Sam (Ekaterina) Howard answers The Questionnaire

Edition no 19. Date: 13 October 2026
If you like this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. You can sign up here.

The Questionnaire is a collection of six questions featuring interesting people and their recommendations for books, apps, and media.

Sam (Ekaterina) is a conversion copywriter and strategist helping sales-led B2B SaaS startups and scaleups optimise their websites to attract and convert their best-fit prospects.

Find out more about Sam's work here or reach out to connect on LinkedIn.

What is your favourite bookshop? If you have images, please include them.

I’m a fan of Blackbird Books and Coffee – being an independent bookstore is tough, and they’re doing 2 great things in addition to books: sell coffee and host events.

What piece of technology/gadget do you miss?

I don’t think I get attached to tech too much - it’s nice to have things working in the background, but I can’t think of a gadget or a piece of technology that I really miss.

If anything, I feel like there’s too many gadgets around already. Of course, you only miss them when you need them and don’t have them.

What is the app or software you cannot live without?

Probably Google Calendar. I love my Jenny Lawson calendar, but it doesn’t help mash together work, random teacher workdays, appointments, and everything else.

Shared (online) calendars make it easier to handle all the things in one place, and “If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen” is the rule of the land.

Images via Blackbird Books & Coffee Instagram

What’s in your to-be-read pile?

• Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley

• Situated by Angela Duckworth

• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

• Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

• The next Loki book (they all are so awesome!)

I’ll probably get sidetracked by re-reading Terry Pratchett and/or Alexis Hall before I get through any of those though.

How are you taking notes on things you find interesting?

Depends on the type of notes. Work stuff lives in spreadsheets. Creative stuff lives across at least 3 notebooks and my morning pages folder. Life admin notes are mostly inside text files and/or calendar blocks. Sometimes I also scribble thoughts on Post-Its, because why not?

I really need to write, not type, to think things through, so most of my notes look like this meme:

What’s the last piece of media that made you feel something?

Message in a Bottle on PBS – I love how it’s a complete story told through music, and movement, and light, and props. Sometimes, I’m like “cool choreography, but that’s about it,” but this one was awesome (as in, awe-inspiring).