Greetings, kind friends and readers and supporters! Whew, it's been a month. It's been a heartbreaking, horrible month in American history. It's been a hard month on Facebook, with bitter and painful conversations about current events. But it's been the best month for me personally in a few years. I've got my writing mojo back and have been writing for hours every weekday. Here's some of what I've got going on, and I hope some of these things are for you!
This month, I started a series of mini-lectures on YouTube about War in Heaven, Charles Williams's most accessible novel. I'm trying to make these talks engaging and informative; can you let me know if you think I'm striking the right note? Should they be simpler? more complex? something else?
What's a gift I can give you? Do you want me to cover something specific in my literary-themed YouTube talks?
The best gift you can give me is a comment on one of these YouTube videos! That's the best thing ever for helping with visibility and credibility!
This month, I added four more episodes to my podcast WORDS DO THINGS. These were interviews with a right-wing English professor who is starting a branch of Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA; with an old friend who calls himself a communist and is committed to more-than-full-time service to the most vulnerable people in his community; with my sister, a brilliant linguist; and with two smart and thoughtful Episcopal priests. Those four represent a pretty good cross-section of views in America these days, and I'd love to know what you think of them.
What's a gift I can give you? Is there somebody you really want me to have on the podcast? Is there a question you want me to ask them?
The best gift you can give me is a comment on one of these podcast episodes! (If you don't like watching them on YouTube, you can find audio-only versions wherever fine podcasts are streamed. But then you miss out on this face of mine!)
This month, I wrote most of a rough draft of a chapter about occult initiation in That Hideous Strength. It explores the impact of the modern occult revival on C. S. Lewis, and it's for Joseph Wiegel's forthcoming book Planet Thulcandra: Magic and Science in That Hideous Strength. If you're a member of my Author's Circle, that link should bring you to my draft, where you can add comments to aid in my revision. If you're not a member of my Authors' Circle, WHY NOT?!?!
What's a gift I can give you? Is there something you want me to write about or something you'd like me to include in this chapter?
The best gift you can give me is a comment on my writing that helps me to make it stronger, clearer, and more accurate.
This month, I wrote Chapter Two of The Oddest Inkling: An Introduction to Charles Williams and made a start on Chapter Three. I've gotta pick up the pace, man! I want to get this book done this spring! Well, if this writing energy continues and I don't take on too many more projects (hahahaha), that should be doable. Again, if you're a member of my Author's Circle, that link should bring you to my draft, where you can add comments to aid in my revision. If you're not a member of my Authors' Circle, WHY NOT?!?!
What's a gift I can give you in this regard? Is there something you want me to write about or something you'd like me to include in this chapter?
The best gift you can give me here is a comment on Chapter Two that helps me to make it stronger, clearer, and more accurate.
This month, I taught a class called "Portal to Narnia" through Politics & Prose Bookstore. Wow, was it delightful! 21 amazing students took it, and they had excellent insights, questions, and perspectives. We dug into the sources behind this apparently simple children's story and talked about how its metaphors and archetypes helps us make meaning of our lives. Oh, and BTW, there's a coursepack for sale of the previous time I taught this course: a longer version called "Myth & Meaning through the Wardrobe." You can buy the recordings from that class now and get ready before I teach another round about Prince Caspian sometime in the fall. 🙂
What gift can I give you as far as courses on my website? Is there someone you'd like me to send info to about the coursepack? Is there a class you hope I'll offer in future?
The best gift you can give me here would be sending info about the coursepack to a friend or, better yet, buying it for them as a present! Do you know someone who likes Narnia and wants to learn more? Or who is rather baffled by what CSL is up to and would like to understand? Give them the class recordings and help them along that journey!
This month, I started a Substack where I'll post about politics. I decided I need separate out what content goes on each of my platforms, clarify my "brand," and keep politics out of the Wyrdhoard world. From now on, then, my Wyrdhoard Facebook page will have only literary content: writing tips, book reviews, YouTube videos about literature or writing, etc. I won't post the podcast there any more until it gets to the Tolkien series. Next, I'll rebrand my Instagram account to be Wyrdhoard stuff instead of personal content and mirror the material from the Wyrdhoard Facebook page. Then on my personal Facebook page, I'll probably repost everything from all the other sites--plus cats. on YouTube, the main channel will be all and only Wyrdhoad stuff: writing, editing, literature talks, etc. The podcast is also on YouTube, in its own tab and playlist, but I won't put any other political content on YouTube. Finally, any political stuff will be on Substack and eventually behind a paywall. If you're a member of my Author's Circle, I'll set you up with a free subscription to my Substack once I get that organized. If you're not a member of my Authors' Circle, WHY NOT?!?!
What gift can I give you on my Substack? Is there a political topic you'd like me to tackle? (yikes)
The best gift you can give me on Substack is to subscribe! And then to share it with a like-minded friend who might consider signing up for a paid version once I set that up.
This month, I finished editing two books for clients (woohoo!!) and put in many hours on several other awesome editorial projects. I've had a science-fiction first-contact hyperlink novel; a study of C.S. Lewis's Irishness; a thoughtful, literary Tolkien fan fic; a psychoanalytic memoir; an annotated edition of a Lewis book; a self-discovery travel novel; a young-adult time-travel portal fantasy; and an article about occult mystery religions and Owen Barfield. But NOW I have space open for new clients!
What gift can I give you through Wyrdhoard's editorial services? Is there a work with which I can help you? Would you like to hire me for a one-off look at a draft? or a brainstorming conversation about an idea? or a developmental edit of a manuscript? or a careful copyedit of something that's nearly done? or a consultation about academic or creative or entrepreneurial literary plans? or regular coaching sessions in which I uncover your true writing potential?
The best gift you can give me in my editorial capacity is a referral! This gig, after all, is my "real job": it's my family's income, my daily bread-and-butter, the [vegan] bacon I need to bring home if we're going to survive. If you can tell someone about my editorial and coaching services, I'd be very grateful. If you can send my Wyrdhoard website to some writer-friends, I'd jump for joy.
This month, I wrote something that's almost a rough draft of my next solo episode on WORDS DO THINGS. It will bring the show up to date with all the horrors that have been happening and answer some questions I get a lot. In it, I'll share my reasoning for the approach to public rhetoric I take and recommend. Again, if you're a member of my Author's Circle, that link should bring you to my draft, where you can add comments to aid in my revision. If you're not a member of my Authors' Circle, WHY NOT?!?!
What gift can I give you on this episode? Is there a question you've been longing to ask? A topic you want me to cover? An objection you'd like me to consider?
The best gift you can give me for this episode is is a comment on the draft that helps me to make it stronger, clearer, and more accurate. And then, after it's released, a like, a subscribe, and a comment, of course!
Whew. I think that's most of the writing-and-editing-and-podcasting-and-YouTubing things. Here's hoping February will also be productive--although I am blessedly and gratefully going away for a beach vacation for the first week, hooray and hallelujah! So some of you I'll see later in February, and the rest I hope to connect with in March.
May good words go with you, and may you live under the Mercy.