Do you have a problem that needs Fictional Therapy?
If so, I'd love to hear from you! Plus, announcements...
Dear Fictional Therapy readers,
A brief update today, rather than a full post!
Firstly: some of you may have been wondering this past month where all the thorny dilemmas I respond to come from. Well, I can reveal to you that the problems are bonafide, sourced from real-life people - generous friends of mine who I pestered until they proffered up their heartache in the name of Art.
Now, while my correspondents are anonymous to you, dear reader, I know my friends back to front, so I could normally figure out who had written in, despite the anonymous submission form I fastidiously used. Whenever I received a message I was touched and grateful.
But then something else wonderful happened. Two weeks ago, I received a problem and I truly DID NOT KNOW WHO IT WAS FROM. And then, just yesterday, it happened again. I discovered the agony aunt’s greatest validation: a genuinely unsolicited request for help.
All this is to say that it brings me great joy to discover a problem waiting in my inbox, whether from a known or unknown source. And I’m also happy to report that a few of you have actually asked me if I welcome submissions, so I thought it was worth doing a post about it. Also, let’s be frank - if you’re enjoying this column and want it to carry on, some of you are going to have to write in, because it will make me feel truly, clinically, beyond help to make the problems up myself.
So here we go: you can submit to the column by clicking here - or, there is always a link on the ‘About’ page of my Substack. Once more for the people at the back: your submission is anonymous. I don’t even see your email address.
Whatever’s on your mind: great love, petty rivalry, work drama - I’d absolutely love to hear from you. I will think carefully and respond kindly and use all of the classical literature knowledge I have at my disposal to make you feel less alone.
Secondly: having sent out columns on a few different days now, it seems like Sunday is the day that works best. So here is my promise, committed to paper: from now on Fictional Therapy will come out every Sunday. Read it in bed hungover, read it at the pub over a roast, or save it and read it on Monday when you’re stuck in a boring Zoom call. All things are possible.
Thanks for reading, subscribers! You’re all lovely! X