Newsletter vs blogpost…

And we’re not talking just the normal subscribed newsletter here that many folk, authors mainly, seem to deliver.

I’m talking about something more special.

Two of the most interesting newsletters I subscribe to are paid-for models. One of the writers, Tom Ryan of Following Atticus fame, has eschewed all social media except for the occasional tweet. His philosophical journey through life and the surrounding countryside is usually the highlight of my week.

I can’t begin to tell you how spirits light up and how I hurriedly clean my glasses, find a comfortable and quiet space and become lost in Tom’s words.

Paying for such bounty seems worth it, because with this stressed and unwell world which dominates our airwaves and threatens to smother us, isn’t it nice to be reminded that there are folk who are mindful of so much goodness and beauty outside our doors?

Yesterday, I discovered another, courtesy of my daughter who is a fan of this woman’s writings. It’s called The Sit Spot by Maggie Mckellar who lives not far up the highway from me.

She and her partner farm merinos (yes, I know. We do too!) and, she has a deeply philosophical bent amongst the fibre and firewood life that she leads. She also reads AMAZING books, poetry, essays and is writing her next book and my heaven above, her brain must churn with words!

Mine’s bad enough but her reading list is Erudite with a capital ‘E’. Mine is a little less so.

How does she do it? I hope one day on The Sit Spot, she’ll explain.

Anyway, it’s another newsletter I feel is worth paying for. Like Tom, I’m not aware of Maggie’s presence online, except for Instagram, where I find many aspects of her life are similar to mine. Men swearing in the sheepyards, birds, dogs, beaches, swimming in winter, boats, the east coast… writing…

I’m telling you this because I’m at a crossroads with my writing life. I’m still writing novels (mostly historical fiction) but not many blogposts these days. I share gardening moments with a group of worldwide gardeners via Six on Saturday on my blog and if there’s bookish news, I’d always advertise it on the blog, but I’m wondering if I dare write my life-thoughts and experiences in a regular subscribed newsletter. No more bloggish blogposts. Prue Batten’s blog may become an historical artifact.

You may ask, what have I got to offer you?

Myself, I guess. In all humility. I don’t claim to be erudite and my reading list might just make you laugh with its eclecticism but I have a life spent on a far southern-flung island, fossicking among the rocks and sand-dunes, picnicking or as Tom says, having a coddywomple. Digging in the garden or knocking up a cake in the tiny kitchen, sometimes helping OH in the farmyard or babysitting the Littlest Farmer, musing on how we all get to a point in our lives where only the very special things really matter.

What do you think?

Would you follow me to a subscribed newsletter? Would it be worth your while? Would it give you the kind of joy that Tom’s and Maggie’s newsletters give me?

Let me know. If you would be prefer, talk to me through the contact button on my website. I’d love to hear from you. I can’t move forward without you…