Beautiful Hangover is a newsletter about striving to be authentic in a culture that pushes you to pretend.

Moss Piglet was a featured Substack publication this year.

Growing up, I found the social side of life really difficult. I turned to alcohol to help, but that became its own problem. At 33 I got sober, and at 37 I discovered I was autistic. At 38 I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD.

Which kinda explained the struggle for all those years.

This newsletter is about how to accept and love yourself: quirks, trauma, disability, gifts and all. I will share lessons, victories and failures in my quest for more authenticity, and I hope you will do the same.

I aim to publish every Tuesday, and to start a thread or chat every Friday. (Apart from when I can't because I need to lie down and can't do anything. #burnoutisreal)

Subscribe if you want more self-acceptance, joy and fun, and less perfectionism, codependency and self-sabotage.

Also, if you like silly drawings.

Idea for new merch.

About me

I’m an award-winning YA novelist and a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at UWE. Here’s a rave review of my first book, Infinite Sky, in the Guardian.

I’m currently working on a literary memoir about getting sober and discovering I’m neurodiverse AF, and how plants helped me to heal. Beautiful Hangover: how a late autism diagnosis helped me make peace with a drunken past, as well as a new YA book about time travel in a forest.

🌿 🌌 🌲 🍃 🪺 🪐 🌱 🌳 🤷 🪐 🧭 🖲️ 🔦 ⛑️ 📡 ⌛ 🌿 🌲 🌳 🍃 🪺 🌠 ⏳ 🌿 🌲


If you enjoy my writing and want me to be free to write more, then consider taking out a subscription. <3

Paid subscribers can influence future posts, as well as access the full archives.

Thanks for reading, and please talk to me in the comments!

Chelsey x

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Most popular post: Why I Paid £700 for a Diagnosis Though Nobody Believes I Am Autistic

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Striving to be authentic in a culture that pushes you to pretend.

People

Chelsey Flood

Autist novelist. Unboundaried quiet person. Writing confessionals online to help end all the fakery. Proudly too sensitive. Startles easily. Talk to me @cjflood_author. She/her/they.