Happy Summer!

Dearest Friends and Supporters

Writing is a funny old thing. Whatever the plan, it kind of unfolds and evolves with a life of its own, sometimes in directions one didn’t quite foresee. Perhaps that’s the very nature of creating anything real from scratch, whatever the medium. So, I’ve now written five monthly parts of my e-book about radical hospitality: Make The Table Bigger and the practical part, the ‘how to’ part that I thought would materialise somewhere near the end of the book actually took shape in my head and fell onto the page a lot sooner than I’d planned. I still have lots of other topics to cover!

But that’s the great beauty of writing dynamically on Substack …at some point I can re-work and re-order the chapters as needed, get it all edited and hopefully knock the whole book into a shape that will be worth re-reading and even printing on paper. Wouldn’t that be something: a real live paper book? At least, that’s the aim. I’d love to publish a really beautiful, book including lots of recipes and more of Hannah’s gorgeous illustrations.¹ To make something really worthwhile that sells lots of copies and makes a shed load more money for the two charities that I’m supporting in the Middle East. Heaven knows, with the volatile political and military situation that the whole region is experiencing right now, they need it. Women and girls, particularly women and girls, need a chance to stand strong on their own two feet. To create a good future for themselves and their families. What we are doing together will go some way, however modest, to support more of them into further education and training and the opportunity to start and succeed with their own small businesses.

So this post is by way of saying thank you again for your help so far. If you’re a paying subscriber your subscription means that together we can do something for people who have known unimaginable suffering, terrible hardships and daily challenges from the ongoing effects of severe earthquakes in Türkiye and war, terrorism and displacement in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. So far you have pledged or given around £2000 and I want to thank you for your generosity and encouragement of this novice writer! I would love to double this amount over the next six months, so if you don’t yet pay to subscribe and you have the means, please do consider it. Or, if you have any kind brother or sister-friends who would like to support, please send them to my Substack page and encourage them on board. They’ll be able to read every chapter that I’ve written so far and all of my free posts.

And, every penny of paid subscriptions will go directly to two trusted charities working on the ground.

I hope you’re enjoying the book chapters I’ve put out so far and Hannah’s original artwork. Now I’m into the next stage of research for the chapters that I’ll be writing in the months to come. I want to look at hospitality towards the stranger, hospitality in cross-cultural settings and what it means to welcome in Generations Z and Alpha, amongst other topics. So, with research and preparation in mind I’ll be taking a break from putting out new chapters over the summer. I’ll be pausing subscriptions so that no-one will be charged until I begin publishing new chapters again in the Autumn. Meanwhile, every piece I’ve written over the last two years or so is there on my webpage if you ever have the yen to re-read or catch up while you’re (hopefully!) lazing on a picnic blanket or sun-lounger with ice-cream dribbling down your chin.

I’ll still post in Notes and maybe even the occasional longer missive in my The Cooks That Taught Me strand, so please do read and keep in touch. I love to hear from you, read your comments and get your ideas. It’s that sense of connection and community that us ‘Substackers’ live and breathe for!

See you on the other side and, until then, have the most chilled and happiest of summers!

With love,

Patricia

1. Find more of Hannah’s work at https://substack.com/@hannahhunterkelmillustration