A Party, A Poll, A Shameless Plug

Yes yes yes I know this sounds ungrateful. There are literally starving people in this world! Who am I to complain about my abundance of tomatoes?

And yet, here I am, complaining. Because I really want to write and these tomatoes just keep on tomating, you know?

Anyhow, aside from the tomatoness surrounding me, August was just very full: a birthday party for my eldest (with a pony, what luxury), traveling out-of-state for a family funeral, Kickstarter prep, easing into our second year of homeschool, and trying to squeeze in some edits. Though I normally relish the final days of summer, I’m feeling a bit relieved that it’s drawing to a close and welcoming fall with open arms.

Farewell tomatoes, hello pumpkin spice, or something like that.

And you’re invited to party (virtually, without a pony, what tragedy)! I can hardly believe it’s been nearly a full year since WCOATCB launched into the world and found a home in so many kindles and bookshelves. While I’d love to have y’all over for a birthday party, I couldn’t quite make the logistics work … but I will be sending out a little “Birthday Party Kit” at the end of the month, including my WCOATCB writing playlist, a coloring sheet, and more!

(No you may not ask “what more” because that would require one of us to plan more than six days ahead.)

… hesitantly, though, because what if it’s that sort of situation where you flip a coin to decide something and then realize as it’s in the air what you actually wanted all along—like, what if I put this question to you and then get that sinking feeling when what you say doesn’t match up with what I hope you’ll say and then I have to decide whether to do what I want or not, you know?

Wow that was very concise, good job me for that bit of writing.

Anyhow, the question I want to put to you is this: how frequently would you like to get this newsletter? I’ve been toying with the idea of changing it up but I am super indecisive, so here is the chance for you to weigh in and I will either (a) listen to you or (b) use you as a coin flip barometer of my own feelings. Either way, I profit, although the benefit to you is negligible.

My friends, I am blown away by your kind support of my dunderheads-forced-to-put-up-with-each-other King Thrushbeard retelling! From funding in just nine minutes, to hitting 1000% of the goal, to unlocking four stretch goals already—all I can say is wow and thank you, and, clearly, all this other stuff, but that doesn’t sound very poetic. I’ll be going live on Instagram tomorrow night at 8 PM Central to read the first chapter, if you want to hear that, and then there’s just one more week to be part of the project! (Tiers start at just $5, which is $3 less than I paid for a latte the other day, and yes I am also semi-repulsed by my financial flagrancy.)

I had the great privilege of meeting Vanessa at the recent ACFW conference I attended, although I wish we’d had more time to chat! I’m very excited about her middle grade novel releasing with Descendant Publishing next year, but in the meantime, you can get a free novella when you subscribe to her newsletter.

Vanessa E. Howard writes primarily fantasy for young adult and middle grade. She has been a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, and college composition teacher. A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and Realm Makers communities, she is also a homeschool mom and co-op teacher. Her short fiction has been published by Spark, Havok, Nightshade, Twenty Hills, and Quill and Flame.

When she’s not writing stories or wrangling children, Ms. Howard can be found singing showtunes and worship songs at top volume, using outrageous accents during read-alouds, and attempting, with limited success, to learn sketching and painting.

She loves butterflies, elephants, drought-tolerant flowers, sunsets, hot chocolate, and boba tea. But she doesn’t like soup, so don’t offer her any. She had a pet tarantula named Caroline, she has driven a fire truck through a pasture, and once an airplane landed in her field. For more information about these events (or the more relevant topic of writing), feel free to message her.

Vanessa lives with her family in Central Texas. She can be found on Instagram as writervanessa, Facebook as Vanessa E. Howard-Writer, and at her website vanessaehoward.com.

She has a middle grade portal fantasy coming from Descendant Publishing in 2026. It’s the story of a boy with dyslexia who discovers a portal to other worlds. There, he’s tasked with finding definitions to unfamiliar words, but instead of going to a dictionary, he goes on wild adventures. What he learns on these adventures turn out to be exactly what he needs in his own world.

Vanessa’s newsletter subscribers receive a free novella entitled “Nizana.” It features wood sprites, forest imps, deer people, and other creatures in a fantastical woodland setting. The story centers around Nizana, a sprite who lost her tree to a plague, and explores loss, betrayal, redemption, and community. Oh, and there’s romance too.

Here’s a small excerpt from Nizana:

A female wood sprite, weathered and stern, with cautious eyes, nodded to me. She had neatly wrapped brown vines for leafhair. Beside her stood a roe girl with huge black eyes shining in her round face and small velvety antlers sprouting from her forehead. Sprawled on the ground was the biggest fox I’d ever seen, crossing and uncrossing his front legs.

And next to him crouched an imp, four sets of black wings folded on his back, shreds of fabric, vines, and moss hanging from him, and his black tail coiling on the ground beside his sandaled foot.

My eyes snapped to Tesar.

“These are my followers,” he said, grinning. It was almost like he was enjoying my shock.

“An imp?”

“Are all wood sprites innocent and good?”

My fingers tightened on my leaf.

“Not all forest imps are bad. Besides, one should never underestimate a person’s ability to change.”

I shook my head. Imps were the enemy. Always had been. To have one here, in these beautiful pink trees, which I had already come to associate with beauty and life and health, felt wrong. So wrong.

“What if the rumors are right?” I persisted. “What if the imps, what if his kind, are responsible for the Black Ruin?”

What if they killed my tree?

You can sign up for her monthly newsletter at https://www.vanessaehoward.com/contact-1 . The newsletter is the best way to keep up with Vanessa’s writing, and her upcoming middle grade book, and also provides publishing news, behind-the-scenes of her writing journey, book recommendations, and occasional free samples of her fiction.

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What else would you like to see in WCOATCB’s Party Kit? Also feel free to rebuke me for my ungrateful heart. 🍅 Praise the Lord for fresh food.