We meet again, friend 👋 

Thanks to my being the Dungeon Master for a fresh rpg campaign (set in the world of Alderdale, no less), my life is a blur these past weeks. It seems I just couldn’t leave my story alone, even after returning Lily’s Passage to my publisher for the copyedit. That’s right—we’ve leveled up! The next stage of the publishing process begins, and I’m so excited to embark.

Book Spotlight

Dive into the first lines of Lily’s Passage:

There was a kind and wise king. He sought to uncover the secrets of the world, unveiling every hidden thing and bringing darkness to light. But his search led him into twisted paths where no mortal was meant to tread. Though guided by noble purposes, his thirst for knowledge drove him to madness, only a shell of who he once was.

—“Fall of a King” from Collected Tales of Queen Solara

Reading

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

As a fantasy nerd, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I’ve never read (or watched) The Wheel of Time. But seeing as I’ve had marginally more free time lately, I decided it was high time I invest more in my genre. So… my adventure in Two Rivers and beyond begins!

Quote to Ponder

“If we as a church ceased to exist tomorrow, would anyone notice?” —Neil Watson, former pastor of Saguaro Canyon Church

This question brings to light a deeper truth everyone faces in their life—what kind of legacy am I leaving?

Updates

✨ Lily’s Passage is off to the copyeditor! That means I’ve dusted my hands of the manuscript 😭 and have entrusted it to the wonderful folks at Redemption Press who will prepare it for publication. In the next few months, my novel will undergo 2-3 more rounds of edits and proofreads, formatting, cover and interior design, and all the back-end stuff like receiving an ISBN. My role will shift from heavy-duty editing to marketing and planning for a book launch (hopefully later this year 🤞). But never fear—I’m still a busy bee because…

✨ “Laurel’s Price” is my next major focus. I didn’t realize how much editing work I still had in my novel, so the short story got put on the back burner for a little bit. But now it’s full speed ahead into short fiction!

✨ If that weren’t enough to keep me busy, Holly’s Portent is back on the table. Though I’m enjoying a short respite from heavy drafting/writing work, I’ll be jumping into book two again sometime next month.

Lore

As I recently browsed my favorite local bookstore, I overheard a conversation that left me deep in thought: a customer asked if The Chronicles of Narnia was a complete series, and the employee responded, “Yeah, Lewis is done writing. But his legacy will live on forever in the most beautiful way possible.” Aside from my astonishment that someone had never encountered C.S. Lewis before, the employee’s comment struck a chord. After all, to be a writer is to think about our legacy, right?

But that isn’t always the case. Some writers write for themselves, crafting a book for an audience of one. While this isn’t necessarily bad, that book isn’t likely to be resonant with the greater part of society. Others write exclusively for market, crafting books as fleeting as the winds of trends. This strategy may be successful for a time, but the lasting societal value of those works is shaky at best. Better to fall somewhere in the middle—to write a “heart book” that speaks to the world’s pain points while sharing the deep message within the author’s soul.

Easier said than done.

How do we write for an audience while staying true to ourselves? The answer starts with being in touch with the people we’re trying to reach. Maybe we’re part of that group. Maybe we’re an outsider, but have been grafted in. Either way, we have a heartbeat of the audience and understand the specific pain points they face.

But I won’t pretend to be an expert. Because my writing process starts with a spark, often brought on by a conversation. Then, the idea grows until it has a foundation to stand on. Only then can I distill its essence and determine if there’s room for the burning message within me. Sounds esoteric, probably because it is. I’m not here to argue writing craft, but I do know there are some stories that resonate with me and others that don’t. I can only hope my own work does the same for others.

Because if my written legacy causes just one person to encounter truth, all the long journey will be worth the effort.

As the wind blows,

Sydney Frusti

---

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Pinterest
• Etsy
• Goodreads