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Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp)

"Yours are the only emails I actually open and read" - a regular reply in my inbox since 2009...and I'll bet in yours, too, once you subscribe and learn by pure, lazy osmosis to become the most compelling writer around. That said, no promises on improving your moral character.

Featured Post

I'm making a big change.

Hey Reader, I’ve switched things up in my life. Had to. At the dermatologist, where I’ve started going for variously painful and costly laser treatments and anything else that will keep me looking fresh but not like one of the trout-pout/surprise-brows set on Real Housewives of Miami, I asked the doctor what she could do about the fine lines starting to appear around my mouth. She leaned in. “Do you smoke?” “No!” I said, indignant. I’ve only taken one drag on a cigarette in my life. Anytime...

Hey hey — I’ve never sent “last chance” emails for Shrimp Club before, because I didn’t think anyone waited till the last possible second to make that kind of investment. It’s not exactly an item you grab at the Target register, like a sweater defuzzer. But this year, as I’ve had Shrimp Club veteran and copywriting/marketing star Kevin Oberhausen conduct interviews with current and past members, I’ve discovered something: Turns out, Shrimp Club is sometimes a (semi-) impulse purchase. Alex...

Three disturbing AI food images: a tuna sandwich with a spongy, hole-riddled bun and frosting-like piped tuna, shrimp-shaped "donuts" on raw instant ramen, and a fast food burger ad piled with glossy, unidentifiable toppings arranged too perfectly.

Pssst! Today is the LAST DAY to join my 8-month live mentoring party/mastermind Shrimp Club! I may send more emails, so if you’d rather not hear about it, here you go: DON’T email me any more about Shrimp Club. Reader — Were you around for Clubhouse? That platform gave me PTSD. Imagine a swarm of blowhards claiming they were “just here to add value” — and then that “value” was a ten-minute recitation of their CV… …Or a feature-film-length tale of how they were an aimless, dead-broke sad sack...

Three disturbing AI food images: a tuna sandwich with a spongy, hole-riddled bun and frosting-like piped tuna, shrimp-shaped "donuts" on raw instant ramen, and a fast food burger ad piled with glossy, unidentifiable toppings arranged too perfectly.

Just 1 more day to join my 8-month* live mentoring party/mastermind Shrimp Club! That’s what I’ll be talking about until the deadline tomorrow, Friday, so if you’d rather not hear about it, here you go: DON’T email me any more about Shrimp Club. My friend and Shrimp Club alum Marisa Corcoran just had me, newsletter legend Tarzan Kay, and pre-launch expert Brenna McGowan (also a Shrimp Club alum) come into her new email sprint/program, “You’ve Got Email” to show off and review our recent...

Three disturbing AI food images: a tuna sandwich with a spongy, hole-riddled bun and frosting-like piped tuna, shrimp-shaped "donuts" on raw instant ramen, and a fast food burger ad piled with glossy, unidentifiable toppings arranged too perfectly.

Pssst! Last 2 days to join my 8-week live mentoring party/mastermind Shrimp Club! That’s what I’ll be talking about until the deadline tomorrow, Friday, so if you’d rather not hear about it, here you go: DON’T email me any more about Shrimp Club. Hey! I just listened to Amy Porterfield’s interview with Ryan Levesque, who — talking about people’s craving for real, human creative work over AI slop — led with the premise, “It’s never been harder to stand out.” Beg to differ. Not with the part...

Pssst! Last few days to join Shrimp Club! That’s what I’ll be talking about until Friday, so if you’d rather not hear about it, here you go: DON’T email me any more about Shrimp Club. So Reader — Think you’re “not really a writer”? I’ll bet you’re wrong. I mean, you may not be one at all, or want to write anything more profound than “lol” and “u up?” But if you’re even entertaining the thought “I’m not really a writer,” that tells me you kinda sorta want to be one. Or a better one. And if...

Reader! When I’m writing, I try not to repeat words. In fact, the custom GPT/Claude skill I built for editing my copy, The Shreditor*, highlights anywhere I’ve used the same word or phrase too close together without meaning to. So either it’s going to go nuts on this email, or — if it’s behaving well today — it’ll recognize that I’ve used the following over and over deliberately: “Shrimp Club,” “investment,” “best investment” and “worth it.” Reviewing new interviews and past applications of...

Reader! Is the end near? I’m not sure what to believe. We all know (those of us who are human and not AI bots or non-biodegradable Smart Water bottles) that being alive means we’re going to die one day. Maybe that’s far off. Or, according to recent warnings about AI, it could be curtains for all of us at once, possibly even before the next season of The Pitt. Either way, we all get that if there’s something meaningful we want to accomplish — write a book, launch a course, build a community,...

Hey! We writing together today? If you haven’t signed up for this Shrimpers-only live writing sesh with Terri Trespicio at 3pm ET, get on it. Now then — Every once in a while, I get an email reply from a Shrimper who admits they haven’t bought anything — like this one, who calls himself a “freeloader” and seems to think he’s out of place as a Shrimper. First of all, not “my demographic”? Here’s what I wrote back: And second — would I love for everyone who subscribes here to buy something,...

Hey! Since I got back from Greece, I’ve been very busy…planning the next trip to Greece. I’m obsessed. I can’t explain it in any way that doesn’t sound hackneyed — being in that water makes me feel alive. Is it a water-sign thing (Scorpio)? A back-in-the-womb thing? Actually, scratch that. I’m now picturing a trauma-healing water ritual they did on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip (RHONY Legacy) where the women were each cradled by a practitioner while floating like fetuses in their...

Hey! To paraphrase a TV commercial for Automobile Club of America that my husband loves to quote, “Brenna McGowan, did you have to be that good?” Here’s why: Because I promoted my friend and Shrimp Club alum Brenna’s Pre-Launch Plan Program (PPP) last round, I thought I’d make life easy and repurpose a March email telling you doors are open. Just when I was about to do that, Brenna sent me some new results that blow away the ones I cited last time. Dammit, Brenna! They come from her client...