I edited my About page yesterday. It wasn’t a huge edit. If we’re talking about word count, it was a tiny edit. Just a sentence to say that I’m writing a book. My first book. It’s scheduled to hit shelves in January of 2016 and I’m calling it Simple Matters.
Sharp intake of breath. Shoulder wriggle. Squeal. Exhale. On repeat, every single time I think about it.
The book will be about paring down and whittling away and finding time and space for the things that really matter. The simple matters. Because simple does matter. In tiny spaces. And in much larger spaces. You with me?
The manuscript is due this spring and so I’m hunkering down to do the hard work of writing. In the process I’m doing my best to remember that heart-breakingly good line from the best heartbreaker of all time, Annie Dillard: “How we spend our days, of course, is how we spend we our lives.” I’m reminding myself not to panic about all of those words due in just a few short months. I’m making a ritual out of it. I’m making cups of strong tea before settling into the couch with my laptop. I’m reading inspiring books on the subway ride home from bringing Faye to our babysitter. I’m typing out sentences. Erasing them. Putting them back together again. And trusting that at the end of it all there will be a message that resonates outside of my own four walls.
I’m so grateful to have a platform to share my thoughts with you guys here. And I’m overjoyed to be working on a new project with the encouraging and whip-smart editors at Abrams. Lots more to come here, and in just a little over a year, a little book for you to curl up with. (Tea in hand optional, but recommended.)
104 Comments
Just my style, tea and a good read. Can't wait, Erin!
agreed! congrats erin!
I was just looking through your posts and thinking about how I wish I had a guide in my hand on how I can make my life and my home surroundings a little more down to earth and simple and then I saw your new post. This is so exciting! I would love to read this book in the works.
Tea has always been magical for calming me down, i hope this new journey goes smoothly for you.
Ahh, congrats, Erin! I've loved your blog for so long, and I can't wait to get my paws on your book. Lots of good wishes from Boston.
Exciting news! I love everything you have to say and share – can't wait to own a hardcopy. xo
So excited! I love reading your blog and am thrilled that I get to read more soon!
That is a huge change!!! Congratulations!!
Love from bella Italia,
http://lasagnolove.blogspot.it/2014/12/you-dont-have-to-be-perfect-to-be-here.html
Bambi
Congratulations! I can't wait to get my hands on it!
Congratulations! I've really been enjoying your blog lately, especially the series on a minimalist wardrobe. Due to your great advice, I've really pared down my closet (it wasn't too bad to begin with but now I really do wear everything in there). I've also stopped feeling slightly guilty or weird about all my purple clothes. 🙂 Best of luck on the book-writing process!
Congratulations!! Can't wait!
Dear Erin, congratulations!
I can't wait to have your book in my hands!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful way of living!
Love,
Liliana
I read that yesterday and loved the title immediately! Congratulations and I look forward to reading it.
ah so exciting! congratulations! I'm certainly looking forward to the published product in 2016.
So exciting! I can't wait to read it – with a cup of tea in hand!
LADY! Spectacular news–hearty congratulations from our tiny house to yours.
Yessss!
how wonderful! You definitely have the talent to write a book and I look forward to checking it out!
Hurrah!
Congratulations! That's so exciting <3
Hooray! I can't wait. Biggest, warmest congratulations!!
So cool, congratulations! And I love your tea cup, where did you find it?
Congratulations!! I can't wait to read it – I love your writing.
That's lovely!! I am so looking forward to it. Congratulations!
Congratulations on the book, and I look forward to reading it! Is it going to be available in both print and electronic form? And are you going to include your photographs in the book?
Yes to both! An electronic version and my own photos!
So exciting, Erin! Congratulations!!!
Wow Erin !! Congratulations !! Don't panic please, I am sure you are so capable and writing is your thing. I mean, you have words for everything…writing is in your gens. There are other persons (like me) that write two sentences in a row and they don't know what else to say. So enjoy it !
Wonderful! And yes, it matters in every way : )
I am so excited to hear you're writing a book!! I so admire the style in which you write about your life, delicate honesty is the only way I can think to describe it. Looking forward to your book.
I think of that Annie Dillard line often. Congrats, Erin! I'm excited to see your writing in three dimensions—sure to be an object of beauty.
I am not at ALL surprised! But many, many congratulations are of course in order!
so many congratulations, erin! counting down the days until your book is in my hands 🙂
congratulations! that's terribly exciting. your tips and writing style will translate beautifully into a book.
how exciting (and terrifying)! congratulations.
Congratulatins! Hopefully your book will be available in Europe. I would love to read it! 🙂
I am sooo incredibly excited for this. Congratulations! I cannot wait to read it!
congrats! i will be one of the many people lined up to buy your book the day it hits the shelves 🙂
My word! This is so exciting. Congratulations all around!!
i cannot wait!
Congratulations!
Congratulations, Erin! I had been thinking for some time that you would write a terrific book. I'm thrilled that it will be out in the world soon! xo
thrilled to hear it. overjoyed for you. can't WAIT to read (with a mug of tea, of course). paring down. i like it.
HOORAY!! I too have loved you a long time and can't wait to get the book in my hands. Congrats! 🙂
ah congratulations! How exciting. All the best and I'm sure it will be an amazing read. I'll probably buy it of course 🙂
Wahoo! Go you…congrats!
Congrats!!! This is such good news. Can't wait.
That's great news! Congratulations! I'm looking forward to reading it 🙂
Oh, Erin, congratulations on the book and the quiet writing days and strong cups of tea. It sounds like this is a winter you'll remember for a very long time.
Congratulations! I'm happy for you,and look forward to the book.
Congratulations! I'm sure the book will be subtle, elegant and beautiful just as your blog and yourself
Congratulations! Best of luck on the writing, and I can't wait to read it.
That's amazing news, congrats!
Becky :: accooohtrements.wordpress.com
Congrats, Erin. Your writing is beautiful. I have no doubt the book will be too. Glad to have your blog posts to tide us over until its published.
holy smokes! so proud of you for going for it! and so excited to read the book when it is out!
I'm so happy to hear it! You are a voice of simplicity in my life: this blog space always reminding me to not only simplify possessions, but to also enjoy the simpler things of life. I can't wait to read it!
Oh gosh this is so exciting! 🙂 Congrats! Can't wait to read it!
This news completely made my day! I will be sending you mountains of happy thoughts as you plug away at creating delicious sentences.
Congratulations! Sounds amazing, like a great challenge and maybe a dream come true. Best of luck!
Looking forward to your thoughts.
congratulations, Erin. You deserve this, and your book is going to be incredible. I'm really happy for you.
Congratulations, Erin! So exciting!
Congratulations Erin, sounds wonderful. Something I'd love to read. So very exciting x
What bright news – a big congratulations! Simple does matter, and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts in book form, with a cup of tea in hand.
Best wishes for good ideas to come your way easily.
Good luck with it and congratulations! Looking forward to reading it! Just finished one, so the need for strong tea will continue, but it's all worth it in the end!
Congratulations! Your blog just gets better and better and now there's a book to look forward to. Hope that the book will feature your lovely photographs in addition to your thoughtful words.
Thanks for your kind words! And yes! My photos, too!
SO SO SO happy for you! What great news — TWO babies in two years 🙂 ha . . don't stress the writing. have fun with it– we are your readers and it's all good . . .
Thanks so much, Elizabeth!
Congrats, Erin!
I commented on your Instagram thank-you post but just wanted to comment here, too. RMTL has been a daily source of inspiration for me over the last few years, and I'm thrilled that there will soon be a book on a topic so dear to my heart. And as a publishing nerd, I'm happy to hear that you will be published by Abrams — they have some of the best people in the business! Congratulations to you and enjoy this exciting time 🙂
congratulations! and any time you want to share tips on the writing process/being productive with it/keeping that routine, keep us posted!! (this girl, for one, has got a pesky PhD in progress that ain't writin' itself.)
AHHHHH, that is so exciting!!!! Congratulations; I can't wait to read it!
it will be brill! good on you 🙂
i'm so expecting the simple matters! But will it be there in Indonesia? hmm…
Yay! I am giddy with anticipation!
Your writing is so thoughtful and always inspiring! I have no doubt your book will be a wonderful read! 🙂
Ohmygoodness!! That's soooo exciting! Can't wait to read it. Congrats Erin!
What wonderful news. You're such an inspiring writer and your perspective on life has influenced the way we do some things at home. I very much look forward for more.
Congrats! I am a relatively new reader of your blog, and it makes me happy that the book publishing world thinks there's a place for books like this!
This is exciting news! One day I'd love to write a book too. I'm already looking forward to yours.
How wonderful! I love your blog and will most certainly look forward to your book.
Salut Erin! I'm veru happy for you. I really look forward to read it. I love the topic. Thank you for all the inspiration you are giving me, it feels also good to see other people searching in the same direction.
This is the best news I've read all week! Congratulations; I'm SO excited for this book 🙂
So happy for you! I am writing a book as well, actually two- but the second is for my daughter:). Good luck to both of us!
Very exciting! I love your writing so I look forward to checking out your book.
So excited for you! And excited to read it- I love your blog.
Have you heard of the book "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster? It's a Christian book, but one chapter is entitled "Simplicity" and he has some really beautiful things to say in that chapter about living a simple life (as well as some practical suggestions for how to do just that). It might be worth checking out from the library.
so excited for you and your book! you write beautifully, with the same spirit as the aesthetic you promote. i love this topic as well and love to be reminded of its beauty even as i live it. it keeps me on track.
Erin — that's so great. What a season for you as you write and raise your daughter and love your husband and the rest of your family. Can't wait for the anticipation of your book this time next year (I'm a January baby so it can be my 46th birthday present to myself).
Congratulations.
Congratulations! I'm looking forward to reading it!
Oh my, this is excellent news, indeed! Congrats, sweet lady!
YAY! Congratulations, lady! 🙂
I can't wait to read it! Your writing is so elegant.
My Friday morns consist with catching up on all the lovely internet things I missed in a whirlwind week. Your blog is always the first thing I sit (with cup of hot strong coffee in hand) to peruse. Reading this made me so very happy for you & for me! I think "preorder Simple Matters" will definitely be on my next years santa list! I love what you share about paring down and living more simply. I feel like I'm always always an aspiring minimalist falling short but your blog really helps me to stay the course as it were. I think it's a very important course. It's not just about pretty, simple, smart design -it's a needed change in every American life for sure – many others as well. We have to consume less. We have to live with less. We have to make less & better items. I certainly am aware of this every time I sit down to sew or throw a pot. Best wishes on your endeavor and I can not wait to read it!
This is great! How exciting!!! It's a read I'm looking forward to!
SO looking forward to this, Erin! Congratulations on a well-earned honor. I look forward to reading your thoughts in a longer format, and wish you the best of luck with the writing process.
Oh yay, I am so excited for you and will most definitely buy your book!
Oh congratulations! Good luck with the writing, I'm sure you'd do wonderfully, just remember to breathe 😉 I hope you'll update us periodically as you go, I'd love to hear about your process. Look forward to reading it once it hits the shelves!
Yay!!! How exciting! I cannot wait! 🙂 congratulations
How wonderful! Congratulations Erin, so looking forward to reading it.
That's amazing news! Congratulations!! I'm looking forward to digging in.
Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment!
You mean, we have to wait more than a year for this?! Torture! Pure, torture. 😉
We're overjoyed that you're sharing your thoughts with us, big congratulations! You deserve it!
Comments are moderated.