G'day {name}

I realised recently that I really miss producing the print edition of The Letter. So rather than sit around in my studio pining for other days, I've simply shifted this into a new gear.

These emails are now quite long! You'll see what's in it a little bit lower down. (I've given you a contents list, so you can just go to what lights you up.)

Would love to hear what you think about this new version. If you have comments and thoughts about it, hit me back and let me know.

Enjoy!

x Leticia

1. Editorial
2. Huge thanks to... (is your name here, {name}?)
3. Recipe: Flatbread
4. Why you shouldn't worry about A.I.
5. Subscriber question
6. News
7. Competition
8. Referral program
9. Recent Blogs

If you've ever felt like your bucket was empty, and you didn't know how to refill it, you're not alone.

I'm in a glorious place right now, and yet I feel kinda empty.

I'm a full-time mum to a beautiful two-year-old who wants to play this song on stage when he grows up. (He calls it "Thunderweel"). I have no big client projects on my desk. I coach brilliant and focused creatives and freelancers. I read tarot and interpret numerology.

After grappling with a horrendous project for the last year and a half, through the process of matrescence no less!, I feel burnt out. I am not even sure what will fix it, short of a week-long media fast.

Scouting around my bookshelves for some trash to enjoy, I eventually gave up. Instead, I decided to rebuild The Letter.

I hope you enjoy this edition. It's an almost exact replica of the print edition. The print edition is a little bit longer, with more articles in it, but I figured you'd be bored shytless if I packed it with too much stuff.

Having said that, if you want more depth, just yell.

Oh - and if you make the flatbread, send me photos! :)

Lots of love
Leticia

Carrie Dennis (New York City) - freelance writer & editor

Thanks for your coaching referrals to Jeremy and Tim, Carrie! Your connections are amazing, and I appreciate every person you send my way. Let's keep raising the tide of all creatives, together. 

♥ Connect with Carrie on LinkedIn.

This flatbread is perfect for pizza and, if you let it billow up, pocketbread for sandwiches. Haven't tried a yiros (yet) but give me time...

Ingredients:

• Self-raising flour
• Greek yoghurt

Method:

Add 1 cup of greek yoghurt to 2 cups of flour.

Mix with your hands. Once it's kind of together, turn it out and knead it briefly.

Cut the dough into pieces, shape into balls, and roll them out flat. How flat? Uh, well pretty thin. You want to be able to handle them. If you like your flatbread more 'bready', leave them with a bit of height. I like mine super thin.

Bake in a hot oven (about 200ºC) for approx 10 mins or until slightly golden.

Bam! Flatbread!

If you're using it for pizza bases, don't brown them. Just cook them enough to inflate. Turn them out, allow to cool, and then smother in your favourite toppings. Nothing beats homemade pizza on these babies!

Thanks to Play School for the recipe. Total making time is approx 15 minutes.

Artificial intelligence is the latest crazy hype, terrifying creatives all over the western world. If that’s you, you’re thinking about it wrongly. This is my attempt to give you back your spirit.

Artificial intelligence vs creativity

Your creativity will never be threatened by artificial intelligence (AI). Your creations are energy-filled, soulful, divine works. In contrast, AI manufactures soulless remixes that fit some developer’s idea of a perfect world.

Smart creatives will leverage AI to make corporate cash, it’s true. The entrepreneurs out there have been doing it a long time already (I’m talking 6+ years).

But the outcome? An explosion of human creativity and art outside of the construct, because that’s what we DO. That’s the heart of an artist. Why else do you imagine we’re being programmed to believe otherwise? No, that’s no coincidence. Art gives hope, shows us a way through. Without creativity, we simply remix the past forever.

Watch my pep-talk on this to understand why.

If you have a burning question about creativity, authorship, consulting or life readings, send it to me and I'll answer it in the next edition.

Because this is really Edition 1, I'm cheating here. Instead of a subscriber question, here's one I recently fielded from a coaching client:

'Do you have any resources that might help me with my scheduling?' - Carrie.

Yes! I always recommend a blend of the Manager Vs Maker schedule + Sharran Srivatsaa's Review/Preview method. Maker vs Manager is the only way to bring ease and focus back into a creative life - otherwise you're all brain! And without Review/Preview you'll never make the Maker parts work properly.

♥ Read Maker vs Manager here, and listen to Review/Preview here.

Systems and discipline are essential in all business. More so, often, for creatives because in our creative lives we imagine that systems are counterproductive to creativity. Actually, the reverse is true. Systems allow you the space in which creativity flourishes. The problem with being blocked is chaos, not structure.

After Lionstower entered into a merger negotiation, my latest book, Artist in Recovery, was removed from worldwide sale. I've since clawed it back and will republish it myself. Stay tuned!

About my services: I am no longer offering ghostwriting for memoirs and lives. I am happy to give you pointers, and coach you through it, but I am not going to write for you any more.

The next Creative Cluster kicks off in September. This is for anyone who is at heart a creative but who is blocked for some reason. Key points:

• your commitment is 12 weeks long
• it requires a weekly check-in (not negotiable),
• you commit to do tasks each week
• you pay a facilitation fee of $60
• you have to get your own copy of The Artist's Way ahead of time.

To join in, just reply to this email and put your name on the list.

Reply to this email with your answers to WIN!

The prize this month is an Amazon gift card.

1. What service am I no longer providing?

2. Who referred 2 people this month?

3. What goes in flatbread besides flour?

4. Why should I not be afraid of A.I.?

Email your responses to leticia@leticiamooney.com with "July Competition" in the subject line. Get your entry in before 25 July 2023.

When you refer to me someone who becomes a paying client, I am enormously grateful.

So much so that I pay you.

Here's how it works:

• You don't need to be a client to gain the benefit
• You get a gift card for all sales up to $5,000
• You get 15% of the sale value, over $5,001 in cash or precious metals (your choice).

For example:
If you were to refer a company to me for a consulting contract valued at $20,000, you have the potential to pocket $3,000.

If you are already a coaching client then you get 15% off your next invoice for every new client you refer. And yep, you get it when they renew their contracts, too.

It's my gift to you. All you have to do is send a warm introduction, and I'll do the rest.

x Leticia