Howdy.
My name is Haven Iverson. Welcome to ETC.: Notes on Children’s Writing and the Creative Life for the Chronically Inspired
Every day—whether I am walking, reading, writing, editing, or listening (these 5 things make up the bulk of my life)—I come across ideas and inspirations that support the care and feeding of my creative self. This Substack newsletter is dedicated to the care and feeding of YOUR creative self. I believe each of us hold enormous creative potential, which is far weirder and wilder and more interesting than anything AI can ever touch.
By day I am an editor and ghostwriter of adult nonfiction. You can that part of me online at wordhaven. By night (and in the early mornings), I am a writer of children’s literature, for which I am totally and completely obsessed. This Substack leans toward that side of me, though both editor me and author me live side-by-side and inform each other.
A note on the subtitle for this Substack: many years ago, when I worked in publishing, I had the good fortune of supporting Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, during the recording of her series The Dangerous Old Woman. I was in my mid-30s at the time—and now, as I enter my mid-50s, I really hope I am making good tracks on becoming the dangerous old woman she described in her audio. One evening, before we got started , I was talking to her about my distracted, chaotic, and often dreamy mind. I thought something was wrong with me. And she said, “my dear, nothing is wrong with you—you are chronically inspired. You just need to learn how to harness it.” That reframe changed everything for me—and I started learning how to collect my ideas and inspirations so that they didn’t flitter by and made their way into my work. I have notebooks full of those inspirations, and now, with this newsletter, I will share many of thoughts, notes, and discoveries here.
I am the author of two children’s books. Into the Wilderness, illustrated by August Zhang, will be released from Roaring Book Press/Macmillan in March 2026. You can find that book here.
And Slow Down, Tumbleweed, from St. Martin’s Essentials/ Macmillan, which lives here.
I live in Boulder, Colorado. You can often find me wandering the trails above town. You can also find me on Instagram here.
Why subscribe?
My newsletter goes out every week—bright and early on Thursday mornings. It includes:
Notes, ideas, and encouragement for the writing process
Links to articles, podcasts, and other things hiding out on the internet that support the creative life
Book reviews
Behind the scenes of how to get a book from idea to done
Interviews with other authors on the creative process
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If you choose to subscribe to the paid tier, you will receive
Insider tips on getting published from my life as a former Editorial Director an acquiring editor at a publishing house, along with occasional interviews with agents of both children’s literature and adult nonfiction
Occasional video writing tutorials
Access to all archived newsletters
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