Huzzah, The Myth-Keepers Draft 2 is complete! This semester-long project has been an absolute delight to work on in the beginning part of 2025. I mostly kept up with my goal of revising 10 chapters each month, though that fell off in April entering into finals. However, the flexibility of May post-finals week allowed me …
Continue reading A Completed Draft 2: Writing Update May 2025
Happy 2025! Wow, can’t believe I haven’t written on the blog since last year… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Anyways, terrible joke aside, I have some exciting progress to report. Since my last writing update, despite starting a Ph.D. program in the Fall, I managed to write a rough draft for not one, but TWO novels! …
Continue reading Writing Update January 2025: A New Year Full Of New Excitement
This year, I finally finished The History of Middle-earth series, a 12-book dive into the development of Tolkien’s writing of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings across the span of his life, edited and with commentary from Tolkien’s son Christopher. It took me ten years to read through them all; as much as …
(Or, A Chance To Gush About Xenoblade Chronicles 3) Once upon a time, I used to be a “story purist.” In other words, I used to believe that books were the unquestioned superior form of storytelling, and dismissed movies, TV shows, and video games as inferior stories. I never thought those visual mediums could come …
The final piece I need to confess regarding my writing: I have not worshiped the Lord through my writing in recent months, at least not often. This is the product of both pursuing the Kingdom of Self as well as idolizing publication as the end goal. I’m burning out on projects quickly. I’m only writing …
Continue reading A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 3: Worship and Delight
I am a very self-driven, Type-A person. I do very little that isn’t practical. And right now, it’s choking my writing. Now, I believe Scripture is very clear that we are not to be lazy people and should work diligently, as unto the Lord, while also balancing that with our need for Sabbath rest. What …
Continue reading A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 2: Productivity or Stewarding Talents
Confession is a lost rhythm of modern life. In modern American culture, we’re quick to ignore our own faults and shortcomings, justify vice or less-than-good behaviors, and not cast judgment on others’ mistakes—unless we disagree with something they stand for. I’m grateful to be a part of a church that regularly practices confession, and it …
Continue reading A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 1: Kingdom of Self versus Kingdom of God
"Mythics" was the original series name - I brainstormed different names for the series in my planner. It's on a November calendar page, but I didn't commit to writing and working on the series until December 2013. The Myth-Keepers, my longest actively worked on series, turns ten years old this month. It is very surreal …
Hey there. It’s been a while. 2023 has been the sparsest year for writing updates (I at least get four, one per quarter, but this is only the third of the year) and one of the longest droughts since the last update (which was in May!). But I will admit up front: it seems odd …
Continue reading December 2023 Writing Update: A Year of Little Progress
I’m slowly realizing two very true things about myself as a writer. First, patience seems to be a defining virtue in this season of my career. Second, I really hate whatever stage of the writing process I’m currently in. Okay, maybe that second point is a little dramatic. After all, if I really disliked writing, …
Continue reading How To Get Through Writing Your Rough Draft
By Madelynn Orion 