September 2023
Flower of the Month: Morning Glory
Morning glories are absent from many traditional floriography guides, possibly because they’re native to Mexico and Central America, not Europe. Nonetheless, these trumpet-like blooms are heavy with meaning. Perhaps best known for their flowers opening in the morning and closing in the afternoon, they symbolize unrequited love or undying love.
We can take heart from the lesson of the morning glory. Although we may sometimes feel as if our attentions go unanswered, we have the chance to love someone afresh every morning.
Reading
Taking the Long View: Turning Deep Sadness into Deep Joy by Building an Identity in Christ by Rebecca Shoop
I’ve been trying to branch out my reading this year to include more independent authors, and this one happens to be from a friend’s relative. I’ll be posting a more extensive review once I finish it. But her message—that to take the long view of our futures, we must realize that we’re daughters of God right now—is an important one for women of all ages to hear.
Research
Local events, fairs, and markets have been all over my search history this month. ‘Tis the season of festivals and fun!
Updates
- Funding update: I’m at 19% of my funding goal for Lily’s Passage! While the growth sometimes feels slow, I’m thankful for the opportunity to trust in the Lord’s provision as I walk each step of this journey.
- New goal: Now that the line editing is complete, my next goal is to raise $11,805.75 to get the copyediting going. This step is also where the artwork gets included and the designers put the cover together. Needless to say, I’m so excited to get this phase going!
- I’m hoping to get into some Arizona farmers markets and craft fairs starting this fall, so stay tuned for details on how to stop by and say hi if you’re in the area. And if you’re not local, you can always check out my Etsy shop: poppyandmyrrh.etsy.com
- You’ll have to wait for my October newsletter to hear the title of my next project, but rest assured that Book 2 is steadily in the works (the planning, that is). I’ll be doing National Novel Writing Month this November to get the first draft underway, so hopefully it will be written by the end of the year.
Lore
I was five when I first stepped through the wardrobe. Thanks to full-day kindergarten and an insatiable hunger for books, I went right into Narnia while most of my peers were still on primers. We’d had the boxed set of Lewis’ books on our shelf for the whole of my short life, and I was determined to read whatever was inside those beautifully illustrated covers. (The white unicorn had nothing to do with it, I’m sure.)
I missed many of the important themes within the books, being so young when I first read them, but the magic was there all the same. Something about stepping through a closet or a painting or a pool into another world fueled my imagination. And with each revisit to Narnia, I come away with something I haven’t seen before.
Narnia had such a profound impact on me as a child that I see its influence in my own writing today. Perhaps the most obvious parallel I can draw is in the structure of my world. Though you won’t enter through any portals to Earth in Lily’s Passage, they do exist in Alderdale and will be explored in later books. Another thing I so admire about Lewis is his pursuit of truth even in a fantasy world. The constant battle between light and dark within Narnia is relevant to readers because we see it in our own lives. We care about not just the heroes but the world itself because we were there at its creation. And if you happen to be one of the few people who don’t know the ending of the story, fear not. I’ll only say you must find out for yourself what becomes of Narnia at the series’ close.
Though Middle Earth also put blocks into the castle of my writing, Tolkien didn’t enter my life until much later. By the time I followed the hobbits to Mount Doom, I had already established myself as a fantasy-loving writer. It was just icing on the cake that I loved the Fellowship as much as I’d hoped I would. There are many Tolkienian influences on my writing as well, but those are perhaps best saved for another day.
As the wind blows,
Sydney Frusti
