✨ About Creative, Inspired, ALIVE
Welcome—We’re so glad you’re here!
Creative, Inspired, ALIVE is a collaboration between Evelyn Skye, a New York Times bestselling novelist, and Joanna Phoenix, a writer and creativity coach. We are believers in the power of creativity to comfort us, connect us, and help us feel more fully alive. We write about creativity and kindness, ambition and rest, and the tender balancing act of building a meaningful life in a noisy world.
This newsletter is a place for thoughtful reflection, artistic joy, and community—part behind-the-scenes creative life, part conversation, part soul-soothing inspiration.
Here’s what you’ll find:
📝 Letters from the Creative Life
Small windows into the in-between spaces of art and life and the quieter corners of being human
These essays explore things like how to stay soft in an ambitious world, why romanticizing the mundane is an art, or what it means to grow into new versions of yourself. They’re not lifestyle posts in the usual sense—they’re letters from one thoughtful person to another.
📚 Behind-the-Scenes of Writing & Publishing
From first spark to finished book
We share diary-style reflections and insider looks at the creative process, including what it’s really like to live through edits, launch seasons, and the deep work of storytelling.
🎙️ The Podcast
Candid conversations with the storytellers shaping our culture and the creativity experts studying the process that makes us come alive.
Every other week, we interview amazing authors and leading experts in creative fields about the creative process, what shaped them, and the stories they’re telling now.
Past guests include Lisa Jewell, V.E. Schwab, Kate Quinn, Pierce Brown, and many more. Available in video, audio, and transcript formats.
📖 The Reading with Wonder Book Club
A book club for thoughtful readers and curious creatives.
We explore one fiction novel each month and ask: What makes this story work? We look at structure, character, pacing, and the emotional undercurrent of storytelling—always with warmth, curiosity, and zero pretension.
We also read one non-fiction book each season to discuss the creative process and explore our inner workings. After the book discussion, we spotlight an element of creativity in our lives (i.e. play, rejection, writer’s block, inspiration) and participate in connected conversation and guided reflections.
Book Club meetings and replays are available for paid subscribers, to keep our space cozy and private.
💬 Cozy Community Chat
Because storytelling is a two-way street
Every Monday, we post a conversation starter—a quick, thoughtful question about books or life that invites connection.
You can also suggest podcast questions, share book recs, or show off cute pets. (And yes, sometimes our husbands ’ or kid’s creative adventures make an appearance. Whittling and cute clay creations anybody?!)
🌸 Little Joys Along the Way
Now and then, you’ll also find things like:
Creativity mini-challenges for your own spark or reflection
A monthly Reader’s Corner of our most anticipated upcoming book releases
Happiness Sprinkles, a roundup of cozy internet gems and community shoutouts
🗓️ What’s the Rhythm?
Tuesdays: Podcast episodes or book club replay
Fridays: Written newsletters (essays, diaries, book recommendations, happiness sprinkles)
Book Club: Sunday or Wednesday evening (alternating each month) near the month’s end, replay shared the week after
Sometimes we take breaks to refill the creative well — and we encourage you to, too.
💛 From the Community:
“What a sheer joy it is to have found Evelyn Skye's bright home on Substack! I thoroughly enjoy her podcast as well as her posts, and I always leave feeling eager to create, inspired, and generally happier. If you need a mood boost, subscribe!” — Katrina Donham, Human/Mother
“Ever wondered what it would be like to have a friend who's awesome, interesting, and warm but also a bestselling novelist? That's Evelyn's newsletter! Stories about writing, publishing, and authorial life written with conviviality, humility, and wit!” — Sam Robinson, Footnotes
“Evelyn is such an amazing resource for novelists and writers! Between her book club, author interviews, and articles, her Substack is THE go-to place for writers! So grateful to Evelyn for curating this amazing corner of the Internet.” — Amy Suto, From the Desk of Amy Suto
“Evelyn’s expertise in the fiction writing space is so fascinating to me, and I’ve loved following along with her behind the scenes newsletter!” — Danielle Walker, New York Times bestselling author of Make it Good
“Evelyn is an absolute delight ~ one of those exotic and rare birds who actually responds to and appreciates her readers. She's my role model for positivity, grace, enthusiasm and inspiration.” — Kristin Fellows, A Storyboard Life
“If you're looking for a cup of positivity, pour from this gallon jug.” — David Jace, Reality Escape
“Evelyn shares fantastic content for fellow writers that quite literally inspires creativity and happiness in her audience. She's also just a really nice person!” — David McIlroy, How to Write for a Living
👩🏻💻 A Little More About Us
Evelyn Skye is the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including The Incredible Kindness of Paper and The Hundred Loves of Juliet. She has also written books for Netflix and Disney. Evelyn’s novels have been published worldwide and translated into sixteen languages.
Evelyn is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Law School. She lives in California with her husband and daughter. If you’d like to support my writing, you can buy some of my books for yourself or a reader in your life!
Joanna Phoenix writes her heart out in the form of women’s fiction and works as a coach to help creatives understand the deeper patterns that block them from sharing their gifts and feeling fully alive in the process.
Joanna is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives in California with her husband, two kids, and a garden full of fruit trees and flowers.
~xoxo, Evelyn and Joanna
