All Hallows' Eve | Featuring "Kindling"
October 2022 Newsletter
Spooky Season’s Greetings!
Fall is my favorite time of the year. Not only because my birthday is on Halloween, but a lot a great stuff happens: the Summer heat starts to dissipate, fun decorations pop up everywhere, scary movies are featured, and Fall flavors retake the menu.
My overall mood improves with this confluence of changes. This year is especially great since I’m sharing it with all of you. It’s been 15 months since I started posting on Substack, about a year since the creation of The Storyletter branding. In that time a lot has changed, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.
I say ‘we’ because I don’t consider this to be much of anything without you. The writing community here on Substack has been a major factor in my focus and drive to write, and I’ve been able to produce more now than at any other point in my life. Your continued support makes this all possible. I can’t say that enough. Thank you!
S6 Contest Results
We officially concluded our first annual short story writing contest at the end of September. Our judges scored each entry separately, and I ranked them in a private spreadsheet that only I had access to (so that the judges weren’t influenced by each others’ scores).
We had a lot of great submissions, and I was blown away at how closely they were scored. The winning writers all agreed to have their stories published on The Storyletter, which we’ve already begun by publishing M.S. Arthadian’s “The Summer Light”.
If you missed the announcement of the short story contest winners, here they are:
J.M. Elliott
James Castor
Brylle Joseph Gaviola
M.S. Arthadian
Huge congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this contest a success. October’s paid newsletter will go deeper into the preparation of the contest, for those that are interested in the process and are thinking of running their own.
Featured Substack - Kindling
I’m going to try something new moving forward. Instead of the periodic “What am I reading on Substack?” posts, I’m going to highlight one Substack a month in my newsletter and detail why I’m subscribed.
This month, I’ve chosen Kindling by Shaina Read. The Substack is perfect for October because Shaina is currently publishing a serial fiction story entitled “Night Witch”, along with an essay series on various witch-related events throughout history. If you’re into spooky topics and looking for something to sink your elongated teeth into as we approach Halloween, I highly recommend Kindling.
Shaina also has a section where she reviews the most banned and challenged books in America. Shaina’s literary style and expert analysis of why these books are banned makes for a fascinating read, plus I’ve learned a lot about certain books that are outside the scope of my normal reading lists. Shaina even wrote one featuring Sherman Alexie’s book “The Absolute True Diary About a Part-Time Indian”.
If any of this sounds like your cup of witch’s brew, then I suggest subscribing to Kindling!
Featured Songs
Kai Straw is an independent musician who lost his job during COVID and has gone all in on his music career. I’ve been digging his latest stuff. His style is raw and you can hear a wide range of emotion in his voice. Plus, his songs usually have an interesting message or theme attached to them that makes them super relatable.
“Motor Mouth” is just as good as anything playing on the radio these days. I’d go so far as to say it’s better than a lot of mainstream music. “Breathe” is about facing the lows and the darkness in your life head on, and knowing that you’re perfect just the way you are. “Mr. Rocket Shoes” (explicit lyrics) is the song that turned me onto his work, and it’s such a powerful anthem for achieving your dreams no matter what.
Let me know what you think of Kai Straw. Hope you like him as much as I do!
In case you missed it:
Storyletter Meet & Greet
The Weight of the World (poem) by Winston Malone
To Build a Method (XPress)
Interview with M.S. Arthadian
(SRA) From the Loom of the Dead by Elia Wilkinson Peattie
Storyletter Thoughts: Does genre affect your writing process?
Community of Tomorrow: A Guide to Wellness® by Winston Malone
The Summer Light by M.S. Arthadian
Fall is my favorite, too. So excited about the changing leaves and cool weather! Having a Halloween birthday sounds awesome! My secret inner goth is jealous haha. Never heard Kai Straw before, but it's such a unique sound and energy :-) Thanks for the "feature" heads up. Kindling looks interesting--I subscribed!
Thank you so much Winston! I appreciate the support so much!