Welcome to Slow Stories 🐌 💌 🎙️✍🏻
Slow Stories began as a podcast and, with the introduction of this newsletter, has expanded into a personal journal that includes letters and conversations about time, creativity, and pace. Subscribers receive a mix of the following:
Podcast interviews with leading writers, artists, and thinkers—guests include Kate Baer, Maggie Smith, Pico Iyer, Katherine May, Ross Gay, Lauren Elkin, Caleb Femi, and many more
Personal essays and musings, plus Notes and stories on intentional style, living, art and books
Life chapters and slow stories from other creative Substackers
✨ Slow Stories is a true labor of love. Opting into a paid subscription will give you access to the full archive plus exclusive content. It also allows me to continue writing these letters and producing the podcast. (You can also show your support by ordering a copy of my book, Slowing.)
I've meditated on whether it's right for me to start a newsletter in this often fast-moving, saturated landscape, but I've come to envision this as my third creative place—an ever-evolving space to slow down, write, reflect, and commune with you. Thank you for being here.
— Rachel
About Me
I’m a writer, author, and creator based in Brooklyn, New York. My first book, Slowing, was published by Chronicle Books in September 2024—and I’m currently working on a novel. I also work with leading brands and write about art, books, design, and fashion. My essays and interviews have appeared in BOMB Magazine, Coveteur, Literary Hub, TOAST Magazine, Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy, and elsewhere. You can read more about my story/work in outlets including ELLE, Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, and The Creative Independent.
💌 Contact: rachelmschwartzmann@gmail.com
🤳 Follow: @rachelschwartzmann
🖥️ Discover: https://rachelschwartzmann.com/
Praise for Slowing
“Slowing combines memoir, interview, and instruction for a volume that feels more like an invitation than a guide. Rachel Schwartzmann wants to coax her readers to recognize slowing as something essential, powerful, and transformative—rather like time itself.”
- ELLE Magazine
“Establishing Schwartzmann as an exceptional literary voice, Slowing weaves a stunning tapestry which honors the beauty that surfaces when the mundane is made magical.”
- Girls on the Page
“In a day and age where ‘busy’ is a badge and productivity is paramount, Rachel Schwartzmann’s Slowing is an enchanting and soulful examination of what matters most: time, joy, creativity, and feelings. This is a beautiful book, filled with optimism and light.”
- Debbie Millman, author of Why Design Matters and host of the podcast Design Matters
“The first half-sentence I fell in love with was ‘Worries attach themselves to mailbox keys,’ and everything that followed was a considered balm, though one that provoked such varied thought. Slowing holds awareness and secrets and a close attention, but more than anything, it is such a soft place to land.”
- Ella Frances Sanders, New York Times and internationally bestselling author and illustrator of five books, including Lost in Translation and Everything, Beautiful
“Rachel Schwartzmann brings a calm, deep, and intentional intelligence to the interviews she does for her [project], Slow Stories. Slowing, an ingeniously interlaced collection of personal essays, interviews, and creative prompts that hit like quiet firecrackers, offers that same steadying feeling. Reading it is the closest I’ve come to experiencing words as focused meditation.”
- Brandon Stosuy, co-founder of The Creative Independent, Editor of Sad Happens, and author of Make Time for Creativity, Stay Inspired, and How to Fail Successfully
“A thoughtful, introspective approach to writing, creating, and being aware of one's own intentions. The accessible daily prompts will help both those who are feeling stuck and those who are looking to dive a level deeper into their work. Rachel Schwartzmann has created a new kind of map which can lead us closer to ourselves.”
- Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else
“Both a reflective guide and a stirring meditation on time, connection, and pace, Slowing shares thoughtful prompts and stories that draw readers inward—to what captures their attention, to what ordinariness sustains them, and to creativity that’s been unfolding within their lives all along.”
- Rainesford Stauffer, journalist and author of All the Gold Stars and An Ordinary Age
“A thoughtful, intentional work filled with reflections and learnings, Slowing serves as much a guide as it does a reminder: Through quieting and easing, we find enrichment and deeper truths—and ultimately, ourselves.”
- Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper
