Lore Keepers,
I’ve been quiet. Not because life has given me that courtesy, but because some seasons require more time than others to endure. Summer drags on and I’m starting to dream of the days I don’t have to sweat just walking to my car. But in the heat of the day, I’m thankful for all those who’ve stuck with me on this wild publishing journey.
Book Spotlight
From the edits:
I followed Asken until the tree line fell away at the edge of a barren crater.
“What is this place?” My eyes darted from the lush ferns at my feet to the lifeless soil ahead.
“A dead zone. Remnant from the early days of the war.”
“What happened?” I leaned against a tree, head throbbing.
Asken scooped up some dirt. “Supposedly these areas are where the king’s forces wiped out fairy communities.”
“But why?” My vision swam and I closed my eyes, feeling as if I’d forgotten something important. But the next time I opened my eyes, I sat propped against the roots of a different large tree. The crater was nowhere in sight. I blinked. “Where am I?”
Reading & Research
Since my reading and research are tied together lately, here are two books I’m looking forward to diving into this coming month:
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards
Updates
📈 Fundraising is at 50%! Due to how many words I’m cutting from my manuscript, I expect the total amount of money left to decrease. Which is exciting, because fundraising is no joke!
✂️ Edits for Lily’s Passage are also 50% complete! Time for a hard truth of writing (and life): God’s timing is not our own. I wanted to be finished with edits by now, but my manuscript called for much deeper revisions than I thought. The benefit will be a smaller word count (my goal is 100k) and a tighter story. But the process is long and wandering.
✍️ Drafting for Holly’s Portent is on temporary hold. Since edits are taking up so much bandwidth, I’m letting the story simmer until I can give it my full attention. But I plan to return to drafting with some fresh ideas once I finish edits in a month or two.
🪡 If you’re in Southern Arizona, mark your calendars for November 9th—and find me at another craft bazaar in Tucson! Rumor has it you may catch a glimpse of new artwork from Lily’s Passage, so stop by if you’re in the area.
Lore
Summer can feel like time standing still. Though this wasn’t always the case, in my adult life I find summer to be a difficult season to endure. Some days, the heat feels unbearable and the promise of rain seems like a distant dream. There is a constant pressure to make use of the time while life remains in upheaval of routine. In those seasons, I coast to get by.
These are the barren lands, where there is nothing new under the sun. No new projects, no new interests, no new plans for the future. Even my entertainment tends to stagnate as I return to familiar favorites in books and music.
The soil may be drained of resources, or perhaps there’s been no rain. This may be a familiar season of life. But being familiar doesn’t make such times easier to bear. Thankfully, barren lands are familiar to God, too. He promises rest for His children as they wander in the wilderness—if only they allow Him to work.
In Lily’s Passage, the geographic landscape often reflects the characters’ experience. As in the excerpt above, Farrah and Asken face their own barren lands within the story. But they must press on with their journey despite the difficulty, just as I am called to pursue a full life in the midst of the wilderness.
I take comfort knowing that even when my life feels stagnant, the Lord is preparing blessings from the waiting.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
As the wind blows,
Sydney Frusti
