 Yesteryear has been impossible to avoid lately, and for good reason. Anne Hathaway read it, attached herself to it, and the book landed a publishing deal and a film deal essentially at the same time—instant hype, and instant online debate about tradwives and influencer culture.
The novel follows Natalie Heller Hills, a tradwife and Christian influencer pregnant with her sixth child, who is living what looks like her dream life: recreating pioneer living on her farm, Yesteryear. As we get deeper into her world as a successful influencer, the layers peel back, and it becomes clear that "online Natalie" and "real-life Natalie" are locked in a quiet battle for dominance. Then Natalie wakes up in a nightmare version of reality—actually living as a pioneer woman, with only her memories of the influencer world and the contemporary life she left behind. Is someone playing a prank on her? Is this real? The book holds that uncertainty well, and the payoff, when it comes, is sublime—the hope of it is worth the ride. What makes Yesteryear so interesting is the tension it exposes in the tradwife concept itself. The "traditional wife" archetype is supposed to be the stay-at-home woman who cooks, cleans, does everything, and submits to her husband. But the influencers performing that role online are often the ones actually earning the money—they become the primary breadwinners, which quietly flips the whole dynamic the archetype is built on. Burke digs into that contradiction with real insight, and it's the same tension that makes something like *The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives* so compelling to watch—women who look like the tradwife ideal on the surface but are, in practice, bucking it constantly. A couple of lines from early in the book stuck with me. On page five: "And who was I? A flawless Christian woman, the manic pixie American dream girl on this nation's deepest, darkest fantasies, the mother every woman wanted to be and the wife every man wanted to come home to. Like a nun in an apron, it didn't make sense, but also by God it worked." And on page six: "That's the thing about being a mother and a wife and an influencer all at the same time. It's basically like breastfeeding three babies simultaneously, like seducing three lovers at once." Both had me laughing out loud, and both capture exactly what the book does best: holding up the fantasy Natalie sells online next to the reality of what it costs her, and exploring the psychological toll of curating a "perfect" life for public consumption. Yesteryear is a contentious book—people seem to either love it or hate it, and I don't think anyone reads it impartially. I loved it, toll and all. I'll be watching the movie when it comes out. Anne Hathaway, do it for me. Rating: Recommended, especially if you're drawn to stories about motherhood, faith, feminism, and the strange economics of internet fame.
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She hadn't left her house in a decade. So at the start of 2025, poet Krystle Hurdy made herself a deal: one scary thing a week. One week, the scary thing was submitting a poem. She won the June Shenfield National Poetry Award. That's the whole lesson, and it's not "be brave." It's keep showing up, especially afraid. You can't win the rounds you sit out. New on the Substack—on scary things, lotto tickets, why I've stopped calling it "promotion," and being as kind to yourself as you are to everyone else. https://open.substack.com/pub/amrasarmchairanecdotes/p/one-scary-thing-a-week-what-a-poet?r=i0jxk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true 
To celebrate the launch of Echoes Among Wattle Pines I'm doing a Goodreads Giveaway for US readers.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Echoes Among Wattle Pinesby Amra PajalicGiveaway ends August 04, 2026. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Echoes Among Wattle Pines TrailerTropes
 Show notes Krystle Herdy, a queer disabled poet and editor, discusses the emotional reality of writing poetry, navigating literary spaces as a queer and disabled writer, and the pressure of recognition. She emphasizes the importance of authenticity, representation, and accessibility in the literary world. The conversation covers the journey of a poet and writer, Krystle, as she navigates the challenges and triumphs of her creative life. It delves into the themes of bravery, self-compassion, the value of poetry, and the importance of creating accessible spaces for disabled writers. Takeaways
Chapters
Listen/Watch Watch on YouTube/Substack. Listen on your favourite platform. Find links below. https://www.amrapajalic.com/podcast.html  Connect with Krystle Herdy
Krystle Herdy, a queer, disabled poet and editor based on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. In 2025, Krystle won the June Shenfield National Poetry Award, and her work has appeared in Australian and international journals. Her first poetry collection, Mythology Mechanic, was published while she was still an undergraduate—an experience that shaped her early relationship with literary success, visibility, and voice. Krystle describes poetry as a space where precision and ambiguity, structure and chaos, can exist at the same time—and I think that tension sits at the heart of both art and identity. In this conversation, we talk about the emotional reality of writing poetry, the pressure of recognition, navigating literary spaces as a queer and disabled writer, the tension between authenticity and expectation, and why poetry still matters in a world increasingly shaped by speed, algorithms, and certainty. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krystle_jadeh/ One of the best parts of running this podcast is that every episode teaches me something I couldn't have learned any other way. 🎙️💫 Episodes 17–19 of Amra's Armchair Anecdotes brought three incredible voices to the mic — and their words are staying with me. ✍️ Koraly Dimitriadis — "A writer I admire once said to me, if it was easy, everyone would do it." 🗣️ Katherine Firth — "Human beings really respond to other humans. They respond to your authenticity, to your feelings, to your passion." 💪 Veronica Ho — "Training has taught me that it's not just about training — I'm stronger mentally than I've ever been. Training is my therapy." These are the voices that don't always get the spotlight they deserve — and that's exactly why I'm here. Sharing their lessons, one episode at a time. 🎨 Graphics coming soon. 🎧 Links in bio. https://www.amrapajalic.com/podcast.html    New episode! I sat down with Jelena Curic for Episode 32: How a Viral Comedy Character Sold Out Her Debut Novel (Without Bookstore Gatekeepers). Jelena is a lifelong performer and singer who started making reels to promote her debut novel, Sing to Me, and ended up creating Teta Jela — everyone's favourite Balkan aunt. Her social media has gone viral as she explores Teta Jela's takes on life, and my favourite sketches are the contrast between Teta Jela's parenting style and Summer Breeze's mum. In this episode, we unpack Jelena's multifaceted artistic journey as a writer, comedian, singer, and cultural representative — from creating Teta Jela to the challenges of cultural representation in writing, the realities of the publishing industry, and what it takes to protect your creative freedom. We also get into midlife challenges, coping with anxiety and vulnerability, embracing confidence and authenticity, the risks of content creation, navigating online identities, and the emotional impact of menopause on relationships and storytelling. 🎥 Watch on YouTube or Substack 🎧 Listen on your favourite audio platform 🔗 https://www.amrapajalic.com/podcast.html  I'm a subscriber to Jane Frideman's Electric Speed newsletter. Sign up below. https://jane-friedman.kit.com/posts/electric-speed-raising-prices In her latest newsletter she listed: Are you “in the weights”? In the Weights lets you type in a name and see whether today’s major AI models “know” who the person is—recognizing them from memory alone, without looking anything up online. AI models are built from billions of internal numbers (the “weights”), and some of what they absorb during training gets baked permanently into those numbers. So, a person the model can describe from memory is, in this site’s words, “in the weights.” It might be worth a look, whatever you think of AI. Keep in mind it’s a rough instrument, better treated as a curiosity and not a scorecard. (Yes, I am in the weights, as a publishing industry expert, top 3 percent.) So I thought I'd test it and see how well AI knows me. I'm attaching the information in the post and my commentary below. GPT 5.5 is correct GPT 5.4 thinks I'm a community worker Claude is accurate Claude Haiku is accurate Grok is correct Gemini light thinks I'm a social worker Kimi changed my short story collection from The Cuckoo's Song to The Cuckoo's Flight Deepseek is wacked and thinks I'm a social worker and completely changed my novel title GLM Flash thinks my novel is called The Bridge-I have no books by that title at all. Weird. Mistral is all accurate I was using Chat GPT, but have switched to Claude and imported all my data. I use AI to help me research, brainstorm, analyse novels or articles, help me with structuring novels and articles, write social media posts, write emails where I'm too angry and blunt to be trusted with a keyboard. I'm also experimenting with having Claude do a daily task of collect articles of interest that I can view and see if it sparks ideas. I also use it for teaching to help me differentiate, spark ideas for resources, etc. I've also been thinking about how to support Generative Engine Optimisation for my website and to that end have added some extra features like my media kits, questions and answers. If you use AI, what model do you use and what for? On school holidays and getting to properly immerse myself in my creative life. Spent all day writing an article I'm going to pitch next week. I haven't been writing much I wanted to pitch lately—mostly just writing for my Substack instead. There's no pressure there to fit a publication's standard, no thinking about whether it's commercial enough. It's become my little corner of the world where I can write whatever thought is in my head and just get it out. I love that freedom. But every so often something comes along that I feel deserves a wider audience, and that's when I'm motivated to write for publication instead of just for myself. This article is one of those. Was so deep in my writing life today I completely forgot about my hairdressing appointment. Keep your fingers crossed the pitch lands. If not, you'll get to read it on my Substack anyway—that's the beauty of having it. If you want to keep up with my musings, go to my Substack: https://amrasarmchairanecdotes.substack.com/  School holidays have given me some much-needed downtime, and I'm loving the chance to sink back into my creative life. I'm thrilled to share where things are at across the series: Book 4 — Echoes Among Wattle Pines is finished and available for pre-order now, releasing 1 August 2026. Yes, you read that right — less than a month until it's out in the world! 🎉 Book 5 — Whispers Behind the Wire is drafted and resting. This is my first series, and I'm learning that the way to go is to batch and draft books, then start the next one while the previous rests. That distance lets me return with fresh eyes, tighten story arcs, and make sure every thread pays off. Book 6 — Shadows Beneath the Crescent is my current work in progress, and I've just hit 32,000 words. Seka is really coming alive — lots of internal conflict and a cracker of a case. Writing long-form has been such a rewarding experience. I get to build a world, deepen my character, and craft mysteries that dig into Australia's history along the way. Which book are you most looking forward to? 👀 https://www.amrapajalic.com/seka-torlak-series.html    |
AuthorAmra Pajalić is an award-winning author, an editor and teacher who draws on her Bosnian cultural heritage to write own voices stories for young people, who like her, are searching to mediate their identity and take pride in their diverse culture. She writes memoir, young adult and romance under the pen name Mae Archer. newsletterSign up and receive free books.
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