Where Oh Where Is Sunday Pastries With the Dead?

Its subjects may be deceased, but the series is decidedly not.

I cannot believe it’s been *checks notes* over three months since I’ve posted a new Sunday Pastries cemetery exploration. This is by far the longest hiatus in the series’ two-and-a-half year run, and it was not entered into lightly. Allow me to explain.

I’m a freelance writer and editor, which means that I have to monetize much of my work to make a living. Until earlier this year, I was able to carve out unpaid hours for creative projects like Sunday Pastries and writing my second novel. Unfortunately, times have gotten very tough and I’ve had to make the frustrating decision to pause any pursuits that aren’t tied to income.

There’s much to say about this subject—more than I want to dive into here. Stifling a creative urge feels like suffocating a vital part of myself. But for so many of us working writers (or anyone who has commodified their creativity), the choice to pursue non-monetized projects often doesn’t feel practical or responsible.

I had a real light bulb moment while putting together a grant application for Sunday Pastries last month. I was asked to outline a sample budget of what it takes to create each post, and the total tech, travel, and time investments required are pretty astounding. This has clearly become more than just a hobby. It’s a calling, really, and I love producing the project—but you can’t pay bills with love.

I’ve always wanted to democratize Sunday Pastries—it’s not work that belongs behind a paywall. I experimented with paid Substack subscriptions a while back, but the extra time it took to create incentivized subscriber-only content didn’t net out, and the whole thing felt forced. I don’t want to churn out content for content’s sake.

Bottom line: whether I’m awarded a grant or I come into some more sustainable freelance work, I know Sunday Pastries will return. It may only happen sporadically for a while (say, once a month), but my goal will always be to get it back to its weekly(ish) cadence.

In the meantime, here are some selections from the archives that you may’ve missed:

• There are 41 Sunday Pastries With the Dead posts. Have you read them all?

• Brush up on your headstone symbology with my handy guide.

• Dive into the curious case of cemetery postcards.

• Explore the history of headstone photo ceramics.

• Meet the “Demon Vampire” of Manchester, Vermont.

• Read about how Sunday Pastries has helped me in my ongoing eating disorder recovery.

• Watch this Instagram story of my weekend-long training in letter carving on slate.

• Discover what I learned while studying to become a spiritual medium.

I’m always on the lookout for applicable grants, fellowships, scholarships, or other opportunities that could subsidize this project. Please reach out to me here or via Instagram DM if you come across anything that might suit. And if you’d like to support Sunday Pastries or my other work, you can buy me a coffee.

Your continued interest and encouragement quite literally keeps me going. Until very, very soon, fellow taphophiles!