can help with decisions about genre, length, structure, and audience, but trying to manufacture something solely for commercial appeal feels inauthentic and almost impossible. * Let’s not be perfect. Perfectionism was the most strongly discussed creative roadblock, particularly at the end of a project. We talked about how finishing can be hard because we lose perspective having spent so much time immersed in the material. Things may feel obvious, stale, or flawed to us, but fresh to a first-time reader. Distinguishing between thoughtful revision and perfectionism driven by fear was tricky for many of us. We noted that external deadlines can help limit perfectionism and force a release of work. * Maybe tomorrow? McNee argues that repeatedly failing to show up for creative work can weaken trust in oneself. Many of us found that to be a helpful way to understand procrastination. We all agreed on the benefit of small daily goals, but debated McNee’s idea of setting a daily maximum. Participants found that honoring flow rather than stopping it didn’t create burnout, but it did sometimes cause neglect of other areas of life. * What does success look like to you? We found that McNee didn’t consider some of the more practical difficulties in trying to support yourself with your art. We agreed with her mandate to get clear on what success looked like for each of us. We talked about how clarifying that definition makes it easier to decide what path to pursue and prevents outside measures of success from becoming the only standard. During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we explored: * The importance of celebrating creative milestones! McNee points out that artists often reserve celebration for major public achievements, even though creative work contains countless difficult steps. We each thought of small milestones to celebrate and the types of celebration that felt good to each of us. Ideas included going out to a nice dinner after turning in a manuscript, enjoying a favorite show after an amazing writing session, and saying little love messages to yourself aloud after small talks. As always, the replay is available to paid subscribers to keep our discussions cozy and private. 📚 You’re Invited: The Everlasting Whether you’re a curious reader or a fellow writer, we’d love to have you join us. No need to be “an expert”—just bring your thoughts and your love of books. Our next Book Club pick is: The Everlasting by Alix E. HarrowOne of my favorite reader friends described this as “literary romantasy.” I was sold on that alone. Then another reader friend said it was her favorite fantasy of the year. And then, it went and won the HUGO Award. We have to see what this is all about. Meeting Date: Sunday, October 25, 20268pm ET / 5pm PTZoom link below 💬 During the book discussion, we’ll chat about: Tone and Structure * Harrow used a cyclical structure, repeating the story, but with subtle changes each time. What did you think of this construction? * What other time loop/cyclical stories did this remind you of? How did they compare in scope and mechanics? * Were you able to predict how they finally escaped the time loop? If so, why or why not? * What differences stood out most to you between the different sections? Which did you prefer? * Whose point of view did you prefer, Owen’s or Una’s? Did the use of the second person work for you? What impact did it have? Old Myth, New Story * What did you think of Una as a reimagined Arthurian hero? * Owen, a timid historian, comes to understand significant things about his field. What do you think this novel is saying about history and truth? * What do you think Harrow was saying about the use of legend and myth by having a character writing a legend, having a character as a legend, and herself an author retelling a legend? * Harrow often writes about who gets to own stories (The Ten Thousand Doors of January and Starling House). How does The Everlasting expand on that theme? The Romance * The novel blends fantasy and romance. Which element stood out most for you, and why? Is it fair to call this novel “romantasy”? Why or why not? * How did Harrow build romantic tension through the novel? What is the difference between admiration and romance, and where did they blend or diverge? Hugo Award * The Hugo Award is an annual literary prize given by members of the World Science Fiction Convention for the best science fiction or fantasy works. The Everlasting won this year. (The Tainted Cup, another book club pick, won in 2025.) If you were part of the committee, would you have voted for The Everlasting? * What role do you think literary prizes and awards play in directing our storytelling and culture? 💬 During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we will talk about: * Calendar Audit. Relive your past week in your mind. Make a list of 15 activities you did. Be specific: weekly staff meeting, wrote 300 words most days, drafted a newsletter, filled out an expense report, made lunch, picked up the kids from school, had dinner with a writer friend. * Put an arrow next to each activity. * Up - If your energy went up when you did the activity. * Sideways - If your energy was flat when you did the activity. * Down - If your energy went down when you did the activity. * How can you increase the time in activities where your energy rose? What changes might help make your energy rise during the neutral activities? For the energy-down activities, how can you delegate, dump, or do these activities differently? This Hugo Award winner will give us so much to discuss! ✨ Introverts welcome: Cameras on or off. Your presence is enough. Upcoming Book Club Picks In case you missed it, here are our book picks for the first quarter of 2026: 🔐 RSVP & Zoom Link To protect the privacy of our discussion space and prevent Zoom-bombing, the RSVP and Zoom link are posted below the paywall. If you’d like to join us in the Book Club, you can upgrade to a paid membership here: Or refer friends to receive complimentary months: * 1 referral = 1 month free * 2 referrals = 3 months free * 3 referrals = 1 year free 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛
