Welcome to my writing playground (!)
I’m Ashlee—mother of three (12, 9, 5), writer, photographer, and general hype girl for all things creativity. When I’m not writing or vacuuming Cheerios out of the carpet, I love making friends on the Internet, eating cereal for dinner, and rearranging bookshelves. By day, I run Coffee + Crumbs, an online literary magazine for mothers. By night, I moonlight as a writer/author, a (very very part-time) photographer, podcaster, wannabe gardener, and aspiring Fun Mom™️.
About Me
I get a lot of ideas in the shower. I am self-taught in just about everything, but make no mistake: every good thing I’ve ever made has the fingerprints of other women on it. Collaboration is my love language.
What else can I tell you? I’ve read every Anne Lamott book three times, I love taking pictures of the sky in Target parking lots, and I consider popcorn to be its own food group. I don’t take myself too seriously. One of my deepest desires is to always be the kind of person who notices flowers growing in the cracks of sidewalks. (Yes, that’s a metaphor.)
I don’t have a niche because I love too many things, but I believe most of my writing can be filed under the simple-yet-profound category of remarkable grace flooding an unremarkable life.
Why The Second Act?
I started this Substack in 2022 and named it ‘The Second Act’ because Coffee + Crumbs will come to an end eventually, and I’m not sure what I’ll do next. Sometimes I dream of opening a co-working space. Sometimes I dream of working in a bookstore. Sometimes I dream of freelancing with a side of raising chickens (this is the most unlikely dream).
All I know for certain is that in my second act, I want to keep writing.
For now, Substack is my writing playground. This is where I build castles in the sandbox and fly across the monkey bars. This is where I stay curious, where I process my life, where I write lyrical essays about motherhood, creativity, faith, friendship, marriage, and whatever else is stirring in my heart on any given day.
Wait, your Substack is free?
My Substack is totally free to read, and that’s on purpose. For me, the second I integrate finances into my writing playground, the whole vibe changes. At this time, I have a hodgepodge of other paid creative gigs that allow me to keep this space free to read (even though it’s not free to write! 😉). After navigating the intersection of art and business for well over a decade, I’ve realized how important it is for me to have “a writing home” where I retain total and complete creative freedom.
In other words: because nobody pays me to show up here, I only show up when and how I want to, although—to be clear—it is my hope and intention to show up here consistently, generously, and with my very best work. ❤️
How To Support My Writing
If you’d like to support my writing, the best way to do that is to buy a copy of Create Anyway. for yourself or a friend. ❤️ Looking for gold stars and brownie points? Consider hosting a Create Anyway book club!
Other places you can find me online:
I write about motherhood at Coffee + Crumbs.
I don’t practice photography as much these days, simply due to lack of time and bandwidth, but I do still take on a handful of photo shoots a year. Here’s my online portfolio.
And, well, I am still on Instagram (for now). You can follow me @ashleegadd.
