For the Birds: The Neurodivergent Writers Club! & other September riches

Including: a podcast interview about my Autism diagnosis journey, and another installment of BIRDSEED.

Happy new(-ish) moon, friends! Today’s letter includes the following resources:

• Announcing: The Neurodivergent Writers Club!

• The September installment of BIRDSEED, a monthly music playlist.

• And an interview with me featured on The Practice of The Practice Podcast.

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Dear readers,

I've been craving a certain kind of space lately.

I decided to make it myself.

The Neurodivergent Writers Club is an intimate, 9-week writing community for neurodivergent humans. Think Resiliency Circle, but more focused: on the page, on our writing practices, and on the very tender + inspiring thing that happens when the same people come together for a seasonal stretch of time.

This dream semester is comprised of six gatherings and two opportunities for sharing work & receiving feedback from another attendee.

This is a space where we’ll talk openly about our writing, or about our neurodivergences, or both. I wanted to create something big enough to hold our holistic creative selves, and small enough to encourage brave dialogue, and sturdy enough to adapt to whatever needs sharing and witnessing and talking through this season.

And though I’m calling it a “semester,” I’m doing so mostly for nostalgic reasons; we will be too collaborative, and too fluid & spontaneous in where our attention might go on any given evening, for this to resemble a formal classroom.

The nitty gritty

Cost is $185, with full sliding scale options ($0 to $184) available to every participant.

I’m capping the semester at 10 participants. (I mean it when I say, small.) Sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings, from 4:30 to 6pm Pacific, with the exception of week two, where we’ll gather on a Wednesday.

We’ll meet 6 times, with two breaks that coincide with feedback opportunities:

• Week one, Sept. 17th: Showing up, calling in, & getting to know each other

• Week two, Sept. 25th: Parallel writing session (NOTE: Meeting on Wednesday this week)

• Week three, Oct. 1st: “What’s coming up” (group convo & reflections)

  • Two-week break. First opportunity for partnered reading & feedback

• Week four, Oct. 22nd: Parallel writing session

• Week five, Oct. 29th: “What’s coming up” (group convo & reflections)

  • One-week break. Second opportunity for partnered reading & feedback

• Week six, Nov. 12th: Final reflections & looking forward

Register:

You can sign-up here at the full-price rate.

Alternatively, you can sign-up for free, or for $1 to $184, by emailing me at sarahteresacook (at) gmail (dot) com.¹

Are you a paid reader of this newsletter? If you’re interested in attending, I especially encourage you to utilize the sliding scale in a way that feels aligned with your financial circumstances. Founding Members are encouraged to sign-up for free.

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BIRDSEED

~a monthly playlist, curated by M: hawker of good books, lover of good hawks~

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A podcast interview about my Autism diagnosis journey

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Sanok, host of The Practice of The Practice Podcast, about my Autism journey so far.

It’s a strange and wonderful gift to be speaking and writing about this tender moment of integration—my “Autism birthday,” as I’ve taken to calling it, only happened last February, with the whole diagnostic process beginning just under a year ago. Joe’s encouraging questions led us to explore the following:

• What creativity has to do with the quality of one’s attention

• The vital role of curiosity when it comes to therapy and diagnostics

• How to keep paying close attention front of mind during your busy days

• How service work informs my current mentorship + coaching practices

And more. Tune-in on Spotify or Apple, and don’t forget to let me know what you think. I mean it! Let’s be in dialogue about important, tender things.

P.S.

If yr podcast interest is piqued, may I also recommend one of my favorite recordings ever: This episode from Kat HoSoo Lee’s Emotional Alchemy Podcast!

1. Yes, I understand: This pricing model is a little weird. I don’t mean to undervalue my labor. I have wanted to experiment with this kind of radical accessibility model for quite some time, and this felt like the right moment to finally do it.