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🎶 …Join in any reindeer games. Like Broccoli! 🎶
🎶 “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. |
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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.
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 58 Well hello there, Reader, I hope you’ve been enjoying this month’s focus on autistic representation in stories. We’ve covered a brief history of autistic-coded characters in visual media. And seen 3 stories that perfectly capture the autistic experience. But now let’s talk about when a story really misses the mark, vilifies an autistic person, and makes a catchy musical number out of it. Bet you can’t guess which story I’m going to pick. Want to...
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 57 There is nothing that hits right to the heart of readers more, Reader, than to feel truly seen. Because it is one thing to be represented at all in a work of fiction. But another thing entirely to feel as if you and your experiences on this big ball or dirt in space, have been understood. And so, since we’re still in the midst of Autism Awareness Month, here are 3 stories that perfectly capture the autistic experience in a way you wouldn’t expect:...
KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 56 Alien. Robot. Psychopath. Um…what? 😟 Let me explain, Reader. It’s a joke among autistic individuals. Because until recently, the only representation we got in visual narratives such as movies or television, came in the form of autistic-coded characters. Which were—you guessed it— aliens, robots, or psychopaths. Which as you might understand, isn’t the greatest. It’s dehumanizing, to say the least. And deeply problematic, especially if you’re a young...