- Lorellum Fantastica: The Seven Scholars establish the Seven Schools of the Conservatory
- Travelogue: What do Seattle, Austin, and Corozal, Belize have in common?
- Movie Journey: The Truman Show (1998)
- Pupdate: Savoring wide open space of Texas
Happy holidays! Can you believe 2026 arrives this week? I don’t know about you, but this year has just flown by. The days are long but the years are short, as they say.
In the realm of writing, 2025 has been a big year. I finished polishing edits on Blood of Mezmatl and sent it shooting off into the world of traditional publishing. I launched Lorellum Fantastica Season Two and this Journal. And behind the scenes, I’ve been hard at work planning and outlining the next books in the Mezmatl series.
But I know 2026 will be an even bigger year. I have a few ideas and plans in the pipeline, and will share them in the new year — perhaps in the next Journal in January. Stay tuned!
For now, please enjoy the final Journal of 2025. Important note: AVL-10 is the final entry of the Avelliron Lorebook (for now). That means in January, Elandra will dive into a new Lorebook, exploring another part of her world—new places, new people, new topics. And, of course, more terrible sketches.
I hope these final days of 2025 are restful, restorative, and hopeful for you. See you in the new year!
Lorellum Fantastica
The Seven brought home lore of Avelliron, of course: buried secrets, hidden peoples, elusive creatures, and maps of its many regions. But they also returned with lore from lands beyond Avelliron: accounts of lost civilizations and strange peoples, far-flung cities, mind-boggling geography, and monsters nobody had ever heard of.
What is Lorellum Fantastica?
Travelogue
What do Seattle, Austin, and Corozal, Belize have in common?
No idea. Do you?
During my drive down to Texas for Thanksgiving, I stumbled across this signpost. As you can probably guess from the photo’s background, it was square in the middle of nowhere near Amarillo, TX. I only discovered it because I was walking Beyla and Lamington down the road, stretching our legs while my wife filled up the gas in the car.
Needless to say, the maker of this signpost apparently saw a connection between these places—Amarillo, TX; Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; and what I assume to be Corozal, Belize. (I only realize now, a month after taking the photo, that there appears to be another sign on the other side. Drat!) Are they places of familial residence? Are they places the maker has visited and fallen in love with?
There’s no way to know (read: it’s not on Google Maps).
For me, I found the signpost striking because it represents something I love about travel: how people, and their travels, can connect two places thousands of miles apart.
Movie Journey
The Truman Show (1998)
As with many films on the movie journey, I knew little to nothing about The Truman Show going in. It follows the character of Truman (played by Jim Carrey, in undoubtedly one of his best performances), who slowly begins to realize that his entire life is an artificial construction—a TV show, streamed continuously to the world. Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler. It’s revealed within the first 2 minutes of the movie. The movie initially presents itself with a veneer of a comedy, but subtly and masterfully builds a quiet, dystopian discomfort for Truman’s situation.
It’ll get you thinking.
Pupdate
The pups love visiting Texas, and this year was no different. My family owns a piece of beautiful Texas countryside, with plenty of space for the pups to zoom, frolic, and roll around. My house in Colorado—with its small, fenced backyard—simply cannot compare.
This photo was taken on the Texas property… and perhaps sums up Beyla and Lamington’s personalities far better than any shot I’ve taken before!
I always love hearing from my readers—if there’s something you want to say about anything in the Journal, you can either reply directly to this email or visit the website to leave a comment.
Thanks as always for reading, and see you next month!
IN THIS EDITION
