What I did for fun in autumn
...as a time-poor writer, book mentor, and mum of an almost one-year-old who sucks me dry every night
Okay, so I’m going to honest with you about something. I have been trying out different kinds of posts here on Substack and slowly and quietly figuring out what people like (Not A Write Off volumes for the masses and really specific writing and career advice for the ol’ book nerds). I’m not going to say that I’m retiring a series, but I am giving it a good shake to see if the sand settles in a new way.
I used to do a monthly post called Read, Watch, Listen, Do, but for the past two months I’ve sat down to write it and… realised that I haven’t read anything, watched Married At First Sight UK again, and listened to the Twirlywoos theme tune for the eighty-seventh time. The baby thought she’d tackle teething in the same way Katie Price tackled the London Marathon: do absolutely no training and cry as everyone else overtakes her. Basically, she’s been off solid food and has been bleating ‘mama!’ multiple times a night, at which point I feed her and wake up in the morning like a giant raisin, completely sucked dry. This too shall pass, right? Right?!
Perhaps I could compartmentalise my downtime before, but nowadays, they are more like glimmers, snatched in moments when I manage to find an earbud in a pocket (I have four on constant rotation and they have been through the wash more times than I can say), or when a grandparent takes the baby for a wee while and we sneak out of the house like teenagers jumping out of the window in an nineties movie.
Maybe I am overthinking this (highly likely) but I can’t find a word that accurately describes the below. Pleasures? Indulgences? Recommendations? Interests?
Please, if you can help me out, please do. As someone who literally works with words every day, I am unbelievably crap at coming up with the right one at the right time. When I was a secondary school teacher (of Drama. I am not qualified to teach Drama, and yet…) I was stood in front of 31 twelve-year-olds trying to think of a word that means the opposite of loud. QUIET, I hear you cry. IT’S QUIET. Yes, you’re right, it is quiet, but I came up blank and wrote ‘Not loud’ on the board instead. That’s what being chronically overworked with three degrees gets you, pals.
If you didn’t know, my schedule on Not A Write Off works on a four week rotation and looks a little something like this.
The full post is free and I hope you enjoy it. I feel very lucky to have you here! Upgrading to a paid subscription starts from £2.50 a month and benefits include full access to my archive of practical writing craft and career posts as well as Q&A threads where I answer your writing questions. There’s also an option for a full set of signed books and a *new* feature which will launch in the new year. If this isn’t of interest, a simple upgrade means that I am able to keep writing, which is no small thing.
So, here’s a round-up of *everything I did in Autumn that was fun and didn’t involve work or writing or looking after my lovely little time vampire.
Johnny Flynn at Rough Trade
I don’t know what it is about Johnny Flynn that makes me want to sit under apple trees and learn the name of countryside flora and fauna. My friend and I have graduated from loud, simpering teenage fan girls (the front row, elbows over the barriers, screaming kind) to quiet, ‘we were here when it started’ adult fan girls, which arguably, can be more annoying. Anyway, I love his music, especially this new stuff which is kind of witchy and pulsating and like a massage for your soul, in a non-creepy way. Hearing it live was a treat. Afterwards, I got a bagel and a cookie from Brick Lane and realised on the bus home that I had forgotten to take my slipper socks off before I left the house. Trés cool
A date? Moi?
The baby was living it up in Casa del Mann and my partner and I went to a cocktail bar and then to dinner. Imagine! We realised that this was our first night out together since—wait for it—December 2022. I had an espresso martini at 6:30pm which send my synapses into overdrive and possibly contributed to my decision to order a whole sea bass for dinner.
Nature
God, shut up Abigail, you’re not the first person to discover nature, whole cultural movements have been dedicated to it. YES, I KNOW. It’s the most basic of bandwagons, but perhaps not as basic as Pumpkin Spice Lattes, which taste like your grandma’s pot pourri and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Here are the reasons why Nature earns a place this time:
Leaves. Forget red carpets, I’ll have an ochre carpet any day. I get excited about a decent looking tree on the regular, but my baby has never seen autumn before and it’s making me sit up and concentrate on tiny details. Last week, she held a chestnut leaf for twenty minutes and kept bringing it up to her face to smile. So precious.
Golden light + golden trees = wearing a big coat and casting yourself as Meg Ryan
Crisp air = pink cheeks = no need for blusher = you’re welcome
Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day
So this is one of two books I’ve read recently. This one, I listened to. If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘some friends are for reasons, some friends are for seasons, some are for life,’ but have always wondered why, Elizabeth has got the answer. I can’t escape talking and thinking about friendship. My next novel (coming out Feb ’25) is centered around ex-best friends who meet again years after one ghosted the other. Needless to say, I’m a friendship whore and this made me reflect on my own behaviour in friendships. Will I change? Probably not! Will I send my friends little messages to let them know I’m thinking about them at times when I need to go underground to work / parent. Yes!
Notable mention: Happy Place by Emily Henry. I very much enjoyed the ‘we’ve been friends for years but do we actually like each other’ sub-plot.
Pastries
Hear me out. It has become quite cold in the UK. Where I live in London, I walk past between three and six Italian delis and / or bakeries every time I leave the house. You know what they do? How they tempt me? They stick their pastries in the window at eye-level. It’s like being trapped in a never-ending Dickens chapter in which every single item deserves a whole sentence of sweet recognition. Glazed maple pecans, croissants so buttery they turn bags into tracing paper, doughnuts that you have to unlatch your jaw in order to bite—give me them all!
I now have a cinnamon bun leaderboard in my phone, because that’s a normal thing to do. It has to be stodgy in the middle, lightly iced, and swirled into a muffin tin, not those flat squashed snails you get in Sainsbury’s. Call me a snob, I can take it.
Readers who are also fighting the grim-reaper of time: what did you do for FUN in autumn?
You can read more of my writing by picking up my novels, either from any decent bookshop or through your local library (never feel bad about this - I actually make more money from a library loan than a Kindle purchase). The Lonely Fajita (2021), The Sister Surprise (2022), or The Wedding Crasher (2023). My books have sold nearly 20,000 copies and I am so grateful that people like my dark lil’ sense of humour and fish-out-of-water heroines.
Reviews of my work:
'‘I relished this witty, tender story of loneliness, growth and friendship. Mann has a fabulous knack of finding the funny in life’s small detail’ - Pernille Hughes
‘Heartwarming, charming and witty’ - Sophie Cousens #1 bestselling author of This Time Next Year
‘The perfect blend of warm and witty you can't help but smile (and laugh) throughout’ - Helly Acton, author of The Shelf
‘Had me laughing all the way through, and I got weepy at the end’ - Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List
‘I laughed the whole way through and cried at the end. The perfect smart, escapist read’ - Freya Sampson, author of The Last Chance Library
‘As comforting as putting on your cosiest sweater and fuzzy socks. I loved every moment of it’ - Jesse Sutanto, author of Dial A For Aunties
‘Yet another hilarious and touching book from Abigail Mann, with a cast of great and terrible characters and a setting full of Succession-esque glamour and drama’ - Lex Croucher, author of Gwen and Art are Not in Love
‘Abigail Mann is at her absolute best . . . she skillfully uses comedy alongside other more serious topics’ - Holly McCulloch, author of The Mix Up
Did you miss my last post? It’s where I judge readers of my novels (still unsure whether this was wise or not, but it did help me!)
Why it's important to know who loves (and hates) your fiction
I quite often start these posts by trying to figure out how my methods are similar or different to other authors. I think this comes from a sense of curiosity more than harsh comparison. When I wrote my first novel, I didn’t know which genre I was writing in, which is a common issue from what I’ve heard. To be honest,
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or drop me a note if you want to chat about anything mentioned. Thank you for being here!
Oh to have seen Johnny Flynn with you! Witchy and pulsating is very much my jam.
How about:
Monthly Memo
Monthly Madness
Monthly Meander
I like alliteration.