Substacks recommended by Rob Tourtelot

Recommended by Rob Tourtelot

Story Club with George Saunders

A place to explore the way the short story works.

A Questionable Life

By Alex Michael

Questionable essays about living.

Ask Polly

By Heather Havrilesky

Advice and wisdom from Heather Havrilesky, published since 2012 (formerly at The Awl and NY Magazine). Paid subscribers receive 1-2 weekly posts on how to navigate our broken world with compassion, realism, and an open heart.

Melt With Me

By Paul Crenshaw

Essays on kindness, pop culture, and occasionally poop. Cancer survivor x2. Father of awesome daughters. Four-time Best American Essayist.

The Substaq of Istiaq

By Istiaq Mian

Memoir and narrative medicine essays from a perpetually rounding physician

Letters from an American

By Heather Cox Richardson

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Emmanations

By Emma Tourtelot

Thoughts on being a fiction author, middle school librarian, and retired sex writer.

What Now? with Lindsay Johnstone

#21 in Parenting: Asking and attempting to answer various flavours of this question as I rattle roughshod over the peaks and troughs of perimenopausal midlife from home in Glasgow, Scotland

Feel The Rhythm

By Tommy Swerdlow

"The Rhythm" is a piggy bank to hold my pennies. The phrase comes from Cool Runnings a movie I wrote thirty years ago.

Wordy Bird

By Susan Orlean

A few thoughts on what I'm wearing, words I'm writing, and the world we wander.

Both Are True

By Alex Dobrenko

Funny, deep, relatable stories from a dad to two, husband to one, friend to all (free for all) + BATCAVE (workshops, cowriting, "community") for paid subscribers.

She's Gone Chilaquiles

By Anna Schott

essays, memoir, food analogies

between two seas

By rebecca hooper

from an island tucked between the north sea and the atlantic, a weekly newsletter about life and death, land and sea, science, art, and finding joy.

ASK MOLLY

By Heather Havrilesky

Essays by Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly columnist and author of Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage (2022), What If This Were Enough? (2018), How to Be a Person in the World (2016), and Disaster Preparedness (2011)

Like a Normal Person

By Julie Fontes

I write very normal essays about my addiction hypochondria, my teeth falling out, being poor, waiting tables, gardening, also parenting both my adult child and myself. "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion" -Dolly Parton as Truvy

Sneaky birds.

Arts, books, history, life!

Rona Maynard

Celebrating discovery in art, writing and the moment as it flies

Come As You Are

By Ally Hamilton

How much do childhood wounds shape who we become? What does it mean to heal? How can you be a deeply feeling person in this world right now and not lose your mind? We'll get into all of that and more. Thanks for spending some time with me.

Ally's writing is essential—funny, wise, and wonderful. I always look forward to her weekly posts—each one is such a surprising, warm, heartful gem.

- Rob Tourtelot

A memoir blog.

Exploring what it means to travel through time in a human body, at every phase of life.

Hello, Writer!

By Linda Caroll

Where life, literature and humanity meet

Ninki Substack by Margaret Bennett

It will be a buffet, hopefully one with good salads and homemade delights rather than a beige banquet. I write memoir and cultural musings.

Honestly Human

By Rick Lewis

743 corporate keynotes, 3000 comedy shows, 1 year of panic attacks, 2 marriages, 3 kids, 36 new addresses, 12,000 hrs of meditation, 1 day as Santa Claus, 5 authored books & 50 yrs on nobody's payroll. Plus a few other stories.

The Flagging Dad

By Andy Carter

Light-hearted tales about the delights and despairs of parenting, probation, and modern life. 'Honest, heartfelt and very funny,' - Jessica Knappett (Actress, comedian, writer)

Andy's an absolutely brilliant, hilarious chronicler of the joys and challenges of being a dad. As much as his writing never fails to make me laugh, there's always a deep thread, woven throughout. I'm always thrilled to find his latest piece in my inbox!

- Rob Tourtelot

Sounds from My Soul

By Jenn Morrill

I explore universal themes of healing, self-discovery, and personal transformation through the lens of my vulnerable personal stories. My heart is my art, and music is the beat it moves to.