Introducing Nocturnal Journal!
A Fiction & Poetry Newsletter by Ecem Yucel
My dearest fellow Medium writers and readers,
It’s been some months since I created a newsletter for my website, thinking I may share my updates and ramblings with you in a monthly manner. I only announced it on Medium once and left it at that. Because I suck at announcements and self-promoting. You wouldn’t know it, but there is an old Turkish movie in which the protagonist, who once was a rich landowner, loses his all possessions and is forced to sell tomatoes while driving through the streets, letting the people in those neighborhoods know that he is selling tomatoes with a megaphone. He is so shy during his first time that he only murmurs, “tomatoes…” with a very low voice which can’t be heard even through the megaphone. It’s actually a funny scene, but I feel for the protagonist because I’m totally that guy.
So, I murmured tomatoes a few months ago, and only a few good friends heard me. Which is to be expected if you only murmur under your breath in public, then nag about it to your friends when you’re alone. Then, I went through a mental strain which, in a way, paralyzed me and I couldn’t write anything (not even a shopping list) properly for a long time. I was also in my second lockdown in a year, which continued for two months, so what kind of updates and such could I write about and send to my newsletter subscribers? Dear subscriber, today I finally bit the bullet and took a shower…
No, the more I thought about the newsletter, the more I distanced myself from the idea. But then, I have also been receiving Hengtee Lim (Snippets) and Mark Starlin’s newsletters and enjoying them immensely. So, what are these guys doing with their newsletters that I, as their reader, am happy to read them?
That’s right. They are simply doing what they always do. Creating great stories and sharing them with their readers via their newsletters. And why wasn’t I doing the same thing? What can be better than sharing a story or a poem with a friend?
In the meantime, again by Mark Starlin, I was introduced to Substack. I liked how you can create a newsletter and send it to your subscribers, but also have a page for your newsletters to be read on the website so that more people on Substack can find and read them. Kind of like Medium (Mark explains it so much better than me, therefore, if you’re interested, you can read his recent article here).
So, using Substack, I created my fiction and poetry newsletter, Nocturnal Journal!
Nocturnal Journal is a biweekly, free newsletter. In each issue, I’ll simply send my subscribers a poem and a story of my creation. If you’ve been reading my stories and poems for a while now, you know I tend to write poems that have a story within, and stories (though it depends on the story) that are a bit on the darker side. Also, in my newsletter, I may share some new stories and poems that I won’t be publishing elsewhere, including Medium. This means, if you subscribe, there will be some exclusive content! *wink* *wink*
So, won’t you come and subscribe, and make me the happiest girl in the whole world? Because this is what it is: I only feel alive when I write, and I only write when you read me. What can I say? I’m weird like that. And there are no words to express how much I appreciate your support.
You can subscribe to my newsletter here:
It would be an understatement if I say I was looking forward to seeing you there. Thank you so much for reading! You guys are the best.
Oh, and, um, TOMATOES!
Ecem
P.S.: To my seven subscribers who subscribed even when there wasn’t really a newsletter ~ don’t worry, I’ve already carried your email list to Substack, so when I start to send the newsletters, which is soon, you’ll be the first ones to receive it.
