When I Woke Up This Morning

and discovered a June newsletter in my inbox, I thought, “That’s strange because it isn’t June yet.”

You see, we went camping over the last few days, and in my mind I had one extra day when we returned to write the Harbinger.

(I was mistaken)

The only logical explanation is that the woods stole a day from me. I’ve listened to enough paranormal podcasts to know that forests have a reputation for playing host to high strangeness, so it’s only natural that I would encounter a portal or vortex or some such unexplained phenomenon.

Moving on, please take a moment to appreciate the new artwork for the Harbinger! Many thanks to Meg Antowiak for creating something that fit my parameters of “terrifying and fun.”

What I’m Working On:

My Thief story went out on submission at the beginning of May, and while we’ve had some mild flutterings of interest, that’s been it so far. Editors, like everyone else in the publishing industry, are swamped and overwhelmed creatures, so it takes them a while to read manuscripts.

In the meantime, I’m keeping busy by writing a fun Middle Grade paranormal mystery. I commit to writing at least 500 words a day when I’m drafting, which means that I’m almost at 18,000 words now. I’ll hopefully be finished with this first draft around the time school starts.

I’m also speaking to a secondary school in Spokane on Monday, so I’ve been writing two lectures for that. And, of course, the June residency is fast approaching! This is the most bittersweet residency because it’s the last one for the second-year students, but it’s also an exciting week for the first-year students as they embark on their first drafts.

What I’m Reading:

Last year, I barely made it through forty books, so I kept my Goodreads challenge at a realistic forty once again. Bizarrely, I’ve already read 32, so apparently I have more time in 2024? Or I’m picking shorter books.

I’m still reading plenty of Middle Grade books that are similar to what I’m drafting, so this month I read Tunnel of Bones and Bridge of Souls by V.E. Schwab (much less creepy than Arden’s books and with a fun magic system for ghost hunting). I also read The Thief Knot by Kate Milford which was a fun mystery with a very intriguing world.

For book group we read Bad Therapy which really appealed to my desire to let my kids roam the town like 80s children this summer (and had some devastating stats to consider).

And, on audible, I listened to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries which was delightful.

Writing Tip:

Writing a first draft should be like parenting a 3rd child (I only have three so I can’t speak to what might happen after that).

With child number one, you are hyper-alert and vigilant. You research when to feed them which foods, you worry over whether they’re getting enough tummy time, and you wonder if their sleep routine is optimally scheduled.

That’s how I used to write first drafts: like I was raising a firstborn. I was stressed. The draft groaned under my crippling expectations for its performance. I wanted everything to be perfect, and when it wasn’t, I thought that meant I was doing something wrong.

Now, as I’m writing this draft, I am actually far more aware of all the things I’m doing wrong, but I simply don’t care. “I’ll fix that later,” I tell myself as I stuff a cardboard character into a scene. “That’ll all get worked out in later drafts,” I confidently remark as I introduce a brand new subplot at the end of Act Two. Interestingly, even when I was plotting out the story, I could tell which parts I was going to swing-and-miss in the first draft. And I was fine with that, because I know I can easily fix/add/delete things later.

So, never fear! If your child isn’t reading chapter books by age three, it’s actually not that big of a deal. All of my kids learned to read at different ages, and they all love reading now, and this “don’t panic” approach is how I raise my first drafts too.

That’s all for May (join me in the vortex), see you at the end of June!

Christine