Pentober is Finally Here!
And... a brand new serial in 2024?
Dear Reader,
It’s October, a month where anything can happen as we get through these last three months of the year. The seasons change. Leaves fall off the trees. The days begin to get shorter. I love this time of year. It can still be a bit wonky in September but by October it’s like mother nature has made up her mind and she’s decided to get more windy and more ominous! Isn’t it great!
By now I’m likely in my second home after having moved not once, not twice, but four times in the last five years! Please Lord, let this be the last time!
Let’s rewind all the way back to May 1st where my 100 Word journey began…
In May I was just starting out, getting my feet wet. Some of them good. Some of them not, I’ll fully admit that. The Literary Tarot major arcana stories happened in June. July, if you recall, I dabbled in using song titles and lyrics as prompts. Then in August & September I went back to the Literary Tarot and tackled the Suit of Ink and Suit of Light cards. In total that means I’ve written 153 of these stories! And while that is only 15,300 words in 5 months that’s pretty freaking impressive if I do say so myself. But enough about the past!
LET’S KICK-OFF PENTOBER!
October is PENTOBER Month and you do not want to miss what’s planned! If you want to learn more about what exactly PENTOBER is, I suggest reading the September First Edition which shares the 31 Day Word Prompts and also last weeks Editorial ALL ABOUT PENTOBER, where I take a closer look at some examples during my practice week.
The tl;dr version:
Grab a notebook and pen. That’s right, this exercise involves using a notebook and pen. NOT your phone or computer, please!
Find a quiet spot somewhere. If the weather is nice, maybe the park, or a coffee shop, or your favorite chair/couch in the comfort of your own home.
Using the word prompt for the day, free write a story using your pen and notebook.
Take a photo of your story and share it on social media.
If you use Substack Notes, please share it there and mention me so I can see it and restack!
Share it in the comments of my post for that day as well.
And that’s it! I’m really so excited about this. I hope everyone who is a writer, whether it’s of poetry, fiction, comics, illustrator, whatever your journey is with storytelling, I hope you join all of us as we go back to the good old days of writing by hand.
For this exercise I’m going to use a Jonathan Adler journal I picked up at Barnes & Noble on my birthday this past June. I love collecting journals that I never use but this one I’m going to use. I like that it’s thin and not many pages so I won’t feel intimidated if I don’t “fill it up” after 31 days.
THE LAND OF ILLUSION
There is much mystery surrounding what I’m working on here, but you can take a peek behind the curtain by going to my MAGICIANARY INDEX page. What I can tell you now is that it will involve one novel released chapter-by-chapter as a serial over the entire 2024 calendar year. But there is so much more to discover. Novellas. Flash fiction. And I’m even working on “A History…” series that will delve deeper into people, events, and locations that you won’t want to miss.
With the exception of the “A History…” series, everything else is for Paid Subscribers only. Yes, that includes the weekly serial. So, if you want in on the magic coming in 2024, consider upgrading to paid today!
Oh, and before I forget to mention, there will be maps and other cool behind-the-scenes stuff coming at the end of this year as teasers. Just in case you need some more coaxing…
A LOOK AHEAD AT 2024
Aside from my serial, I am flirting with the idea of a weekly update email instead of monthly. This will allow me to share what’s coming in the following week, whereas my first edition emails look back at the previous month. Whatever decision I land on, it won’t begin until January 2024 which will give me more than enough time to move forward or make some adjustments.
100 WORD STORIES ARCHIVE
Upgrade to Paid for access to a library of 100+ stories!
31 May 2023 Stories | 30 June 2023 Stories | 31 July 2023 Stories | 31 August 2023 Stories | 30 September 2023 Stories |
EDITORIALS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
HEARD ROUND THE STACKS
I’m doing something a bit different for the next several months. As of late there have been so many Substacks that are recommending me to their readers and I want to show my appreciation by highlighting three amazing Substacks below that you should consider subscribing to if you’re looking for even more great things to read:
WHAT I’M READING
Remember I told you about how I’m Mad About Murdle!? Well, turns out there are two more volumes coming! Volume II arrived mid-September and now I’m waist deep in 200 of these murder puzzles. I’m addicted. How about you?
YOUTUBE WORTH THE WATCH
I am not an illustrator by any stretch of the imagination. But I enjoy watching others illustrate. James Julier Art Tutorials is one of those weekly channels that I absolutely cannot miss. His illustrations are definitely delving more into the clever and unique and they are much longer than usual (45min to over 1hr) but they are worth it.
Massive and heartfelt thanks for the mention Erika. I’ll try to post the next on the right day! Can’t promise that though...
Ready for this fantastic challenge. Thanks for the opportunity 😊