November Newsletter 2024

(Abby walks in looking a little frazzled)

Hey, everyone.

I really don’t know what happened to October. One minute it was there and we were slowly trudging forward to the future. Then, it just took off running and disappeared into the past.

If any of you know what happened to it, please let me know. I’m slightly concerned.

Last month, I did a survey to see how I could make The Introverted Writer the best I could. I want to thank everyone who filled it out— your feedback is so so helpful!

If you didn’t get a chance to take it yet, I would love it if you took a minute or two to do that. Thank you so much!

Writing: An Update on my Writing Projects

I was trying to figure out what to include in this newsletter and realized, I haven’t really updated you all on my writing projects in a long time. I know I have the quick update at the end of all my newsletters, but that’s only a list with some numbers. I want to give you a little bit more details.

The Phoenix Pendant

You may remember this project from my very first newsletter when I introduced you to my projects. At that time, I was still working on the outline and just about to start writing it.

For those of you who don’t remember or weren’t around at the time, The Phoenix Pendant is a young adult fantasy with some elements of a classic quest and a little bit of heist mixed in.

This book has been my biggest priority this year. From November 2023 to February 2024, I wrote the 1st draft which ended up being around 60,000 words. I took a break for several months before coming back to it at the end of July. The 2nd draft was a complete rewrite and took me from the end of July to the beginning of October.

I’m really proud of the 2nd draft because it’s a record for me. It ended up being around 90,000 words (the longest draft I’ve ever written) and it took 2 ½ months (the fastest I’ve ever written a draft).

So, now I’m on break again and will hopefully come back to it early 2025.

Project: Europe

Picture this: A fifteen-year-old girl sits on a small couch in a cozy apartment in the beautiful city of Florence. In one hand she holds a bun filled with Nutella (so good) and in the other, a fine-tipped marker. A leather bound journal lays in her lap filled with her messy scrawl in all the bright colors of the rainbow. This book contains dozens of ideas, poems, snippets of stories, and things that nobody but her would have any clue what they meant.

The apartment is quiet, the rest of her traveling party is getting coffee at a cozy little cafe. Though she wants to use the time to write, her eyes are continually drawn to the glass door to the balcony. Over the tiled rooftops of Florence, she can just see the towering dome of the famous Duomo. Despite it only being the first real day of the trip, it’s already been more than eventful. Just then, an idea occurs to her: what if she wrote a story based on the trip? What if she took all of the events and places, but came up with completely new characters?

If you haven't already guessed, that is the very true story of how Project: Europe came into existence. The last couple of months, Project: Europe has made me so happy. It’s a project that I’m writing completely for fun. No deadlines, no pressure, write it when you feel like, enjoy every minute of it. I started writing the 1st draft at the end of July and it’s currently at 12,000 words.

Project: Road trip

If you read my last November post, you may remember that I talked about an event that happens every November: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Basically, the challenge is to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

Last year, 50,000 words in a month seemed like an impossible challenge, but I wanted to participate anyway. I set my goal for 25,000 words and started writing (I didn’t reach my goal).

It amazes me how much I’ve grown. This year, when I thought about joining the challenge for 50,000 words, I wasn't fazed. I had been writing 1,500 words a day on The Phoenix Pendant for the past 2 ½ months, I would only be adding 170 more words a day!

So here I go! I’m starting a contemporary YA novel that involves a crazy road trip, twins separated when they were little, and self-love.

Fifty thousand words. One month. I’ll let you know how it goes! (Just watch, my confidence will totally come back to bite me XD)

Reading: Going Through my Bookshelves

I don’t know about you, but I firmly believe the more books the better. Which is why, I chose to provide a variety of book recommendations instead of just focusing on one. Now you get to hear about 7 books instead of 1. You're welcome! XD

A book that made me cry: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackery . This book is so sweet and deep, not to mention the pictures are beautiful.

My favorite series: This one is easy. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. You could probably tell too by the shelf that the series gets all to itself.

A book that made me laugh: Oh, this is hard! So many fall into this category. Hmm… I’d have to say Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. The whole series is fantastic!

My favorite standalone: I don’t tend to read a ton of standalones, so this narrows it down a little bit. Probably Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh. This is one of those books that stuck with me for a long time.

A book that I didn’t think I’d like as much as I did: Raiders from the Sea By Lois Walfrid Johnson. This book was a school assignment that I was not looking forward to. But by the end of it, I was begging for the next book in the series.

My favorite book to reread (besides Harry Potter): Anything by Rick Riordan, particularly the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series. I probably have reread each of those series 4-5 times XD

A book that has a personal meaning for me: The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity. Though this book was a super fun read, the connection that it led me to was even more special. I hope to talk more about this soon along with an interview that I’m super excited for!

Spotlight: Guest post by Shiloh of GracefulSoul

I’m subscribed to several young writer’s platforms, but there are only a couple that I watch out for and eagerly click the link to the post every week. Shiloh Cruz’s blog, GracefulSoul, is one of those.

Shiloh writes deep, encouraging posts on Christian living, along with the occasional post on reading, writing, or music. I genuinely love Shiloh’s writing which is why I’m so excited to share some of it with you today!

I also had the privilege to write an article for Shiloh’s blog. If you would like to read the post I wrote for her, click this link!

Without further adieu here’s Shiloh’s post…

People-pleasing

Living in fear of not receiving validation from others or making decisions that will please as many people as possible are common patterns many have built their entire lives around. It’s a worldwide struggle, affecting Christians and unbelievers, men and women, children and adults.

But as followers of Christ, we’re told to fear the LORD – not other people. So how do we fight this ever-present temptation to care about the opinions of others instead of God?

The Bible talks about the fear of man in many places, but one of my favorite Scriptures that I’ve found on the subject is in Isaiah.

“I, even I am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the LORD your Maker… you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor...” (Isaiah 51:12-13, NKJV)

In these verses, God reminds His people that He is the only one who is worthy of our fear. Every single person, big or small, influential or obscure, is simply a mortal. Why would be be afraid of people who won’t last forever – or more to the point, people who’s opinions won’t last forever?

Further, the Bible is filled with other encouraging promises and reminders about God’s character, which are a strong contrast to “the fury of the oppressor” of Isaiah 51.

“Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up… Your comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:18-19)

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4)

So the next time you’re tempted to fear people instead of God, remember your identity in Christ and the words of Isaiah. Who’s most worthy of your fear – a mortal man or our loving Creator?

Love this post as much as I did? Click the link below to read more of Shiloh’s great writing!

Do you know what happened to October? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Let me know by replying directly to this email or leaving me a comment of the website that corresponds to The Introverted Writer! I would love to hear from you. (:

Thank you so much for reading! Have a great rest of your day!

Abby Henderson

P.S. What would you like to see in next month’s newsletter? A short story, an author interview, or a giveaway? Let me know!