Hello Reader,

This weekend, I was able to sneak down to the southern coast of Washington with a few of my favorite writer pals for a retreat. Here we are, being cheesie on a sunset walk, but those smiles are 100% real:

It was so good to be with people again, especially some friends I hadn't seen in a year or more. And as much as we laughed, what I really needed--and received--was a little tough love.

Those of you who have been around here for a while know that I'm having trouble selling my YA fantasy novel in verse. Verse novels are notoriously hard to break out AND fantasy in verse is not really a thing beyond mythology retellings (which this is NOT). I've been a little stuck, to be honest, and doing more than a little wallowing.

And while sympathy is wonderful and so appreciated, what I really needed was someone to gently, lovingly, but absolutely unambiguously tell me to get over myself and start working on the next story. We drew runes one night and the darned things told me the exact same thing.

OK UNIVERSE, MESSAGE RECEIVED!

So I'm diving into #preptober to work on that next story even as I hold onto hope that someone out there will fall in love with my feminist, murdery, magical novel in verse. I doubt I will write many words for NaNoWriMo, certainly not 50,000, but now I have something to concentrate on besides my disappointment.

If you're stuck in disappointment or fear around your writing, it may be time to try something brand new. Whether that's a new story, a new approach to your existing story, or a break to read or refill your cup in other ways, this is a good time to listen to your intuition and do what you need to do to get back into the type of mindset that will let you create writing magic.

And if you need a little encouragement, I'm providing a tip a day on Twitter for the next two months. Check it out and spread the word.

Plan Now, Play Later - Register Now!

​Registration is live for my world-building webinar, Plan Now, Play Later. But I have to apologize for sending you to a link that didn't allow for that $10 subscriber-only discount I offered (thank you to Ellen for letting me know it wasn't working). That's fixed now--my apologies.

Read more about the webinar here.

Hope to see you there!

Warmly,

Julie