Hi.
We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot here.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Aria Griffey. I am a wife, mom of one, used bookstore owner, bookbinder, writer, and general creative person in my early 20s.
For some reason, my last post and a couple of my recent Notes popped off a bit (that’s my Gen Z showing, sorry) and I feel I should introduce myself to the tiny audience I seem to have suddenly accrued. Hello!
I used to be very active in the indie author/bookish blog and Twitter scene, back when Twitter wasn’t a complete dumpster fire that made me want to claw my eyes out. I thankfully haven’t been on Twitter in any real capacity since 2020, and I wish it was longer. But I haven’t really blogged since 2019, unless you count my bookstore blog/newsletter, and I wish that wasn’t the case.
I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled upon Substack, but I felt an immediate connection. In contrast to the soulless hellscape that social media has become, Substack reminded me strongly of my early blogging and Twitter days, where posts felt genuinely social and fostered actual connections with real people. I read a lot of Substack before deciding I wanted a piece of it myself. Just somewhere quiet to share my random thoughts, zero pressure.
I have little intention of monetizing this platform, nor of sticking to a concrete posting schedule (my work at the bookstore, as well as my other creative projects, not to mention my baby daughter, really prevent that). Originally, I didn’t even have intentions of interacting with people much; I have become very fed up with social media, even though it’s a large part of my job in terms of marketing my store, and I was afraid that Substack would be more of the same. However, all of the folks I have met so far on here have proved to be very kind, attentive, and genuine people, as opposed to the bots and influencers that dominate older platforms now. So I think I’ll be sticking around, at least for the moment, and actually trying to have some conversations.
What can you expect from this blog? Honestly, I don’t know. I am planning to mostly post personal essays on here, infrequently and as the inspiration strikes, while transitioning my old blog over to more of a landing page for me and my husband’s longform creative projects.
And no, I wasn’t kidding in my previous post: my husband and I, alongside having a baby and a bookstore and a full time day job (him), are both working on multiple novels and other projects besides. Currently, what is taking the bulk of our creative attention is our swashbuckling steampunk adventure novel The Heart of Resistance, the first book in a planned trilogy.
Right now, the book is undergoing critique from a group of beta readers before we make our final revisions and send the draft off to a couple of proofreaders. We just got the cover art back from the artist last week, and we are getting things lined up to do a cover reveal and open preorders for the novel in September, if all goes according to plan (it won’t, but oh well, we can try).
Indie publishing was a big part of my life for several years, and I am excited that it is becoming a bigger part again with this new novel. I see Substack as an extension of that; a continuation of the best parts of the social media landscape before it imploded, combined with the more private space of the blog world I used to inhabit. I am looking forward to finding new friends on here (instead of faceless followers) and I hope you will stick around if you’re interested in my writing!
Okay, anyway, I’ve waffled on a bit too long, so I suppose I ought to sign off now.
Nice to meet you. Thanks for reading!
Bye for now 👋