🎶 …Join in any reindeer games. Like Broccoli! 🎶


KAT VANCIL

THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA

QUEST 47

🎶 “They never let poor Rudolph

Join in any reindeer games.

Like Broccoli!” 🎶

When I was 5, Reader, I learned the extended edition of “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” by heart just from hearing it sung. I was so very proud of myself I performed it for my grandma for Christmas when I saw her.

You see, in the lead-up to Christmas, they had been playing the stop-motion classic of Rudolph on TV and I was completely enamored with it.

I don’t think you could actually buy it back then on VHS for some crazy reason. So my dad, being the awesome person he is, had just taped the TV special right onto VHS—late 80s commercials and all. (Double Mint gum anyone?)

So here’s little 5-year-old me with my light-up musical animatronic Rudolph for accompaniment singing for grandma.

🎶 “They never let poor Rudolph

Join in any reindeer games.

Like Broccoli!” 🎶

Poor woman. 😮‍💨 She didn’t have the heart to tell me there was no such game as Broccoli.

And I was 5. It’s not like I could read to know I got the song wrong in the first place.

I’d never heard of Monopoly. It’s not exactly a game for someone in kindergarten.

But I did know what broccoli was. So clearly that was what they said…right?

So I boldly sang my little heart out in my festive holiday dress with Rudolph the light-up accompaniment for grandma…

And everyone else in my extended family…

My aunt let me do a few rounds of this before she confiscated the batteries out of Rudolph and handed him back to me.

Now if I could grant you anything this holiday…

It’s the confidence to sing as boldly as a 5-year-old who is 100% certain that “broccoli” is a game reindeer play.

So wear that sweater dress that everyone else says is ugly.

Watch 📺 Hallmark movies without shame.

Make that holiday dish 🥧 that your family thinks is revolting, but you think is divine.

And write that story ✍️ you’ve been thinking 🤔 about but not writing because you’ve been afraid of what others might think.

BE BOLD because…

Sometimes we are our worst critics. We’re the ones pushing ourselves so far down into the mud that no one else will ever get a chance to see our awesome.

So be bold. Be as bold as a 39-year-old twirling around in a Sexy Santa dress and hot pants on a leaky disaster of a stage in the pouring rain at a Christmas festival.

But wait, this Santa Lady’s got more gifts for you…

I’ve got a holiday surprise for you, Reader!

I have a holiday read for you to enjoy while you’re snuggled up with a mug of hot cocoa on a cold winter night.

Plus I’ve got 24 Holiday Story Prompts just for you, Reader if you’re in the mood to do a little short story writing in the next 2 weeks.

Well, me and Rudolph are gonna go cozy up with some cocoa and watch the first 2 episodes of Percy Jackson!

I wish you a happy, healthy & safe holiday 😸

Your cohort in storytelling,

Kat Vancil

🐱

PS 👉 The festive read is a holiday-themed Alternative Universe (AU) short story starring October and Kole from my NaNoWriMo project Occultopus.

You can download 2 Turtledoves from my book partner BookFunnel.

Did your friend, co-worker, or some rando you met at a con forward this email to you?

First off, they have good taste.

Secondly, you can join the Storyteller's Saga too and get edutaining emails delivered to your inbox every Wednesday by clicking the golden button below.


Not interested in learning to be a storyteller and just want to read some heart-pounding Boys Love fiction instead? Abandon this quest

Do you need/want to change your name or email? You can update it here

Don't want to hear from me like ever again? Just Unsubscribe

The Saga Quest

1179 West A Street, Suite 137, Hayward, CA 94541

I’m Kat! Professional Storyteller & Neurodivergent Creative

Here to help you vanquish those story construction obstacles, slay that imposter syndrome clawing at the back of your brain & stomp boredom flat with heart-pounding Boys Love fiction. Join the Saga and choose your inbox obsession, whether it’s helpful advice to get your writing unstuck or an episode of my weekly Boys Love Fantasy series to devour during your coffee break.

Read more from I’m Kat! Professional Storyteller & Neurodivergent Creative
‘Haters will use their words as a stick to beat you with. And not cleverly, either’ — Kat Vancil, “When someone’s shade is unintentionally helpful”, The Storytellers Saga

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 70 Guys don’t blush that much.’ The above is a comment I received from a peer on a 2017 Romance anthology, Reader. It’s what started me on the road to what I write today—Boys Love. Also known as M/M Romance or Achillean Romance Fiction. So why am I talking about it? Because most storytellers hate reviews. They’re considered at best—a necessary evil. And at worst—something to send you into a doom spiral. Especially the critical ones. But are all critical...

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 69 I made a mistake, Reader. A HUGE one. And I had to solve it FAST. Let me back up. I was down to the wire on my deadline to finish a short story for a contest and I miscalculated. By a lot. Like by a thousand words a lot. Now cutting a few fluff words or sentences here or there is par for the course when editing a story. But a thousand? That’s the difference between repainting a few rooms in your home and ripping out a whole freakin’ floor. But that’s...

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 68 Bet you’re wondering…Why’s this email coming a day late? Well aside from the fact that I had a massive migraine yesterday— (I’ve got a rare chronic illness that causes them—hooray!) I’m down to the wire, Reader, working on a short story for a contest. The same contest I entered last year and won. Which earned me a coveted spot in this anthology. Versus by the Fantasy and SciFi Writers Alliance The story is due Monday by midnight and I’m mostly done...