June love list
lots of writing plus a shock and (of course) wildflowers
Hello, friends, and hello to new subscribers! If you’re new here, this is my monthly nature/ND ramblings/writing update post. I’m glad you’ve joined us in the Purple Vale.
Since I haven’t done an actual list in a while, here goes my list of things I loved in June:
~lots of wildflowers, such as blue jackets, purple Carolina ruellia, fleabane, Carolina horse nettle
~family outings such as evening visits to the creek, visiting a lavender farm, and getting ice cream/ walking downtown before it got too hot
~Writing The Via Stone plus another short story (a fairy tale, of course)
On writing…
I enjoyed writing The Via Stone and another short story last month. It felt really good to finish small projects, both because I love the characters and because finishing a project provides a big mood boost! I don’t know the science behind it, but I understand the experience. If you’re a writer, you do, too.
I’d also planned to start tackling revisions for Double Alchemy’s sequel. Instead, I started brainstorming the third and final book in the series. My brain is too tired for revising right now. I need the rush of a new project. And, technically, it’s not a real case of “shiny new object syndrome”, so…
The neat thing is that I’m certain solutions for book 2 will appear as I work on book 3.
The current working titles are as follows:
Book #2: Shadow Dance (Juliette and Gabriel/second chance romance/friends to lovers/magic library)
Book #3: Three Charms (Soline and Raphael/ the villain lady’s story/ engagement of convenience/seaside village to fey realm)
These are written with adults in mind but are not what you’d classify as ‘adult’ romance by any stretch. And if you read Double Alchemy and are like “why on earth are you putting Juliette and Gabriel together?!”, then fear not, this is no toxic book boyfriend situation. I loved writing Juliette and Gabriel with their doubts, insecurities, and the ways in which they are trying to live in impossible situations. I’ve got a big soft spot for them and writing their story makes me feel all mushy in the best way.
I equally love writing so-called villains and giving them a happy romance. Soline and Raphael have been talking, and it’s making a very cute and possibly the funniest of the three books, plus we get to see characters from book #1 again.
In order to write book #3, and because I keep talking about how tired I am, for July and August I’m sharing three, shorter posts per month instead of one per week: Folklore Fridays, paid posts, and the monthly love lists.
I need time to get lost in fiction writing. There’s something deeply regulating about that process which I don’t find in any other pursuit. I have no solid deadline in mind for these books, no publication dates on the horizon. It’s just time to draft, as long as it takes.
Wish me luck as I return to the fey realm of Clear Star!
I drew the Page of Pentacles for June. There have been some new opportunities that definitely require practicality and planning. And herein lies the ‘shock’: The Otherworld Magazine, the project I’m launching with Jess Lynn, saw an explosion of subscriber growth with our Summer Solstice post, which left me surprised and scratching my head a little.
Though I edited and published The Wistful Wild, this project is different. And I know that, no matter if we have 5 or 50 submissions, we will create something beautiful that everyone will be proud of, even though the process will be full of learning curves!
a Blessing
Peace to your frayed edges.
Peace to your uncertainties and fears.
Peace to you when people say “there’s nothing to worry about!” because you know peace doesn’t mean ignorance.
Peace.
Thanks for reading, friends.
Meet you over the orchard wall.*
*One of my wonderful early readers for my book started signing her emails like this. I like it.
Thanks for being here. My AuDHD brain is a bit scattered and prone to change things last minute, but here in The Purple Vale you can count on reflections on folklore, fairy tales, and the seasons from my little corner of East Tennessee–which is unceded Cherokee and Muscogee land.
