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This is Byrontology
This is all Carrie Fisher’s fault.
When I was her assistant, she told me, “Take your broken heart and go make art.”
After she died, I wrote a novel inspired by our time together.
When I got ball cancer, I made a web series about picking out the perfect fake testicle to replace the cancery one.
When my latest novel got rejected, I skipped the pity party and built a playground.
Hi. I’m Byron.
I have two published novels. I won two Emmys as a TV news writer. I wrote and co-starred in a movie with an Academy Award winner. I survived cancer. I live in Palm Springs with my husband and three rescue dogs.
Still, sometimes I’m sad.
This is where I try to make sense of it.
Welcome to Byrontology.
Byrontology is a Substack, podcast, and YouTube channel for fellow overthinkers and the existentially exhausted.
If you want to feel less alone.
Refuse to go numb.
Aren’t afraid of facing reality.
You can stay.
I share all of it—my cancer, depression, Carrie, Burning Man, putting my mom in assisted living, losing my virginity to a TV weatherman.
I look for meaning in the absurd, the awful, the everyday.
Sometimes I find hope.
Sometimes humor.
Sometimes just dog hair.
But the important thing is the search.
And the sharing.
Sometimes it works.
What they say.
“I just listened to this podcast and was in tears by the last few minutes.
It’s all just so relatable and such a beautiful reflection.”
— Suze
“I read this on a 13-hour flight back from Portugal
and it caught me in exactly the right place.”
— Afonso
“Thanks for opening our hearts.”
— Donna
“This profound piece really hit home.”
— David
“I’m sitting in a coffee shop reading this and tearing up like crazy.”
— Laura
What you get.
Free members
Instantly get one free Byronbook, Everything Is Stupid Okay Fine I’ll Keep Going, + limited access to posts.
Paid members
All digital Byronbooks I create about making art, surviving hardship, and lessons from therapy and Taco Bell +
Full access to all posts exploring hope, despair, survival—including full interviews with friends who’ve been through it too +
Everything in the Byrontology bookstore, including links to every book and podcast I recommend for surviving being human.
Pen Pals
We become actual pen pals.
After joining, I’ll email you a short sign-up form.
Then I’ll mail you notes, letters, cards, or postcards from my kitchen table.
Write me back if you want.
Limited availability.
Happy to subscribe! I've only been on Substack for a few months, but I'm surprised I haven't bumped into you sooner! Going for humor in my newsletter as I push to get my latest book traditionally published, which has been a fifteen year dream--or nightmare--depending on the day. I'm your target audience!