Storytelling and Collaboration

Hello and welcome to my end-of-month newsletter blog post!

You can read last month’s newsletter here.

Following the very loose pattern I decided to set, these posts are a chance for me to update you on my writing projects and write a few words about something to do with stories.

This month, I want to reflect briefly on storytelling as a collaboration. 

When you pick up a book—whether it’s a printed, electronic, or audio version—you’re entering the story itself. You’re joining the storyteller in making that book come alive. Your imagination, paired with their words brings characters, settings, and worlds to life before your very eyes.

The storyteller’s task is to make sure that their words don’t get in the way of your imagination. They need to give just enough detail to their stories and give you the opportunity to fill in the rest.

When stories aren’t a collaboration between the storyteller and the reader, they feel empty and hollow. There’s little to no sense of ownership and initiative for the reader to pick up the book, open it, and read from beginning to end. Such stories become like listening to a lecture on a topic that you’re not all that invested in.

But when stories are a collaboration, and there is an invitation from the storyteller for the reader to come and be included in a grand adventure… 

That’s a beautiful thing. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of my April. Lots of irons in the fire at the moment:

• I started two new projects this month! One is a theological book exploring the foundational aspects of thanksgiving in life, and the other is a middle-grade fantasy novel set in a brand new world—so, two very different subject matters! But that’s also why I’ve been able to hop back and forth between the two drafts. They stay separate in my mind. More on these projects in the months to come!
• Edits for the third book in the Rose & Ed series continue, we’re almost done with this round of edits. Many thanks to my good friend and editor for making that happen! We’ve been working on editing this final book since 2023, and I can’t wait to share it with you. It’s a wild ride.
• I’m also making slow but steady progress on the final edits for A Librarian’s Tale, the third book in my whimsical fantasy series, Tales of Minz. I’m still aiming tentatively for a May 2025 release (Yes, that’s next month!), but that release might get pushed back to June if I feel too rushed.
• Edits are also underway on a little theological book I wrote about spiritual warfare. The first round is complete! 
• I posted the fourth short story of the year, and I’ll post another in May. Catch up on past stories here if you’re looking for a good chuckle.

Enjoy the spring weather and read some good books! 

Until next time,

Al