Hello! And welcome to Chapters and Chaos, where we’ll be bringing you notes from the front line of publishing and parenting. I’m Becs (or Rebecca Ryan if I’m in trouble with my mum), one of two creators of this here Substack and I’m looking forward to sharing my completely chaotic JoUrNeY with you all.
At home, I’m a (single) mum to three kids, one of whom turned seven today and woke me up at 5 am (why, though?) I live with my partner Dan, and his two children are with us half of the time, and let me tell you, it is quite the squeeze fitting seven people into a small terraced house in West Yorkshire.
Now, I love my kids. I’m probably unhealthy levels of obsessed with them and I low key think that they’re the best children to ever walk the earth…but being a single mum was never in The Plan and I have found it, and continue to find it, really hard. The levels of organisation required for even one of them tests the resilience of my to-do lists on a daily basis. Half of the time I think I’m drowning in it all. The other half, I actually am drowning, though I’m trying my best to think positively about it. At least I got left with the best kids who ever lived, right?
I started my writing journey around the same time as my parenting one. Essentially, I didn’t write a word of creative writing until I was in my 30s, but I was getting my creative kicks designing some pretty snazzy worksheets in my job as a history teacher. The first book I wrote didn’t go anywhere, (and I say wrote in the loosest sense of the term here) but the second idea I had, which was actually an idea I had first had when I was twelve, turned into my debut book, My (extra) Ordinary Life which was out in 2023. My second book, The Philosophy of Love came out in 2024 and I’m lucky enough to have another book deal for two more books. The Next Chapter is out on July 17th this year, and my fourth is meant to be coming in summer 2026 (I absolutely should be editing that book as we speak). I never thought I’d write four books; it’s a dream come true. However, it’s also hugely challenging, forging a career in publishing as a single mum (or forging a career in publishing full stop), so I teach a lot of creative writing, do a bit of editing, and just essentially search for ways to top up my income. I’ll be honest about all this, though, the writing, the juggling, the money, all of it, in future blogs.
For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading!
Becs