September 2025 Newsletter

Comparing drafts, The Bone Houses, and the Young Writer's Retreat

Author

Abby Henderson
September 06, 2025

Hello, everyone! Happy fall!!! 🍂 (If you can’t tell by now, fall is my favorite season.)

I can’t believe it, but next month marks the two-year anniversary of The Introverted Writer! It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing this for two years—I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.

With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about what I really want this newsletter to be. I keep coming back to the idea that I want this newsletter to be genuinely enjoyable and helpful for my readers—not just something you read because you’re a friend or relative. But I can’t know what you want unless I ask!

This short five-question survey gives you a bonus entry in next month’s anniversary newsletter giveaway. To have a chance to win twice, you’ll also need to enter again when the giveaway goes live next month. (There are two optional questions at the end asking for your first name and email so your entry can be counted.)

Thank you so much!

Writing: The Phoenix Pendant through the Drafts

I’ve recently been plugging away at the third draft of my novel, The Phoenix Pendant, and as I rewrote scenes from the second draft, I found myself reflecting on how much the story has evolved since I first started writing it in November 2023.

Most of the major plot points, characters, and even the prose have changed so significantly that the first and third drafts almost feel like entirely different stories.

I thought I’d share a snippet from each draft. This is one of the few scenes that hasn’t been completely rewritten—you’ll notice that the first sentence is exactly the same in each version. Though the scene’s placement in the book has shifted over time, it remains an essential part of the story.

The aisle seemed endless. I forced myself to keep walking. Take a step, take another step. The eyes of my assembled wedding guests weighed heavy on my shoulders. I could feel them judging me, critiquing me.

 Finally, I ascended the two shallow steps to the stage. I spread the skirt of my dress around me. It pooled around me like blood, gold embroidered pleats the only thing breaking up the crimson. 

 It had been incredibly difficult to get up to the wedding chamber in it. My dress wasn’t made for a treetop marriage, but it made me look the part of a bride and that was what mattered.

 I clasped my hands staring down the aisle I had just walked up, waiting. Where was he? I glanced over at my father who was standing off to the side. He looked regal in his red and gold robe, his shiny dark hair pulled into a knot at the top of his head. A wrinkle had appeared in the middle of his eyebrows which I knew meant he was worried.

You’ll notice that from draft one to two I shift from past to present tense.

 The aisle seems endless. I stare down the thin strip of open space between rows of chairs already filled with elaborately dressed guests. From the platform at the front of the room, Father watches me, his face unreadable. My attendants along with a few friends Cael chose stand preening on either side of him.

 Though Alaris has been in constant motion preparing for this moment ever since Cael arrived, it still didn’t feel quite real. Now, standing in the flower-lined doorway, it hits me like a punch. I’m getting married today. Today.

 I concentrate all my effort on lifting my right foot and moving it forward. One step at a time, holding the still too long wedding dress up, I slowly approach my future. 

 Even though the aisle can’t be more than twenty feet, an eternity seems to pass before I take the final step up onto the dais. Father steps forward to press a gentle kiss to my forehead before taking his seat in the front row. Letting my attendants spread my dress like a pool of blood around my feet, I turn to face the gathered audience. It feels odd to be standing in the spot where Father usually sits in his throne, overlooking the room. Is this what it will feel like when I take his place as chieftess? The weight of curious critiquing eyes, the knowledge that I could never meet their impossible expectations?

 I am too lost in my thoughts to notice the empty spot in the archway until people begin to shift in their seats, craning to get a glimpse of my groom. Chieftess Cypress exchanges a concerned glance with her daughter. 

With each draft, everything gets a little bit wordier XD

The aisle seems endless. Heart pounding, I stare down the thin strip of open space between the rows of chairs already packed with fashionably dressed guests. Their faces blur, only the platform at the front of the room stark in my mind.

Father and Cypress wait for me, both of their shoulders taut with tension that to everyone else probably gives off pride and authority. When Cypress’s gaze finds me, a smile spreads across her face and even from here I can see the tears sparkling in her dark eyes. Father’s face doesn’t even twitch and I lift my chin, pulling back my shoulders, just like he taught me.

 With each step, my feet become heavier and the weight of what today means sinks in even further. Though Alaris has been buzzing with preparation for months, it never quite felt real. I could tell myself a holiday was coming up or someone else’s wedding. Now, walking down  a flower lined aisle, my fèng guān weighing down my head, gold and jewels raining down around my face, and mehendi winding up arms, there’s no denying it. I’m getting married. Right now. Today. 

 I concentrate all my effort on lifting one foot after the other. One step at a time, I approach my future. 

When I finally step up onto the dais, Father steps forward to press a kiss to my forehead, barely brushing my skin before moving back again. Cypress pulls me into a gentle embrace and I can tell that, even without the benefits it will give her tribe, that she is happy to welcome me into her family. Giving my hand one last squeeze, we turn to wait for Cael together.

Golden light shines through the red and gold lined archway and I hold my breath, expecting to see Cael silhouetted there at any moment grinning at me. I wait until I can’t hold the air inside me any longer and there’s still no glimpse of Cael.

While The Phoenix Pendant has a long way to go, I’m really happy with the direction it’s heading and I can’t wait to share the whole, completed book with you all someday!

Reading: The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Fun fact: I got this book on my family’s trip to Hawaii in March!

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Age rating: 14+

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family, and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good? (Blurb taken from goodreads.com)

I never expected this book to be the one to pull me out of the minor reading slump I’ve been in for the past couple of months.

I picked it up looking for something different from my usual reads. I anticipated dark, spooky vibes but was surprised by how warm and cozy it felt. While the main plot revolves around defeating the risen dead (which isn’t as creepy as it sounds), the themes of family and home left me feeling comforted rather than unnerved.

The Bone Houses felt more middle grade than I anticipated, with the darker, more mature undertones typical of YA Gothic horror/fantasy largely absent. It wasn’t a book that drew me in with suspense or plot twists, but the sweet, relatable characters and the steady progression of the story kept me engaged.

Progress on my reading challenge: 6/16

(Curious about this challenge? Click the link to find out more.)

Spotlight: The Young Writer’s Retreat 2025

Orientation!

Nearly a month ago, my mom and I set off from home near the twin cities in Minnesota and drove the nine hours south to a small camp and conference center tucked into the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

We crept at a strict speed of 7mph through the winding, hilly roads and over a small bridge until we reached a massive gray warehouse-looking building. Teenagers streamed in and out of the heavy, metal doors, toting bags with lanyards slung around their necks, while signs proclaimed the event.

We were there: the Young Writer’s Retreat 2025.

As many of you know, for about two years, I have been a part of an online writing community for young writers called The Young Writer’s Workshop. Well, for the last couple of years, the faculty and students on the community have started organizing a yearly retreat, a chance to learn from our instructors and connect with our online friends in person.

For 5 days, me and around 300 other “YDubbers” spent our days attending sessions taught by our wonderful instructors and several guest speakers, eating camp food, critiquing each others work, and connecting the names we’d seen online to real faces. It was a week full of clothes-pinning (don’t ask), nerdy references, and writer humor—it was great!

I had so much fun learning that making memes can help develop characters, dressing up as Jo March for the cosplay competition, and watching our instructors participate in the ice bucket challenge. I came back refreshed and inspired to write again. I can’t wait to go next year!

Click the button below to view a couple more pictures from the retreat!

Quick Writing Update

  • Wrote 3,300 words in The Phoenix Pendant

  • Started a 100 words every day challenge in Project:Sci-Fi

  • Began line edits on my soon-to-be-published short story

What did you think about my review of The Bone Houses? What’s one of your favorite fall books? Let me know by replying directly to this email or leaving me a comment of the website that corresponds to The Introverted Writer. I’d love to hear from you!

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

Abby Henderson

P.S. Next month marks the two year anniversary of the Introverted Writer!! What should I do to celebrate?

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