What to expect here in 2025 – by Laura McKowen – Love Story – substack.com

What I’ll write about, what I won’t, why I have paid subscriptions, and more.

First: My six-week writing and meditation course, The Practice, starts TODAY! For writers and non-writers alike, this is a perfect way to start the new year if you want to establish a regular self-inquiry practice, get unstuck creatively or otherwise, or ground yourself through transition. Grab a spot.

As we enter the new year, I’d share my plans for Love Story in 2025 and other plans for 2025. Since last year was pretty much about survival, and I couldn’t see more than a week ahead at a time, I’m so relieved to feel excited about plans again and to have the energy to work and create.

Publishing frequency

I’m still planning on publishing weekly, although I expect there will be periods where I’ll need some longer breaks while I work on my upcoming book. If I plan to take more than a few weeks away, I’ll notify you all and suspend billing. I’ve tried to publish the same day each week, and it would probably make my life easier, but I’ve never been able to stick to it. While I do have a sort of loose editorial calendar in my head, much of what I write here is based on what I’m experiencing or learning in real time. I’m never going to be the person who pulls something together every Monday just because I told you I would. I’d rather write things that are meaningful and relevant to me, and us, based on the ongoing conversation we’re having. Sometimes, that means I publish every ten days; sometimes, it means twice in one week. But the general cadence is once a week-ish.

Love Story is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

BTS of Book Writing Series

In 2023, I started a Behind The Scenes of Book Writing series, where I planned to take you along as I wrote my third book, a memoir about romantic relationships, or what I call my second sobriety. Because I barely worked on the book last year, I stopped publishing these, and even though I’m back to writing, I won’t continue this series. I will still talk about how it’s going here and there, but I’ve realized I can’t commit to narrating this process as I’m going through it. It pulls me out of it too much.

Writing about alcohol addiction and sobriety

If you’ve subscribed to Love Story because you’re hoping I’ll write about alcohol addiction and sobriety regularly here—while that will always be part of my story and thus will be woven throughout the context of everything I create—I will not be doing much new writing about this. (I haven’t for a while, but I want to be explicit so you know what to expect.)

Over the past ten years, I’ve created a podcast, written two books (WATL, POFH), shared thousands of social media posts, founded a sobriety support community, and written hundreds of articles. Everything I can say is already out there.

Again, sobriety will always be relevant here. When I do AMAs or host my quarterly hangouts for paid subscribers, I will gladly answer questions and discuss the topic, but it won’t be the primary focus of my writing. If you need support getting and staying sober, please consider joining The Luckiest Club, where we have 55+ weekly meetings and an incredible community. I lead the Tuesday 8 am ET meeting and will be teaching The Sober Life, our 5-month program for folks with more than one year of sobriety, beginning February 3.

The topics I’ll be exploring this year

All the stuff in my forthcoming book:

• Love addiction and attachment trauma

• Narcissism and how it impacts adult attachment

• Dating in mid-life and in the modern age, dating apps, etc.

• Negative and positive relationship patterns

• Emotional sobriety—what it is, how we build it

• The link between substance abuse and relationship challenges

• Marriage and divorce

• The evolution of marriage, especially for women

• General psychology of relationships—why we do what we do, dysfunctional and functional patterns, Internal Family Systems, parts

Other topics:

• Mid-life and menopause everything: sex, fitness, body image, sleep, mental health, etc.

• The writing and creative process

• Purpose, “The Bigger Yes”

• The Dig List monthly series where I share all the things I’m loving: books, podcasts, articles, products, shows

Why do I do paid subscriptions?

Some folks still don’t understand or agree with putting content behind a paywall, so let me explain.

80%+ of what I’ve put out into the world over the past ten years has been free: podcasts, blog posts, articles, social media posts, etc. I’ve never taken a salary from The Luckiest Club, and I still don’t; this is a decision I made so we could/can continue to grow and remain accessible. I make a living through my book royalties, this newsletter, teaching courses, and doing retreats. I used to feel like I needed to give away all my work. I don’t feel that way anymore and haven’t for some time. I put tremendous effort into the content here and my work elsewhere, and I take it seriously.

That said, I will always aim to make things accessible, which is why we offer free scholarships to anyone who asks at The Luckiest Club (just email support@theluckiestclub.com and request one). I also offer free access here for one year for anyone who asks (email admin@lauramckowen.com and request one). These are both done on an honor system.

Another reason I put some content behind the paywall is for an added layer of protection and privacy. I want our community to be intentional and for those who choose to be here to be invested in its quality. If anyone who happens to stumble on a link can do a drive-by and drop a shitty comment on a post, that erodes the conversation. If we want to convene with the masses, we’ve got plenty of places to do that. I’m all for you disagreeing with me and telling me about it, but I won’t invite anyone off the street who has no context for my work to do that.

Also, what I write about is largely personal, and this is a place where I’m exploring topics in real time. I want the mental safeguard of a paywall on certain topics, even if anyone can make their way behind it in reality; it allows for more freedom and transparency. I think it provides the same for you, too.

What paid subscribers get

• Access to all posts

• The ability to comment

• Invites to quarterly hangouts and live calls like these

• Discounts on my courses and retreats

I have no definitive formula for determining the percentage of free vs. paywalled posts here, but it’s close to 25% are free, and 75% are paid. Occasionally, I put something up for everyone simply because I think it’s important and don’t want to restrict access, like this one about Dry January.

To every one of you who pays for a subscription here, thank you. I appreciate you tremendously and don’t take your attention and resources for granted.

Get 30% off an annual subscription forever

If you’d like to become a paid subscriber, I’m running a special for the next few days where you will get 30% off your subscription forever—not just the first year. Expires this Friday, Jan 10.

Get 30% off your subscription forever. This is for new subscriptions only.

Other Events This Year

I’ll teach alongside Elena Brower and Kemi Nekpavil at our THRESHOLD retreat September 25-28 in Carbondale, CO. Learn more and register.

From October 17-19, I’ll lead a retreat at Kripalu again. Stay tuned this spring for registration.

Beginning February 3, I’ll teach a 5-month program in The Luckiest Club for folks with more than one year of continuous sobriety ready to go deeper. Learn about The Sober Life.

And, if you want to squeeze into my 6-week writing and meditation course, The Practice, we begin TODAY, January 7! Join me.

Thank you for everything. I’m excited to walk through this year together.

Love,
Laura

You are reading Love Story, a weekly newsletter about relationships, recovery, and writing from Laura McKowen. Laura is the founder of The Luckiest Club, an international sobriety support community, and the bestselling author of two books, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life and Push Off from Here: 9 Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else).

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Love Story is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.