I’m Brooke McAlary and I love words. I love reading them, writing them, listening to them, speaking them and playing around with them. So it’s a fortunate thing I became an author and podcaster, because there’s really no other job I feel qualified to do.
I’ve written three best-selling non-fiction books: Destination Simple, Slow and Care, and alongside Ben, my husband and favourite collaborator, created the #1 Health show, The Slow Home Podcast.
I’m currently working on my first work of fiction — a middle-grade fantasy filled with magic and nature and a crew of misfit kids I wish I’d been friends with growing up.
My newsletter, podcast and slow-living community, The Tortoise has more than 4,000 members and is what I consider to be the nicest corner of the internet. What began as a way to question how to live slow in a fast world, has evolved into a beautiful online space where we look at life and all its human messiness through a lens of simply slowing down and noticing.
Hello! I’m glad you’re here.
I’m also a tree-hugger, a mum to two genuinely wonderful high schoolers, an honorary Canadian (this is a made-up thing but I stand by it), a moderately successful gardener, someone who lives with chronic health issues, a frustrated skier, beginner crocheter and maker of a pretty bloody good marmalade.
We live in a small village in the southern highlands of NSW, Australia, in an old, blue fibro house. We share our home with our dog Joey, lots of fruit trees, many wild birds who eat the fruit off said trees and a window spider named Fred.
Our home is on the beautiful and unceded land of the Gundungurra and Dharawal people and I would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of this awe-inspiring corner of the world — those past, present and emerging. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island nations are the oldest living civilisations in the world, and I believe we have an enormous amount to learn from them when it comes to stewardship of this country we share and connection to the land we live on.
Brooke xx
A little more
Brooke McAlary is the bestselling author of multiple non-fiction titles including Slow: Live Life Simply, which has been published in more than ten languages. She is also the creator of the popular slow-living newsletter, The Tortoise, and is currently working on her first novel.
Short Bio:
Brooke McAlary is a bestselling author of non-fiction. Her books include Slow, Care and Destination Simple, which, through different lenses, explore the question of how to live well. Her books have been published in more than fifteen territories and over ten languages.
For many years, she co-hosted the #1 Health show, The Slow Home Podcast, with her husband and favourite collaborator, Ben. They recorded over 300 episodes and the show was downloaded more than 9 million times before finishing up in 2022.
Brooke now writes the weekly slow-living newsletter, The Tortoise, where she explores mindful, intentional, delightful living with a community of over 4,000 like-minded people. She and Ben also publish a monthly podcast that explores topics like work, technology, aging, parenting and self-care through the lens of slow living.
Raised in the western suburbs of Sydney, Brooke comes from a close-knit family of six. She discovered a love of travel in her early twenties and explored many parts of the world with Ben and, later, their two kids. In 2018, they sold their home and gave away most of their belongings before embarking on an epic 18-month adventure and book tour across North America. Since returning to Australia, they’ve settled in a small village in the southern highlands of NSW.
Brooke is currently working on her first novel — a middle-grade fantasy filled with nature and magic and a squad of misfit friends.