🎃 Second Sundays - October 2022 🎃

Happy Second Sunday! 👻

Thank you for joining me on this adventure. My hope with this newsletter is to provide updates on the books I'm writing, the art I'm creating, and other projects in the works as well as share some things I've learned and discovered during the past month, provide some inspiration, and engage in more than a bit of nerdiness.

I hope you enjoy!

The last month was pretty prolific as far as reading goes. I finished three books with varying levels of enjoyment: Fairy Tale by Stephen King, One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig, and Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino.

Of the three books, this one sits in the middle for me. I've never read Stephen King before (I'm not a horror fan), but when I heard he was writing his first fantasy novel, I thought this was my chance to explore an author known for his writing craft. The beginning of the book was definitely a slow burn...too slow for me. It read like Young Adult Fiction for longer than I would have liked before the fantasy elements kicked in. But once they did, the story grew into a delightfully dark fairy tale that reminds me of the classic Grimm stories. Overall, I'd say 7 or 8 out of 10.

This one unfortunately was a disappointment. It is a real shame because the premise is incredibly interesting. While there are some pretty decent nuggets, overall I found the story rushed and poorly written. A bad execution of a great idea. Probably better for a preteen who has a mild interest in Sleepy Hollow or Halloween-themed stories rather than any older audience or avid fantasy readers. I'd say a 2 or 3 out of 10.

Ending on a high note - this book I absolutely DEVOURED. I picked it up on a bit of a whim and worried a little that it would derail my reading plans, but I just could not put it down. I could barely get myself to stop reading so that I could take care of essentials like eating, peeing, and sleeping. It has been a long time since a book has grabbed me that tight and wouldn't let go. It's essentially a gothic fantasy with a touch of romance that doesn't get in the way of the story, which was very refreshing. The only small caveat - it's the first of a series, and I have no idea when the next book comes out, or how many there will be. But don't let that discourage you. The ending is satisfying with only a bit of a cliffhanger that leaves you hungry for more. Solid 10 out of 10.

It's Inktober, which usually means I'd be deep into a 31-day drawing challenge, but this month had other ideas. Although I wasn't going to be following the official prompt list, I had planned to take the 30-day Faery Workout watercolor painting class on Schoolism. I even prepped by printing out all of the exercises on watercolor paper ahead of time.

Unfortunately, as soon as I touched water to paper, the ink disappeared, and I spent the next several hours trying to find a substitute. While I did find one, I don't have much of it, so rather than 30 days of watercolor painting it's turning out to be only one per week, like last year. But it was a good lesson and now I know what I need to use when I'm ready to paint the Glaurung drawing. Here are the first (left) and second (right) attempts for the one fairy I was able to paint.

(I did not draw this faery. All of them are drawn by the instructor, amazing artist Iris Compiet. The goal of the class is to print her sketches and paint along with her, rather than worrying about also drawing your own subjects.)

A bit of a shorter letter this month. October kind of snuck up on me and I wasn't prepared at all. 😅 But I hope everyone has a Blessed Samhain/Happy Halloween and I'll be back next month with much more to share.