Well hello there, stranger

Way back in the summer of 2024, in those innocent times before Donald Trump started messing up the planet again, I decided to take a little break from this Substack.

I had a new job as a columnist. Was about to launch a new podcast. I’d started writing a new book, my first novel, about a woman who goes on a bender with a Gen Z colleague, takes a hallucinogenic gummy, and wakes up the next morning to discover she is suddenly incapable of people pleasing. Like Liar, Liar, except with a harassed mum instead of a dishonest lawyer.

And because I couldn’t write this book while doing the EXACT opposite of my novel’s heroine, Olivia, I knew I had to let something go, at least for a little bit.

That thing was this newsletter, as you may (or may not) have noticed.

But look, the book is done now. It’s called People Pleaser, and it’s about to come out. Here’s a picture of it, just in case you don’t believe me. (Excuse the toddler-stickers on the mantelpiece that I now realise have been there for 10 years, given that my toddler is about to become a teenager.)

Anyway, in light of this, I thought I would fire the Substack back up to let you know about the book. A part of me was reluctant to do this. The part of me that likes to put myself down and keep myself small and tell myself I am an endless disappointment to everyone. That part of me said: “Bryony, you can’t just revive your newsletter to promote your book, that’s not very authentic, is it?” But I’ve got better at telling that part of me to pipe down, so here I am, back in your inbox. Because if I can’t use my newsletter to tell you what I’ve been up to, where else can I?

I can’t promise that I’m going to return to regular-as-clockwork-once-a-week newsletters, because that would be people-pleasery and disingenuous AND I DON’T DO THAT ANYMORE. But I am going to make these emails more frequent, with more updates on things I am up to and stuff I’ve been enjoying that I want to share with you. Whether you read these emails or not is absolutely none of my business, so as you were (and all that).

I’ll be returning next week with an exclusive extract from People Pleaser, just for you as a subscriber of this newsletter. For now, I wanted to let you know that I am going on tour to talk about People Pleaser - you can get tickets here, and I would love to see you for hugs and chats! - and even better, my publishers have kindly put together a lovely competition as a thank you for anyone who pre-orders People Pleaser here.

(As I’m sure you hear often, pre-orders mean a lot to authors, because they help us to get our books out there. It’s only right, then, that we give something back to you!)

If you pre-order People Pleaser, you can enter to win a £200 spa voucher, so that you can spend some time pleasing yourself (for once). Or you could win one of 100 people to get a Fresh Out Of F*cks tote bag, which feels like a useful life accessory.

To enter, just pop your details into the form on this link https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/win-a-200-spa-voucher-with-people-pleaser-by-bryony-gordonWinners will be contacted to provide proof of purchase after the competition closes 23.59 on 22 April 2026

OK, that’s all for now. It was a joy catching up again. See you next week, for that exclusive extract of People Pleaser. But no worries if not, lol.

Much love,

Bryony x