Inside:

October chit-cat

News about new stories

ENDLING GIFT BOX!

Ghost story link :D

Other writing updates

Art things

Reading Recommendations

October Thoughts

This season is best summed up by the fact that I painted half my living room to match the color sheep I am. I had the paint for a long time but was worried it would look a little too witchy for some of my people. Recent events made me realize that for all my trying to be sensitive to others, I’ll never be a palatable human to everyone. So I might as well just do my thang.

It’s a season of leaning into the way I was made (not the broken parts, the ones God calls good) and loving people accordingly. It’s a season of accepting being misunderstood, sometimes painfully so, and choosing love, kindness, and perseverance. And it’s a season of practicing what I’ve learned about trust and healing and forgiveness.

I ran across this quote in George MacDonald’s Princess and the Goblin this week. I remember sharing it years ago when we were being painfully misunderstood by our church, which was also Nic’s employer. Though our lives no where near as turbulent and painful as that time, I think the quote is a gem worth resharing!

‘…you must be content, I say, to be misunderstood for a while. We are all of us anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.’
’What is that, grandmother?’
’To understand other people.’
’Yes, grandmother. I must be fair—for if I’m not fair to other people, I’m not worth being understood myself. I see…’

It’s amazing how things are shown to you just when you need them, and somehow again at the perfect time.

You come through hard things and think “I learned so much!” But then when you have to use it again, you find that it’s still difficult—not in the sense that you don't know how, but you just have to do hard work again. There’s a lot of peace that comes with experience, but it doesn’t make everything easy.

Unfortunately, all of this makes me very poetic and also listen to the emo (and pop punk, grunge, and ska) music of my younger years. Maybe I need to start dropping a playlists and subpar poetry in my newsletters occasionally. :D

✨Writing Updates✨

Soooo many of you have asked me if I’m writing another book! I’m taking it as a great sign that you want to read more:)

A few of you have even asked if there will be another Endling book. Considering that by definition, Endling is about the last person on earth, sometimes it sounds like you’re issuing a challenge. But I’m happy to report that I am trying to build up inspiration to write the prequel of Franky, Raina, and where everyone went.

In the meantime, I am writing a new novel! It’s a fairy tale that ventures into some dark places, hunting for light to shine through. (Might have something to do with the emo tunes?) It’s heavily inspired by my love for the outdoors (always:), my healing journey and painful things others have gone through, the fever dreams fairy tales of George MacDonald as well as Lang’s collections, with smaller threads of Irish language & lore and…honestly who knows what all will make it in! Every book is just a million little pieces of the author and random things that caught his or her eye.

I had several ideas at the same time and this is where the inspiration is constantly growing. I’ve learned the hard way that if the muse isn’t musing, the writing is garbage. So, where there Spirit of Creativity inspires, that’s where I write. The working title is Project Counting Corvids. Here’s a screenshot of a little mood collage I put on instagram:

Before I move on from novels, I trying to put together a bookish gift box on my website for you to buy for the readers in your life! It will include a signed copy of Endling plus some bookish goodies. In addition to the usual ( new stickers and bookmarks!), I’m thinking a cup/mug, maybe a canvas bag, a coloring book and some prints and/or maps. So much fun! Keep an eye out in November.

A short story for a liminal season

Hallow Tide is a subject of much debate. Our family has had some crazy spiritual experiences, so we don’t take things lightly. But we believe firmly that each family has freedom evaluate and act as they believe right.

I think there is something to the thinning of the veil between seen and unseen during times like these. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that feasts and festivities such as Samhain and Dia de Los Muertos took place on days traditionally considered liminal by many cultures. The Bible has several references to spirits we would label ghosts, from Samuel to Jesus.

Elicia Johnson, all rights reserved

This summer, while floating a Montana river, wishing I’d brought my fiddle, I had a story idea about a ghost who plays a tune while floating down the river rather than walking on the water. It ended up about the fiddler’s life, more than anything. As we enter this liminal season, I thought I’d share the story over on my website (sprinkled with art for varying eye rest stops/lay by). Here’s a snippet:

This isn’t really a ghost story, but it is a ghost’s story—the story of how a ghost became a ghost. So often we hear of the haunting: the house, the sounds…you know what I mean. Don’t you wonder why they’re there? I don’t know every ghost’s story, but I can tell you about the Ghost Fiddler of the Big Hole river. First, let’s meet our ghost.

It was 1984. A handful of young swimmers, boisterous with the carefree joy of early summer, splashed in the clear, cold water of the Big Hole River, somewhere between Melrose and Divide, Montana. They weren’t truly free of cares, of course, but the first very hot Sunday of summer has a way of making one forget.

It’s a little on the long side, so don’t be afraid to leave it open and read it instead of scrolling during your breaks or your toilet time.

And finally, season three of the Shantyman is out in its entirely. 🌊⛵️🎻✨ Previous seasons brought in exponential growth to my reader list. This season, numbers held steady. Apparently, the action brings the readers! Season four is shaping up to be super exciting, with some crossover episodes into the world of another author who’s collaborating with me!

Brief Art Updates

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this mediocre human artist instead of using AI, which feels free but rather costs us all dearly in the long run.

I have a couple commissions that I have to keep secret for now, but here are some recents that I’m so excited to see out in the world! I think you can tap to see the whole image. If not, sorry the previews are weird.

If you’re local, I’m slowly refreshing the paintings in Copper Creek in Fairfield. There are also copies of the Endling available there!

One hour(ish) illustrations

And just to remind you, I offer a quick draw option on my website. So if you want a couple of doodles for your blog post etc and don’t want to use AI, you can pay me a mere trifle to do it instead:)

How to be a rebel for real creativity:

Grab the Quick Draw option off my website,

use them with attribution as many times as you want,

and stick it to the Computer Rendered Artificial Pictures (CRAP) out there:)

Recent ReadsThese posts sometimes contain affiliate links. If you tap and shop, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you:)

Shortly after my last newsletter, I stared at my TBR shelf wondering how I’d ever get to it all. My towering stack has migrated (out of concern for my safety)from my nightstand to its own shelf with my kids’ school books. It dawned on me that I should treat my TBR like school, and make myself a checklist just like I make for my children. So I did!

I listed a handful in my planner, and try to check a chapter off in each one a day. Most days I get about three out of five, which means I’m chugging along! I’ve finished three books so far and I’m slowly rotating new ones in.

Currently Reading:

School books of course - The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald is a noteworthy one. And Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite.

Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth I’m almost done. I can tell you now, it will get a five star rating. Once again, thank you to the reader who gave it to me as a gift.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White - I just finished the Sword in the Stone and I’m tempted to put it down for a later date. But alas, mom school beckons me to push through. I ask my children to do so every week!

Recently Finished Book Reviews/Ratings:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury I reread this because I remember it feeling palpably dark when I read in in high school and I was wondering if something my kids could/should read. How did I go so long without rereading it?

Yes, the darkness is there. How will it be overcome?
So good.

(Content advisory for my sensitive friends: witchcraft happens in this book, if you’re avoiding that altogether, it’s not for you. But witchcraft is evil in every instance. Darkness all but overcomes. The characters must deal with their inner selves and find some way to fight for goodness and light.)

⭐️⭐️⭐️(2.5)The Celtic Alternative by Shirley Toulson - I had high expectations. This book did not meet them. The author seemed to clinical and unfeeling about the topic. Even for nonfiction, I want to feel an author’s passions about the topic come through. The last chapter or two were the first hints of that connections.

If anyone has book suggestions that will unpack Celtic Christianity before the Council of Whitby, I’m all ears.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5) The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carlson - I love the sea. This book is like required reading for anyone interested in marine sciences. It’s a little out of date (obviously) but soooo much better than reading textbook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75) Sea Legs: A Graphic Novel by Jules Bakes, Niki Smith - I liked this way more than I thought I would. The messages to young people today are often about protecting themselves from both harm and discomfort, inferring they should expect near perfection from others but demand grace for themselves.

In this book, the main character learns to care for a friend whose pain and brokenness often comes out sideways. I was that friend (the difficult one) and the few people who loved me through that are absolute treasures. Add to that, a nomadic life on the sea and it’s was a sure hit for me.

It think that’s all. Thanks for sticking around and supporting my writing!

Bheannachtaí, mo chara (blessings, my friend)

And joyful adventuring, literary & otherwise,

Elicia Johnson

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