Happy holidays, dear readers. Whatever you believe or don’t believe in — and I certainly fall into the latter camp — I hope this season has offered you the opportunity to be with those you love and care about most. It can be hard to reconcile finding joy at a time like this with all the tragedies playing out across the globe. I don’t know what the answer is. I spend most of my days see-sawing violently between crushing despair and irrational hope. But if there is a time for irrational hope, for me at least, it’s this time of year. May you find your share of it, as well.
5AM StoryTalk will be taking a break from posting until morning EST/PST on the 30th so I can focus on my family, the food we’ll be fortunate enough to have on our table, and wine. Lots and lots of wine.
After that final article for 2023, I’ll return on New Year’s Day with an explanation of a new iteration of this newsletter. It will be followed on the 2nd (morning EST/PST) with the first official 5AM StoryTalk article of the new year – an epic artist-on-artist conversation with Eric Heisserer, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of ARRIVAL (2016) and BIRD BOX (2018) and creator/showrunner of the recently cancelled Netflix series “SHADOW AND BONE”. We’ll be going deep into his craft, the innovation he’s demonstrated in how he’s pursued his career, and some of the troubles that went on behind the scenes of “SHADOW AND BONE”.
If you haven’t become a paid subscriber of 5AM StoryTalk yet, you’re never going to get a better opportunity than this. It’s the biggest discount I’ve ever offered – 20% off monthly subscriptions and 30% off yearly subscriptions. But these links expire within 48 hours, so get on it right now.
And if you can’t afford that but still wish to support my work here on Substack, I’m happy to accept free labor. Share and restack my articles wherever you can and tell your friends about 5AM StoryTalk.
Again, happy holidays, my friend. Be safe, be merry, and be inspired.
Cole