KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 85 Well hello there, Reader, While everyone else has got Black Friday Deals for you and whatnot, I thought I’d share 3 (mostly FREE) tools I’m grateful for instead. Scrivener Since 2010, I’ve done all my story writing exclusively in this program designed by a UK company Literature & Latte. Hands down, it’s the best writing program I’ve worked with and I’ve never considered switching to anything else. I use it for everything. Story creation, daily prompt...
5 days ago • 4 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 84 But what if no one likes it? It’s a common fear among newbie storytellers,Reader. It’s ingrained right down to the bones. Like showing up to the first day of school and getting mocked for your hair or backpack or glasses. That fear of being singled out is at the very heart of what it is to be human. We want to blend into the herd, the pack, it’s how we stay safe. It’s how we keep from getting eaten. But…the point of art—of storytelling—IS to stand...
11 days ago • 3 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 83 It’s perfectly okay to NOT be okay right now, Reader. Because the outside world is A LOT at the moment. The implosion of NaNoWriMo. The banning and destruction of all we hold dear in this world. The dystopian fascist hellscape that America has become. It’s enough to make you want to crawl under a blanket and hibernate until 2028. Trust me, Reader, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or disillusioned, you’re not alone. It’s okay. Your feelings are valid....
15 days ago • 2 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 82 What does it truly mean to “Write what you know”, Reader? Do they mean write a story about an office worker in purchasing who watches a few hours of streaming TV a night with his wife and cat on the couch? Or a retired stay-at-home mom who now spends way too many hours reading social media posts and buying gifts for the grandkids? Or a former picture book illustrator who has never lived further than an hour from where she was born? Click to watch the...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 81 Is it just me, Reader, or does this time of year put you in the mood to write something spooky? Maybe it’s the music I have running in the background while I work. 🎶 Or the fact that I just binge-watched like 5 episodes of Agatha All Along. 🧙♀️ Or the fact that I’m attending a wedding on Halloween and the invite says dress in your costumed best. (I’m going as Persephone goddess of the Greek underworld and my husband is going as a stylish plague...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 80 I see things like this every day on Threads, Reader! “I wrote 5K words today. But for something I’m not even working on.😭 ” “I'm supposed to be working on my WIP, but I started another new story. Again.” “Brain you’re being SUPER unhelpful! We’re supposed to be working on THE book! You should not be feeding me M/M fanfic for the anime we just watched!” Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, then you know we’re talking about plot bunnies, side...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 79 Well hello there, Reader! While talking to a friend about her upcoming novel, we got into a discussion about Cozy Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, and if there existed such a thing as Dark Cozy Fantasy. Well, one of my upcoming stories—Seventh Swan—is exactly that. It’s a cozy slice-of-life where two young guys run a bakery in a fantasy kingdom’s capital. But also one of them spent a couple hundred years forcibly transformed into a swan 🦢 and might have been...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 78 Maybe you saw this yesterday, Reader, while scrolling Threads? I mean it had already gained nearly 40K views by the time I clipped this pic. My dude, you just went viral on Threads in the worst possible way. And now all of writer and author Threads is coming for you…and Instagram too. 😬 He’s wrong BTW. And just to be very clear, you’re still a REAL published author no matter how it happens. If your story is trad pubbed… …you’re a real published...
2 months ago • 4 min read
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 77 Well hello there, Reader, The festival this past weekend in my hometown was a blast! We lucked out with the perfect fall weather—a pleasant mid-70s with a light breeze. I signed books, my husband unveiled two new coloring books and explained D&D to bright-eyed festival goers, and we gained plenty of new ideas for next time. But amidst the normal questions, meet-ups with old friends, and befriending of a murder of crows—there was the same wistful...
2 months ago • 2 min read
KAT & ALERIC VANCIL THE SAGA QUEST 42ND SANTA CLARA ART & WINE It’s festival time, Reader! This weekend SEP 14 & 15 me and my husband will be at the 42nd Annual Santa Clara Art and Wine Festival in my hometown. Once again, they’ve graciously invited me to be showcased in their juried selection of artisans and craft persons. You’ll find us in the same location as previous years under the shady trees in our story forge in Booth 144. We’ll have our normal selection of Inspurrational kitty...
3 months ago • 1 min read