Happiness Sprinkles + Book Club ZOOM Link
Small is Wonderful!
Hello, Protagonists!
Welcome to March’s edition of Happiness Sprinkles—a fun, joyful roundup of small pieces worth smiling about and a few wonderful things you in this community have been creating.
In this post, you’ll find:
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight - You’re the Hero of the Story
📖 Book Club Details + Zoom Link
Reminder! Our “Reading with Wonder” Book Club meeting is this Sunday, March 29th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom Link at the bottom of this post
xo,
Joanna & Evelyn
🌸 Happiness Sprinkles
A few quiet delights we’ve loved this month—and hope you will, too.
Laundromat art! Harriet Riddell stitches magic while strangers clean their clothes. This piece helped us appreciate how making art in unexpected places is a gift to the artist, to the place, to the audience, and to the world. Check out the link to see her creativity in action. Do you create in any interesting places?
“SMALL IS WORTHY” - The Happy Urbanist explains that small business is worthy because of what it is, not because of what it will become. He shares the important argument that growing big shouldn’t always be the point. We enjoyed applying his perspective to our creative lives and imagining how the joy, connection, and impact of small audiences, intimate releases, and special niches can sustain and fulfill us.
Yogurt Delivery Women in Japan Combat Loneliness - This lovely article is about a job where responsibility and kindness overlap. So often, our society treats making money and being kind as oppositional, but this article shows something symbiotic. How can we infuse service into our work?
The Anne Hathaway “Reincarnation Theory”- In the 16th century, William Shakespeare and a woman named Anne Hathaway were married. Fans of the modern actress Anne Hathaway have noticed that her husband, Adam Shulman, looks remarkably similar to historical depictions of Shakespeare. The fun speculation is that this is a romantic reincarnation that spans centuries. Anne Hathaway herself played along this week, sprinkling a bit of happiness for us.
🔦 Protagonist Spotlight
Every month, we love highlighting what you are creating. Here are a few wonderful projects from our community:
🎤 Mary Beth Kaplan added a new interview series for her podcast available for everyone called My Morning Pages Podcast. Season 2 debuted last week!
🎲 Trista is teaming up with a local pizza/smokehouse to host a board game night!
✍🏽 Barb Natividad published her short story, “Snowflake,” in the January House Literary Journal!
🎬 Dawn Sellers launched Season Two of the Oregon Indie Film podcast and finished a draft of her screenplay!
📚 Laura Hepworth was part of the Third Coast Book Fest in Grand Haven, Michigan this past Saturday!
🎨 Nimita Kaul was interviewed as an artist for the first time this month, and shared her second illustration for an author on Substack!
Want to be featured in a future post?
Just reply to this email or leave a comment with a 1–2 sentence description of what you’ve been working on. Or, hang out in our community chat, where we share our recent smiles and successes.
📖 “Reading with Wonder” Book Club — This Sunday!
You’re invited (even if you haven’t read the book):
🗓️ Sunday, March 29th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT - ZOOM link below
📚 Book: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The “Reading with Wonder” Book Club is for our community members who want to dive even deeper into how great books work. Come nerd out with us! 🤓
💬 During the book discussion, we’ll chat about:
Format: An epistolary novel is a work of fiction told through a collection of documents rather than a traditional narrative, most commonly through letters, diary entries, or, in modern contexts, emails, blog posts, and text messages.
How did the novel’s format shape our understanding of the protagonist?
What did contrasting the tone, style, and information across letters reveal?
How did the epistolary format help and/or hinder the plot development?
Themes: Grief was a major theme in the novel. Sybil grappled with a devastating past and new loss throughout the story.
How did the protagonist’s grief transform?
How did the layers of grief work to establish the theme beyond the stated?
Famous Authors: Some authors that the protagonist writes to include Ann Patchett, Joan Didion, Kazuo Ishiguro, Larry McCurty, and Diana Gabaldon.
What do her letters reveal about the authors as characters?
How do these relationships develop the protagonist?
What book would you recommend to Sybil?
Breakout novel: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans achieved breakout success in 2025 as a “slow-burn” hit, driven by “strong word-of-mouth, a crucial endorsement from author Ann Patchett, and its unique epistolary format.”
What gave this novel strong word-of-mouth travel?
What does The Correspondent’s success say about the publishing industry?
What other novels grew slowly in popularity? And what can we learn from this as writers?
💬 During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we will talk about:
Although it may seem paradoxical, experiencing grief around our creative process is an essential part of our creative vitality.
In our creative lives, we can feel grief over rejections, incomplete projects, failed partnerships, and more. What part of your creative process no longer feels alive for you?
How might we release these things to make room for what needs to come next—new inspiration, ideas, and callings?
If you were to write a letter to your past self, what would you tell them?We think this is going to be a wonderful conversation!
Zoom link is posted below the paywall to keep our gathering cozy and private.
(This also prevents any non-book-loving Zoom crashers!)
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
✨ Note for fellow introverts:
You are welcome to come as you are—cameras on or off, display names changed or unchanged. No pressure, just presence.
📹 This session will be recorded for those who can’t attend live.