227 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout 2025. In this 11th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from November, which was a month of tackling things she's been avoiding. She breaks down the major reasons for avoidance and her strategies for taking baby steps towards the very things we ignore.

Join Nadine in her next round of Publish the Personal and at her next retreat:

• Publish the Personal (Virtual): Fridays Jan 23-Feb 27
• Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

Covered in this episode:

• The major things Nadine's been avoiding
• The 4 reasons we avoid
• How to take small steps towards the things we avoid
• How to access difficult material on the page

Access the full episode and the other Sabbatical Yr episodes when you become a paid subscriber on Substack.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

226: How do you turn a daydream into a life? Tricia Leach has been doing exactly that for the past decade. What began as a bold leap into full-time RV living became a family adventure that took Trish, her husband, and their kids through all 50 states and beyond—stories they’ve shared with a worldwide following through their beloved YouTube channel, Keep Your Daydream.

But the journey didn’t stop at the state lines. Along the way, Trish launched her own line of spice blends and published two cookbooks (including her newest, Tastes of the States). Now, she and her husband are dreaming even bigger: they’ve purchased a property that will soon become the Daydream Depot café, opening its doors in 2027.

This episode dives into how curiosity, courage, and a willingness to start small can turn an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

Register for Nadine's Micro Memoir course on Jan 15!

About Trish:

Tricia Leach is the co-creator of Keep Your Daydream, a travel-and-lifestyle brand inspiring millions to chase adventure. She’s the author of two cookbooks: Small Space, Big Taste and the latest Taste of the States, which celebrates America’s regional flavors and the stories behind them. Whether she’s on the road in the US in an Airstream or baking croissants at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Tricia reminds us that daydreams are meant to be lived.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

225 Want to see your words in print but don't know where to begin? Or maybe the rejections are racking up and you don't know why. The world of publishing can feel illusive at best and cutthroat at worst, but once you know the unspoken rules, you can get published in no time.

Learn how Nadine has gotten her writing in top mags and how she's helped hundreds of writers get published in places like The New York Times, Vogue, The Sun, Brevity, Boston Globe Connections, the Chicago Tribune, Hippocampus, Longreads, Writer's Digest, and more (and how they’ve gotten nominated for major awards like the Pushcart Prize).

Covered in this episode:

• Why your typical approach isn't working
• The 4 ways to make your writing stand out
• What has helped Nadine and her students get published in major mags
• What Nadine has learned about publishing in her 20-year writing career (first as a Chicago magazine intern, then as a writing professor, a published writer, and a writing coach)

If you want to finally publish your personal essays, look no further! Sign up for Publish the Personal, which will run on Fridays, Jan 23-Feb 27. In this 6-week intensive, we’ll write, workshop, revise, and submit 2 of your personal essays to major publications.

Success Stories mentioned in this show:

Margaret Ghielmetti

Sally Schwartz

Barbara Phillips

Sarah Robertson

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

224 If you want to feel more vibrant and inspired, this encore conversation is for you. Artist and retreat leader, Flora Bowley, joins Nadine for a conversation about their favorite creative practices and Flora's book, The Art of Aliveness.

Join Nadine at her Revision Retreat on Madeline Island Aug 24-28, 2026.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

223 As we prep for the holidays and turn our attention to food, we're revisiting our chat w/ cookbook author, registered dietician, and culinary school grad Nisha Melvani.

Covered in this episode:

-how living in many places (Jamaica, England, Canada, NY) has impacted her cooking

-how food affects our bodies

-how to eat more plants even if you're not vegan

-how to welcome a career change even while raising kids

-how sharing her recipes led to unexpected writing opportunities

-how to have a healthy relationship with social media

About Nisha:

Cookingforpeanuts.com I @cookingforpeanuts

Nisha is a vegan Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a master’s degree in nutrition from Columbia University, an ACCET accredited trained Chef from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, and a published cookbook author of Practically Vegan. She currently lives with her three teenagers in New York City. Nisha uses her professional expertise and personal experience as a vegan to help vegans and nonvegans transition to a plant-based diet and meet their nutrient needs. She enjoys helping her clients with their cooking, nutrition, and health goals.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

222 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout the year. In this 10th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from October, which was a month of trying new things and being in community. She shares her recent experiences at a retreat in upstate New York and in a women's entrepreneur group. She also shares her most recent hormone roller coaster.

Join Nadine at her next retreat:

• Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

Covered in this episode:

• What it's been like to tiptoe back into a fuller work life
• The amazing retreat she assisted and attended at Omega
• Why she joined a women's entrepreneur group that is IFS focused
• Recent hormone adventures that will have you laughing

Access the other episodes when you become a paid subscriber on Substack.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

221 In this hilarious episode, bestselling author Catherine Newman discusses the beauty and torture of parenting and perimenopause. They discuss the balance of humor and fear in Catherine's latest novels, Sandwich and Wreck, in which Catherine gets real about the complexities of everything from family vacations to "reproductive mayhem." Catherine shares her writing process and the personal experiences that've informed her novels. Ultimately. this episode is about how we hold love and terror at once.

Covered in this episode:

• The excerpt that instantly made Nadine a fan of Catherine's writing.
• Nadine and Catherine's ridiculous injuries (one involved a mini-golf incident)
• Maternal anxiety, in all its terror and beauty
• Catherine's approach to writing that sells
• The unexpected symptoms of perimenopause that took both women by surprise
• Why reproductive experiences make intimacy such complicated territory
• How to write about our scariest thoughts without shame

Join Nadine in her community or at her Revision Retreat:

• Writer Workout Membership (virtual): Every Monday, Doors Close Oct 31
• Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Catherine:

Catherine Newman is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids’ craft book Stitch Camp, the best-selling how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?, and the novels We All Want Impossible Things, Sandwich, and Wreck. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages. She has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other publications. She writes the Crone Sandwich newsletter on Substack and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.

220 Writer’s block. How do we overcome it? Nadine shares the 8 tried and true ways to not only break the block, but avoid it altogether. Hear the wisdom she’s gained from her decades of professional writing, magazine editing, university teaching, and manuscript coaching.

Here are the links for her 2025/2026 workshops and retreats:

• Writer Workout Membership (virtual): Every Monday, Doors Close Oct 31
• Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft (In-person): Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.