July Newsletter - The Amalfi Curse and When Writing Stalls
July 2025 issue
In this issue…
News from the Typewriter
Behind the Hedges
Bilbo Waggin’s Corner
News from the Typewriter
Update on June Goals…
Plot out the next ~20,000 words on Project Pirate - Sort of! Though it didn’t end up being determined by a word count, I solidified some character motivations, and set them loose, so we’ll see how many words come out of my characters’ current shenanigans.
40,000 words in Project Pirate - Hehe, nope. It was a very slow month. I clocked in exactly 2,857 words. Though, I did procrastinate and start a short story on my D&D character!
Finish reading Apprentice to the Villain and book 2 in The Green Ember series - Nope and nope. Though I am at chapter 44 out of 51 in The Green Ember book 2. So getting close there. I’ve set down Apprentice to the Villain for now and started reading The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner, an archeological adventure! I very much like to match the mood/settings of books I read to the current season. So as it is a hot summer (and Pirate Weekend at the renaissance festival is coming up), nothing hits quite so perfectly as The Amalfi Coast. ⚓️📜🗿
July Goals
Write 20,000 words, combined with Project Pirate, Field Notes from the Rabbit Hole, and my little D&D short story. This time it’ll work for sure! I’m doing an unofficial Camp NaNoWriMo through our local chapter, so accountability is good 😅
Attend a meeting with my marketing coach, Orna Ross. As I get back into the swing of things after the craziness that was June, definitely using all my resources!
Finish reading The Amalfi Curse.
Behind the Hedges
When My Writing Stalls
I didn’t write much at all in June. If writing counts as words-on-the-page. Which, sometimes it absolutely does (looking at you, editor deadlines).
But “writing" is not quite that simple. My business is storytelling, and that means looking at “writing” from everything it’s made up from. That includes:
Slow morning walks in the sunshine
Cozy evenings cooking
Cleaning my apartment
Flipping through my “Writing Wikipedia” (a massive binder/notebook where I keep all my notes on character, plot, etc) over and over again.
Exploring stories through other medium (books, TTRPGs, live theater/shows, etc).
Sitting in front of my whiteboard in pajamas with eight different colors of dry erase markers laid out in front of me
Red-string mind maps
Slow morning walks in the sunshine and cozy evenings cooking give me that mindful, wholesome time that rejuvenates those little gray cells. Plus, it gives me two very important sources of fuel: Sunshine and FOOD.
If my space is messy, my mind is messy. And a messy mind can’t produce near the level of creativity I need to tell stories. So making sure I clear off at least the space I’m working in helps a lot.
I’m always looking for connections between characters and conflicts to drive my stories forward, so revisiting old plot ideas in my writing wiki, or exploring other stories helps offer a new perspective on the story I have swimming in front of me. I list books, TTRPGs, and live theater/shows specifically because they seem to boost my story-telling brain the best. Movies and TV shows don’t tend to do the same thing, because I’m not quite as engaged with the story as I am with other mediums.
And I’ve learned that my creative process is tied quite a bit to connection with other people, versus creating in private. Playing TTRPGs, like Dungeons and Dragons (or recently, the new Daggerheart system which is fantastic); along with watching live theater/shows nearly always gives me a new insight into a character, or reveals a new hidden path around a plot hole.
Finally, my plotting process stems quite specifically from this “looking for connections between characters and conflicts” part. That leads me to making red-string mind maps on a massive whiteboard. I’ll break down what this looks like specifically for novels in a later issue, but to give you a visual, picture those moments in crime shows when the characters paste up photos, maps, and news articles related to their case, and start making connections (literally) by tying red string between the papers.
Now picture that, but blasting epic cinematic music with LEDs on an appropriate color to set the scene, me pacing back-and-forth spinning an EXPO marker in my fingers.
There ya go. That’s how I plot books.
Bilbo Waggins’s Corner
Bilbo was fairly stressed about our recent move to a new place, so here’s him seeking comfort from his teddy bear and blankie; and he would like to request the neighbors please refrain from walking near his house. 10/10 would give a little forehead kiss.
Finally…
If you read any of the Descendants of Robin Hood books, please leave a review on Goodreads or your favorite retailer, it helps me out so much. 💚🦔