Hello! I’m Sheila
I’m the author of the novels Friends in Napa (hailed by Mindy Kaling as “smart and wildly entertaining”) and The Goddess Effect (which Kevin Kwan called “laugh-out-loud funny”). I’ve been writing for The New York Times for more than a decade, The New Yorker since 2016, and several other publications — Vogue, Inc., The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Elle Decor — in between. You can read some of my past articles here.
As a generalist, I cover a wide range of subjects, but there are a several to which I keep coming back — travel, food, wine, style, and The Way We Live Now. Broad, right! But after cutting my teeth as an entertainment reporter, I vowed never to be boxed in by one “beat” again. (Another story for another time.)
About this Substack:
Your Friend on the Ground takes its name from a podcast I started in 2023. While that show focuses on travel — where we go, how we get there, and the places that keep us coming back — one can be on the ground of … anything. Per the Internet:
Having reported thousands of stories over the course of my career, I’ve been on the ground of a lot. Political campaigns. Fashion weeks. Postage stamp islands. Erewhon. The publishing world. My own life! On a regular-ish basis, I’ll get on the ground with someone of note or report from a scene that you might want to know more about. Does that strike you as maddeningly vague/broad? Consider this the Substack equivalent of this “cheese” board. There’s something for everyone.
Subscribers get full, unfettered access to the whole resplendent spread as well as exclusive invitations, recommendations to places I actually go, sneak peeks of my upcoming projects, and more.
