Dear Plastic Balls,
Thanks for bouncing, not breaking.
Nora Roberts, best-selling author of more than 200 books, once said “The key to juggling is to know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic and some are made of glass. And if you drop a plastic ball, it bounces. No harm done. If you drop a glass ball, it shatters—so you have to know which balls are glass and which balls are plastic, and prioritize catching the glass ones.”
She said this in response to a question about how she juggled writing and raising her family. Of course, it should be noted that successful men are never asked questions like this—but let’s forgive the interviewer in this one instance since it led to Nora gifting us with her wisdom.
I wish I could remember who first shared this philosophy with me (it was probably Bradeigh!) but I vividly remember the immense relief I felt the moment I heard the words. It felt like someone was shining a light on the path forward, giving me a clear and simple way to help manage all the balls I was struggling to juggle.
Since then, Nora’s words have had a permanent place on the mental list of quotes I pull out whenever I’m feeling anxious or overwhelmed—right next to something one of my sister’s best friends shared at her baby shower almost a decade ago. That quote: “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”
At 45-years-old, I’m still trying to learn the lesson that I can’t do everything—I genuinely want to do ALL the things. But there are only so many hours in the day, a person needs sleep, burnout is real and all the other things most functioning adults know and have accepted. But Nora’s theory has helped me divide things into categories of plastic or glass.
In the last few months, I’ve had to let a few plastic balls drop so I could keep catching the big glass ones, including:
WORK, obviously. Advertising has never been a nine-to-five job, but I’m lucky to love what I do. I’m also very grateful to be working for an agency that has a healthy and collaborative culture and not a toxic one! Sure, there are some late nights and occasional weekend work, but it helps to know that I’m working on projects that really matter with a team of great people.
WRITING A NEW BOOK. Last week, my co-author/BFF Bradeigh and I finished what we’re calling “draft 2.5” of our next Ali Brady book, and we sent it to our agents and a handful of beta readers. The book, Battle of the Bookstores, will be coming out in Summer ‘25 and I like to think of it as “You’ve Got Mail” meets “The Hating Game.” It’s our first pure romance novel with one male and one female POV, and it was really fun to write. But it was also really time consuming.
LAUNCHING ANOTHER BOOK. This whole juggling metaphor is really appropriate for the publishing industry. If you’re on a book a year schedule like we are, it feels like you’re up to your eyeballs in next year’s manuscript while you’re also trying to promote the book coming out in (checks calendar) twenty-eight days—gulp!—and also trying to think about what comes next.
I’m going to spend a little more time talking about this particular glass ball because these days, it’s part of an author’s job to self-promote (as uncomfortable as it may be) and because pre-orders matter more than ever.
Our book is called UNTIL NEXT SUMMER and it’s a romance novel that takes place at an adult summer camp. (yes, they really do exist!) It’s full of: ☀️Summer camp nostalgia: campfires, skinny dipping, canoe races, Color Wars and more 💕Two love stories in one (more romance-focused and steamier than our prior books) 👯♂️Second-chance friendship,🔥Hooking up with your old camp crush (allll around the camp property, plus 🥰 Found family and So. Much. Love.
Until Next Summer comes out on July 9th and it’ll be available everywhere ebooks, audio books or paperback books are sold. If you want a signed copy with some fun book swag, you can pre-order it from one of our local indie bookstores, Volumes in Chicago and The King’s English in Salt Lake City.
And one last thing because I feel like I have to say it: if you’re reading this before June 22nd, you can enter to win one of ten free copies over on Goodreads! Publishers look at the number of people who enter those giveaways to gauge interest in the book, so it really does help when you enter!
But back to the other glass balls…
STARTING A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION. When I talk about Artists Against Antisemitism, I usually say that I accidentally founded it. And that’s honestly how it felt. The idea for the organization came from a group chat with a few Jewish authors who were struggling in the aftermath of October 7th. Someone (me) suggested—why don’t we do an auction to raise money to fight antisemitism on college campuses? And then someone else (my now co-President, Jill Santopolo) said—let’s do it, and I have an idea for our charity partner!
And just like that, Artists Against Antisemitism was born. In less than three weeks, we put together an auction featuring more than 400 items and raised over $120,000 for Project Shema, an organization doing the important work of fighting antisemitism by building bridges through understanding.
Since then, we’ve become a corporation in Illinois and recently got our official 501c3 status (which means we’re able to accept donations if you’re so inclined!). We also have a newly appointed board of directors who I’m grateful will be helping to step in, catching some of the many glass balls that go into launching and managing a charity.
I’ve had a few conversations with friends about what category this particular ball should fall under—and if it were any other cause and any other time, it might be plastic. But in this moment, taking a stand and fighting against antisemitism is a glass ball for me. It’s not just an issue I care about, it’s a matter of who I am.
There are more glass balls I won’t get into—staying connected with family and friends, getting enough sleep and rest, trying to get more exercise and cook more and eat healthier—but those are the big ones.
As you may have gathered, I have a hard time saying no (I really did try with my ‘Protect the Flame’ mantra). I also get really excited by new things—like the 366 Day Photo Challenge I started and then abandoned over on Instagram. (I did manage to keep it going for a good 100 days…)
This Substack has also fallen into the plastic category, more by necessity than by choice. It takes time on any new platform to grow an audience and get the hang of things, and I’m sure it didn’t help that I dropped the ball (pun kind of intended) on new content so soon after starting.
But this post is to say that I’m hoping to be back, posting weekly-ish. There might come another time—like when we get edits back or when we’re on our upcoming book tour—that I might miss a few weeks. But that’s the best thing about plastic balls…
They don’t break, they bounce.
Thanks for being here and sticking with me. If you like this post, I would be honored if you gave it a heart or shared it or subscribed. And tell me in the comments if you have any other good quotes or words of wisdom you live by. I’m always looking for more inspiration.
xo,
Alison
A juggler of many glass and plastic balls
I love this - and I think it's ok when some balls become plastic because others have to be glass in any given moment. Keep crushing it!
You just constantly amaze Me. Not only do you juggle all the balls you have going as you mentioned above, but I have to admire the grace with which you do it all. You are fantastic.