The Pageturning Report: June 2025
Summer writing plans, "Field Station Delta", Tolkien's tragic hero Túrin, and more!
Hey there! This month’s update will be briefer than normal.
The busy-season at Raynham Hall Museum wrapped up a couple of weeks ago with the last fourth grade school tour of the academic year. Those kids nearly broke me! My good friend
wrote a sci-fi version of my experience—a brilliant short story called “Echo-9”. If my life somehow became an episode of The Twilight Zone, this is probably how it would go down…
Writing
Back in May, I began posting Field Station Delta (a paranormal sci-fi thriller that I wrote last summer) chapter by chapter here on Substack. We’re about a little over halfway through the story right now, and there’s still plenty of time for new readers to catch up. I’ve created a handy Table of Contents for just that purpose:
My plans for this novella are to eventually self-publish it with a brand-new forward and introduction and maybe an additional bonus scene or two. I deeply appreciate all of the wonderful feedback I’ve gotten from readers, which has been a huge confidence boost and has encouraged me to write more adventure stories of this kind. Here’s what folks are saying about the latest installment:
In the meantime, this month my weekly writing accountability group (hosted by book coach extraordinaire
) has wrapped up for the second quarter of 2025. Overall, I’m satisfied with the progress I made while juggling multiple different writing projects. But, heading into the third quarter of the year, I’d like my goal to be more focused. I want to start writing my first novel.One of the insights I took away from the Q2 accountability sessions was that I struggle to stay motivated with a word-count goal (e.g. 1,000 words per week). It simply puts too much pressure on me and makes the writing process feel like a burdensome homework assignment instead of the fun creative experience it should be. Instead I’ll be aiming for a goal measured by “hours worked.”
My target is to work a minimum of 60 hours on this novel over twelve weeks (that’s an hour every day, five days a week). I certainly believe this is achievable. I may not have a complete draft at the end of three months, but I will likely have made significant progress.
There are three ideas currently competing for my attention:
Science fiction thriller set in Alaska. (UFOs may be involved…)
Portal fantasy coming-of-age story set in upstate New York.
Sc-fi action-romance and coming-of-age story set in the 1990s.
Any one of these would make a strong starting premise for a novel. I really like all three of them. I’m currently leaning towards option (3.) but if one of them specially piques your interest, let me know in the comments!
Articles
Busted Halo
Four Spiritual Steps to Stay Grounded in the Face of Success
Being recognized and praised for one’s work is not a bad thing in and of itself. But the pleasure that comes with this affirmation can very quickly transform into an idol. Maybe you, like me, are a creative person of some kind: a writer, artist, or musician. Or perhaps you work in a competitive industry or in a demanding office environment. No matter what kind of work we might do, the idol of recognition can become a looming presence in our lives. Luckily, there are ways to topple this idol.
Podcasts
Secrets of Middle-Earth
Is Túrin son of Húrin Middle-earth’s most cursed soul? The panel and I begin our three-part series on Túrin Truambar. We peel back the layers of Tolkien’s most tragic figure—from hero to outlaw—in this rich discussion of fate, pride, and sorrow.
Parting thoughts…
One of the best things about the Substack community is being able to connect directly with fellow writers and science-fiction/fantasy fans. If you know anyone who’d be interested in this newsletter or in my stories, please don’t hesitate to share Pageturning with them!
Do you have any fun summer writing projects planned? Feel free to leave a comment below. Let’s get a fun conversation going!
Until next time, God bless and enjoy the summer!
Your change up from a word based goal to a time based goal on writing is interesting. In weight lifting there has been a growing trend to move towards a similar method depending on one's goals and abilities. While reps can be easy to track, just like a word count, time under pressure can be just as effective for muscle development. Something similar for writing, when one is short on time, could be just as effective as well!
Wishing you all the best and you embark on your novel writing journey!