The Pageturning Report: August, 2023
Revising my middle grade kids' book! Rebooting The Perilous Realms Podcast? And more!
Thanks to all of you, Pageturning is edging closer to 200 subscribers — a goal I hope to meet before the end of the summer. So, please, do me a favor and share this newsletter with anyone you think may be interested, especially folks who love children’s literature. As a children’s author myself, I plan to begin using this space to write more about that topic in the near future.
Summer writing projects!
Accountability Group
You may remember from last month’s update that I’m working with writing coach Katelin Cummins to set achievable fiction-writing goals for this summer. My original plan was to write 30,000 words towards the first draft of a fantasy novel. But the novel eventually stalled and I’ve had to modify this goal.
My target remains 30k words of fiction this summer, but this now includes any fiction project I want to work on: a novel, a short story, flash fiction, whatever. This will allow me flexibility when I run into writer’s block while still pushing me to develop a discipline of meeting daily and weekly word-count goals.
I’ve already finished a short story and have started work on at least two more.
Middle Grade Nonfiction Book
I recently received my middle grade nonfiction manuscript back from my editor for revisions! Happily, the needed edits are very light and the only major additional material I’ll need to write is the glossary of terms. I plan to finish these revisions over the next couple of weeks.
I’ve also been told that the publisher has brought on an illustrator and a design team for the book! I can’t wait to see the amazing artwork they create! I’m eager to share more details with you as I’m able. Make sure to stay subscribed to Pageturning so you don’t miss the official book announcement!
Latest article
Busted Halo
How the Liturgy of the Hours Helped My Prayer Life Flourish
If you love the rhythm and flow of public liturgies like the Mass and you’ve found meditative and spontaneous prayer to be more frustrating than spiritually fulfilling, I recommend you explore the Liturgy of the Hours. It may be the way that Christ is calling you to grow closer to him and his Church.
Podcast Life!
The Secrets of Middle-Earth
Not all Middle-Earth movies are big-budget Hollywood productions. I join Kaitlyn Facista and Jeff Haecker to review the fan-made LOTR film Born of Hope and discuss the bittersweet tale of Aragorn's parents Arathorn and Gilraen.
The Secrets of Movies & TV Shows
I’m joined by Patrick Mason, Andrew Hermiz, and special guest Mike Schramm from the Voyage Comics Podcast to geek out over Marvel and Sony’s latest animated extravaganza Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In this wide-ranging discussion, we touch on topics such as animation and music, the film's handling of “canon events”, the balance between the multiverse and street-level aspects, as well as the significance of familial relationships, and the exploration of fate.
The Secrets of Star Wars
I’m excited to announce that I’ve been brought on board as a semi-regular panelist on another StarQuest program, The Secrets of Star Wars! I’ve been a fan of this show for a long time (In fact, I think it was the first SQPN podcast I ever listened to) so I’m thrilled to be able to contribute. We will be covering the new Disney+ Star Wars series Ahsoka, which I’m super-hyped for. Stay tuned!
The Perilous Realms Podcast
I had a lot of fun producing my own sci-fi/fantasy podcast but unfortunately The Perilous Realms had to go on hiatus for a while. I was trying to juggle too many projects at once and something had to give. I hope to relaunch the podcast very soon with brand new episodes. Perhaps in the autumn. So stay tuned for that! I’m already working on a master list of future guests and topics.
My reading life!
Books
The Mystical Body of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen
Called to Communion by Pope Benedict XVI
Yestermorrow by Ray Bradbury
Substacks
Farewell for now!
Thanks again for all of your support. If you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions for me, feel free to post them in the comments below!
Good luck on your writing goal and congrats on the nonfiction manuscript. I really enjoy Ray Bradbury and am currently reading Dandelion Wine. I had not heard of Yestermorrow. I will definitely look it up!