🦋 Holly Ringland 🦋

I have zero ability to be cool, or to exercise exclamation mark restraint as I type this: dear Reader, I motherforking did it! The World Beneath Her Feet exists! Maggie Byrd’s story is written! After months mostly offline, today I’ve shared my story of writing and finishing this novel — and, for the first time, the official blurb. The making of this book has not been pretty. And yet, she lives. I love Maggie’s story with my whole heart, and I’m lit up to share it with you. My letter to readers is live now and free to read at The Joy Rise — link in bio. With a light left on, always, Holly

May notes to self ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🩹💫 My hope in sharing these points that I jot down at the beginning of each month for myself is they might offer a spark of resonance for you too. Swipe for a selection. Take in any that do and of course leave any that don’t. The full list (and all) of my Notes to Self are free to read via the link in my bio.

There are quiet, profound, transformative moments that, after we live them, become a part of what makes us - a seam of gemstone in the terrain of our lives. Sometimes we never share them: those shimmering moments are ours alone and stay unearthed in the landscapes of our memories. And then there are the quiet, profound, transformative moments that we do share, that we do hold up to the light, to find the flash and glimmer and to remember and remind ourselves of what’s possible. That life - wonder, awe, joy - can exist, can be felt, aside trauma, loss and grief. Aside what is done to us, and what happens to us. To remember and remind ourselves of the beauty that we can be capable of creating and unearthing from the broken ground of our lives. These photographs by @hughstewart_ capture a fraction of one of those moments in my life. ❤️‍🔥🌸

Have you experienced the beautiful words of Holly Ringland @hollygoeslightly 🦋I have had the honor of following her here for nearly a decade, where our friendship began in these little squares: Two far-away creatives cheering one another on…and somehow it has grown into the kind of friendship that feels like it was written in a fairytale. Holly’s novels are everything you could wish for in a beautiful story: swans and selkies, sisterhood and friendship, flowers (so many flowers and the language they speak!) folk stories and wanderlust, beauty and art, and oh, the characters. I still remember finishing “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” on my sunny back porch, tears streaming and heart overflowing. Later, “The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding” became one of my all-time favorites and even inspired the painting in this carousel, one of those rare pieces that seemed to already know what it wanted to become before my brush touched the paper. In 2024, Holly came to visit Seattle for her book tour (!!!!) and I had the honor of hosting her at @elliottbaybookco we met in person for the first time, and it felt like finally seeing a sister that I had missed my entire life. We talked, laughed, cried, and overshared like #kindredspirits do. She is one of the kindest, most intuitive, insightful, empathetic, beautiful and brilliant humans I’ve ever met. Since then we’ve shared twinkle-lit celebrations, flower crowns, dancing in greenhouse, and together have walked through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, having the kind of conversations about art and life that make you believe in those deep-down heart longings…you know the ones that feel like butterfly wings in your heart of hearts? Now Holly’s newest book, The House That Joy Built, is finally available in the U.S… and it’s a treasure! It’s her first nonfiction and is for Creatives who need to find that magic….This book lives on my studio desk, and I’m so thrilled it can finally live on yours too🧚🦄🧜‍♀️🙌📖 It is such an honor to pause and share Holly’s work, and to celebrate a friend who gives wholeheartedly and pours herself out passionately, that weaves tales that speak to the stories of our souls.

I’m back in the podcasting groove with a special series called The Big Talk Book Club. And this magical conversation with international bestselling author @hollygoeslightly is just what I need going into a new year. 🦄🩷🦄 Holly and I talk about her extraordinary book, The House that Joy Built. At its heart- ways to reignite the pleasure and power of giving ourselves permission to create one sequin at a time! Listen at the link in my bio, or wherever you get your podcasts. #podcast #joy #bookclub #thehousethatjoybuilt

Our first podcast episode of the year is with the wonderful Holly Ringland! 🎧🩵 Holly is one of Australia’s bestselling and most loved Australian writers. She is the author of two internationally bestselling and multi-award-winning novels, 'The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart' and 'The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding'. In 2023, 'The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart' was adapted for an award-winning seven-episode series for Prime Video, starring Sigourney Weaver. Holly attended Manchester University, and it was while studying there that she reconnected with Jane Eyre, which inspired her first novel. Listen to Behind the Glass: A Parsonage Podcast now! 📖✨ #BehindTheGlass #MuseumPodcast #HollyRingland #TheLostFlowersOfAliceHart #Haworth #BrontëParsonageMuseum

✨ We’re letting go of our inner critic on the final day of our mini series with @hollygoeslightly ! It’s true, our own inner voice shouts the loudest, but in ‘Stay Gold’ Holly teaches us how not to shut it down entirely, and meet it with empathy and compassion on the road to championing our imaginations. Has @hollygoeslightly inspired you to set a creative resolution this year? Whether it’s writing, art, textiles or something entirely different, we want to know in the comments! ‘The House that Joy Built’ is available to pre-order now via the link in our bio and from all good bookshops from 5 March 2026. #TheHouseThatJoyBuilt #creativity #creative #writing #HollyRingland @rizzolibooks @ed.pr

✨ Day 3 of our @hollygoeslightly mini series is about the dreaded beast… creative block! With words from her chapter ‘Sniffing the Pink Flamingo’, Holly encourages us to set free our imaginations and unshackle ourselves from creative pressure. Learn more about how to use the Dream Machine to shake away creative block in ‘The House that Joy Built’. Available to pre-order now via the link in our bio and from all good bookshops from 5 March 2026. #TheHouseThatJoyBuilt #creativity #creative #writing #HollyRingland @rizzolibooks @ed.pr

✨ Day 2 of our @hollygoeslightly mini series is all about that horrible feeling of imposter syndrome! Holly’s no stranger to this feeling, but in ‘You Belong Here’ she offers advice on how to leap wholeheartedly into our creative lives and understand why we are allowed a place at the table. Uncover more about how you can overcome imposter syndrome and allow yourself space to be creative in ‘The House that Joy Built’. Available to pre-order now via the link in our bio and from all good bookshops from 5 March 2026. #TheHouseThatJoyBuilt #creativity #creative #writing #HollyRingland australia nonfiction writing writer creative innovation. @rizzolibooks @ed.pr

✨ We’re delighted to start the new year off with a mini reel series by Holly Ringland @hollygoeslightly based on her upcoming book ‘The House that Joy Built’ about how to embrace your creative self. In this first video, ‘Raise Your Sword’ Holly shares her perspective on the complexity of creative fear and how we can tackle it with a sense of play. Find more on this in ‘The House that Joy Built’ -an uplifting, positive and powerful book that explores how to find joy through creativity. What creative task are you setting yourself the challenge of in 2026? ‘The House that Joy Built’ is available to pre-order now via the link in our bio and from all good bookshops from 5 March 2026. #TheHouseThatJoyBuilt #creativity #creative #writing #HollyRingland @rizzolibooks @ed.pr

‼️Your ticket sales have raised $3k and counting! 🤯🙏Additional FINAL tickets have just been released! ❤️‍🔥Join us! This Friday! 👯‍♀️ Link in bio! 🧚‍♀️🌸 From @bondipavilionofficial : Beloved writers, friends, and joy-seekers Julia Baird (@juliabaird ) and Holly Ringland (@hollygoeslightly ) invite you to an evening of conversation, connection, and creativity in support of Médecins Sans Frontières. ‘At the Heart of It’ is a celebration of how we find and foster the things that truly matter. Tickets include a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders (@msf_anz ), an international and independent medical humanitarian organisation delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters, and exclusion from healthcare in over 70 countries worldwide. Presented as part of @waverleycouncil ’s Talks & Ideas program, in partnership with @gertrudeandalice bookshop and with thanks to Julia Baird and Holly Ringland. Bondi Pavilion Theatre | 28 November 🎟️ Grab your ticket through the link in our bio. 📷 : @hollygoeslightly 🖼️: @lisareidy.com.au #BondiPavilion #TalksAndIdeas #GertrudeAndAlice #AuthorTalks

Readers blow my heart to bits. Esther and I thank you @thebobtailbookclub - you are the wild wave! 🌊 ⚔️ 🌸🪐✨ Repost • @thebobtailbookclub What made you start your bookstagram?? 🥰 For me, it was The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding 🦢💜 This story was actually one of the books I read in the week leading up to me starting my booksta! I’d gotten covid, had the week off and next thing I knew, I’d read 7 books in that time and rediscovered my love of reading 😍 If you haven’t read this book, you absolutely need to! It’s by an Aussie author @hollygoeslightly and is such a beautiful tale full of mythology and lore and sisterhood and I was full on crying by the end 😭 By chance, I happened to find this STUNNING PROOF copy in a second hand bookshop recently! The artwork, the colours, I am obsessed and it’s now another prized possession 🥰