November

A Monthly Check-in with Ali

Hello friends!

Can you believe November is already here? It is mind boggling to me. I am sure part of it has to do with Oahu’s eternal summer. Trick-or-treating in 80 degree heat was memorable to say the least.

I hope Anne’s kind of November is greeting you wherever you are! I’ve always loved this time of year back home in Oregon. The air gets a little crisper but it isn’t frigid yet. For now, I’m trying my best to be grateful for the warmth and constant sunshine I missed so much the last two years I lived in the rainy Seattle area.

For now, here is a little update!

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Querying + Writing

Alas, I have exactly nothing to report since last I wrote. I have heard back from zero agents, and it’s been a little hard to figure out what to do with myself on the writing front.

Henry and the Ne'er Do-Well's has been a fun outlet, but as I know I won’t be querying it, I was feeling a little restless. Do I stay in the Kingdom of Gallimaufria and work on the second book? Do I step into another world completely?

I pulled out my notebook of Novel ideas and decided to put some more work into an idea that’s been nagging at me for the last year or so. I laid the foundational groundwork for the story and dabbled in some world building earlier this summer, but then shelved it as I moved forward with querying the Perilum Tales.

For now, I refer to it as “the Blind Knight project”. It follows Meek, a blind orphan who spends his days caring for an ancient forest with his elderly guardian, but dreams of becoming a knight.

It’s a five book series which transitions from upper Middle Grade into Teen (fantasy, of course). These books have been so much fun to plan! Think of it as The Quest for Camelot meets Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. Influenced by a combination of 12th century Prague, 16th century Korea, and landscapes here in Hawaii. Set in a world made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny islands.

I will say that writing a novel isn’t as daunting as it used to be (thank goodness!) but it’s still a tremendous amount of work. As I start drafting book one, it will be my fifth novel. I remember at the beginning of this journey thinking it was absurd that a person could write more than one novel before landing an agent (L O L) and here I am! Little by little one travels far, and I am amazed at how much stronger my writing is than it was ten years ago.

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Listen for the Live Oaks - A Poem

Photo by Andrew Shelley on Unsplash

If you want to learn the world's secrets
Listen for the Live Oaks
Seek out these grandmothers of the marsh
Cloaked in their Spain Mossy best
They will tell you all they know

I needed hope when the world shut down
So I walked among the Live Oaks
Beheld their mighty branches
Stretched to the sky in praise
And I knew, as they did, better days would come 

If you want to understand your story
Stand beneath the Live Oaks
Consider their acorned ground 
Marvel at their havened shade
Understand, your gifts will outlive you 

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This poem was first featured in The Wondrous Nature of Being Alive a poetry collection I compiled with Twenty Hills Publishing earlier this year. There are so many wonderful poets in this sweet anthology if you’d like to read further!

As always, thanks for reading along! I pray your November is a gentle one.

With hope,

Ali