Lore Keepers,
My family took a much-anticipated vacation at the end of May, so my work life shifted from writing to managing sunscreen and swimsuits. Other exciting things are on the horizon, but first, drumroll please! 🥁
This is the final cover for Lily’s Passage! After much consideration, feedback, and market research, I’m thrilled with the changes the team made. (And just wait until you see the interior design…)
Book Spotlight
Lily’s Passage began with the image of a dark-haired girl crying under a tree surrounded by flowers. That original opening scene still exists in the book’s final draft, though not in the same location. When I first embarked with that picture in mind, I had no plan, no purpose, and no end goal other than I will finish writing a book to prove to myself that I can.
Since that first draft, I’ve learned so much about good writing craft, what it means to craft a compelling story, and why fiction matters. But despite what I’ve discovered, writing a new story will always feel like an adventure—embarking into the unknown with only a handful of images as guides.
Reading
Blog posts
I recently joined Substack (which is why my emails look a little different than they have in the past) and I’ve found a wealth of fascinating writers and articles there. It’s so refreshing to enter a world where people expect readers to engage with long-form content, such as blog posts.
Space Boy by Stephen McCranie
I finally picked up the next installment of Space Boy from my local library… and finished it in one sitting 😭I can’t wait until the day I own the entire series and can binge them all at once, but until then… *sigh*
Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
Some people like beach reads on vacation, but I prefer hefty fantasy adventures full of danger and darkness. Though I’ve been working on this tome for a couple months now, I finally had some time to read on my vacation, and it’s been fun to dive back into the world of The Wheel of Time.
Quote to Ponder
“You’re not gonna become a black belt if you stand on the edge of the mat and watch people.” —Carla Hoch, author of Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes
Everyone starts as a white belt. But only those who jump into training before they know everything will become masters. This quote challenges me to consider if I’m letting fear of failure stand in the way of my path to success.
Updates
✨ Proofreads are done and it’s onto the formatting/layout phase! I’m so excited with how Lily’s Passage is shaping up. I’ve made my near-final decision on interior layouts—my book is looking positively bookish!
✨ My drafting ambitions were a bit too ambitious since planning for multiple summer vacations took priority last month. However, now that the legwork is mostly done for those, I’m gearing up to spend some quality time with my book drafts in the near future.
✨ I have a… secret little project in the works. While I won’t share more right now (it’s in the very early stages) I’ll tease that it falls outside the realm of YA fantasy.
Lore
Kids have a sense of enthusiasm undampened by reality. I remember flying as a girl and being only excited for the journey ahead. Aside from the lack of personal responsibilities then, I hadn’t yet learned about the risks that come with flying, or seen the horror stories of things going wrong on planes.
As an adult, I no longer find flying the joy it once was. Though these bad occurrences are probably more rare than not, the “what ifs” always linger. Add into the equation all the extra luggage and hassle of two of my own kids and I’d rather road trip than brave an airport if possible.
Despite this, seeing my daughters experience flying reminds me of how I wish I approached many things in life—with fearless enthusiasm for the journey ahead. Instead of allowing anxiety of what could go wrong to control them, they live in the excitement of the destination. Each new leg of the trip is a step towards something great.
This year of publishing has some similarities to flying. Every time I reach a new stage, I feel the thrill of progress—another step toward my final destination. The temptation is to let my fear of failure dictate my actions. But I’ve been called to courage in the face of giants. And that often means moving forward through the uncertainty and ignoring all the “what ifs” that plague me.
As the wind blows,
Sydney Frusti
