Category: James’s Journal

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• 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

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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!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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IN THIS EDITION

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• Lorellum Fantastica: The Seven Scholars return with new lore—and Seven Banes
• Travelogue: Cinnamon Pass near Lake City, Colorado
• Movie Journey: The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• Pupdate: Glamour shots with fall colors

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When this Journal is published, I’ll be driving 14 hours back to Colorado from Texas. Perhaps you’re traveling back home as well. Or perhaps you’re already home, relaxing (or recovering!) after Thanksgiving weekend.

As promised, I have a report on my first Halloween in my house. Around 6:30, I opened the door to my first ever trick-or-treater, a caped and masked teenage boy. He challenged me to a rock-paper-scissors game with two pieces of candy as the wager. Bewildered, but intrigued, I accepted and subsequently won. He threw two pieces of candy into my bucket, then dashed off before I could say any more. That’s right—I started the night with more candy than I had started with.

So, that was Halloween. We’ve just had Thanksgiving. And Christmas season starts tomorrow—are you ready?

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Lorellum Fantastica

Seven Scholars. Seven odysseys to recover lost lore. And, at the end of it all, Seven Banes.

What is Lorellum Fantastica?

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Travelogue

Cinnamon Pass is where I fell in love with the mountains.

When I was a child, my family took a a camping trip to Colorado. My father selected a site in National Forest near Durango, towards the southwest corner of the state. During the trip, we took ATVs up through Silverton and along the Alpine Loop, a famous off-roading trail in the San Juan Mountains.

Our penultimate destination that day was Cinnamon Pass, and I recall it clearly. I wandered up a small crest (just to the left of the sign in the photo), sat down amongst mountain wildflowers and a gentle breeze, and gazed out upon the summer mountains beneath a bluebird sky. A born and raised Texan, used to living in lands as hot and flat as a frying pan, I was in awe.

This month, I camped out with my dad at the tail end of his annual elk hunt. We had great weather and took an unplanned drive up to Cinnamon Pass, where I took this photo. With a snowstorm coming in the following day, it’s highly likely that we were the last people on Cinnamon Pass in 2025.

And I’m happy to say this place is just as magical as when I first encountered it.

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Movie Journey

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The first animated film from Dreamworks Animation, the same studio that put out Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon. But you wouldn’t know that from watching this film—not with its gorgeous cinematography and incredible musical soundtrack. While it follows the origin story of Moses from the Bible, it focuses on telling a good story as opposed to evangelizing. A frequently-watched classic from my childhood, it still held up for me, two decades later. One of the best film openings I’ve ever seen. Deliver Us is still stuck in my head, weeks later.

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Pupdate

Autumn is the best time to go hiking in Colorado. In addition to the cooler weather, there’s fall colors everywhere: most notably the aspen trees, whose leaves burst with a fiery yellow hue (as seen in the above photo). On a hike near Evergreen, the pups were kind enough to let me snap a glamour shot. We might put this one on a Christmas card!

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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!

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IN THIS EDITION

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• Lorellum Fantastica: The Lorekeepers lead a haphazard construction project
• Travelogue: Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico
• Movie Journey: Good Will Hunting (1997)
• Pupdate: The spooky side of Lamington

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Happy Halloween! How’s your autumn going so far? Hopefully, you’ve had some proper chilly weather blow in? Perhaps picked some apples and carved some pumpkins? Watched a scary movie or two?

Having recently become a new homeowner in the last year, this is my first true Halloween in the house. That also means it’s my first time receiving trick or treaters. I’ve spooked up the house with decorations and will be crossing my fingers for a good showing. I’ll report back how it goes in the next Journal!

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Lorellum Fantastica

After the Seven departed, work immediately began on the Conservatory. In the middle of Merle is the Looking Glass, a tranquil lake that contains a craggy, forested island. It is on this island that the Lorekeepers chose to build. 

What is Lorellum Fantastica?

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Travelogue

At the start of October, I spent a week in Cancún, Mexico, which included a few day trips out into the lush Yucatán Peninsula. The crown jewel of the trip was my visit to the ruins of Chichén Itzá, an ancient Mayan city. As ancient Mesoamerican cultures are an inspiration for my novel Blood of Mezmatl, I was especially interested in experiencing the place firsthand.

You’ve doubtless seen perfect postcard pictures of the Temple of Kukulcan, so I wanted to show you a different angle that I found interesting. On the leftmost stairs, you can see the original stonework archeologists left intact. And in the foreground, note the exposed limestone slab—the entire complex is built atop one giant platform buried in the earth!

Most wondrous of all are the acoustics of the architecture. If you stand at the base of the pyramid and clap, the sound bounces off the pyramid summit and returns to you sounding like a bird call. A live demonstration absolutely blew my mind!

It’s no wonder (pun intended) that Chichén Itzá is considered a Wonder of the World.

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Movie Journey

I knew nothing about this movie going in. Growing up, my exposure to Robin Williams was limited to family comedies (e.g., Jumanji, Aladdin, Night at the Musem). It’s a tragedy, I know. Gaps such as these are a major reason I started my movie journey in the first place! In any case, Williams’s performance in this film floored me (angry Robin is terrifying). The film focuses on the patient/son – therapist/father relationship between the two main characters. Watching it unfold was fascinating, heartbreaking, but ultimately endearing.

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Pupdate

Every so often, Lamington reminds me he can be more than just cute or goofy. This month I discovered that he has a spooky side, just in time for Halloween. One night, I turned the corner to go upstairs and there he was, perched at the landing, watching with eyes that gleamed in my phone’s flashlight. Thanks for the heart attack, buddy.

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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!

Welcome to the very first James’s Journal!

I’m thrilled that you’re here. Through this Journal, you’ll get a glimpse into my life and writing journey—and, of course, photos of my pups. In turn, I hope this Journal inspires you to get creative, travel somewhere new, watch a good movie, or cuddle the nearest pet.

Thank you for reading — truly. Sharing my work and talking with readers is one of the great joys of being a writer.

And now, onto the Journal!

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IN THIS EDITION

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• Lorellum Fantastica: The Lorekeepers elect Seven Scholars
• Travelogue: Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima, Japan
• Movie Journey: Fargo (1996)
• Pupdate: An introduction to Beyla and Lamington

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Lorellum Fantastica

Lorellum Fantastica Season Two continues from the six entries launched last week! If you haven’t read them yet, here’s a link to start from AVL-01.

Otherwise, read on for the latest Entry in the Avelliron Lorebook…

The twin tragedies of the Great Library and the First Sage erased a hundred years of centralized Lorekeeping. Lorekeepers everywhere lamented at this tragic loss of knowledge—but it was only the first of their troubles.

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Travelogue

Earlier this year, we traveled to Japan during the cherry blossom season. This is a photo of a famous floating Torii gate, located off Miyajima Island near Hiroshima. We stayed on the island overnight, allowing a peaceful visit after dark to the shrine. It’s easily one of my all time favorite shots from Japan!

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Movie Journey

During this month, we’ve been stuck into films released in 1996. A clear standout from the crowd is Fargo, an awkward and comedic crime film set in Minnesota. This movie’s attention to detail — dare I say, it’s “Minnesota worldbuilding” — is impeccable. I could sit and listen to the characters talk to each other all day long. Would I watch it again? Oh, you betcha!

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Pupdate

Since this is the first Journal, I figured I’d introduce my two pups!

Beyla is a five-year old golden retriever, a sweetheart to everyone she meets, and mortally afraid of flags.

Lamington is a two-year old corgi, the self-appointed guardsman of the house, and considers himself the same size as a German Shepherd.

Stay tuned for more pupdates!

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And that wraps up the first James’ Journal! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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!

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Lorellum Fantastica—and in celebration, I’m launching LF Season Two!

Elandra returns to the quill

As mentioned in my previous post, Lorellum Fantastica Season Two brings a host of new changes and content, including:

• A shorter format focused on interesting lore from Elandra’s world
• Six new Entries you can read right now
• A new continent map
• An updated Foreword
• Other fun updates to the website, such as the new Lorebooks page

With the launch of Season Two, Elandra dives into the continent of Avelliron (AVL), sketching out the apocalyptic Starfall.

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Next week: the first James’s Journal!

As announced in my last post, James’s Journal begins next Sunday! Each month, you’ll receive:

• The latest LF Entry and any writing news
• A photo and thoughts from recent travel
• A movie recommendation from my movie journey
• A pupdate from Beyla or Lamington

As a reminder, you don’t need to do anything to start receiving James’s Journal—this existing newsletter will be converted.

See you next Sunday, and thanks for reading!

James

Howdy! It’s September. That means it’s autumn, Halloween season, and the start of my favorite time of the year. Are you ready for crisp mornings and fall colors?

As promised last week, I’ve also got some exciting news to share. The one year anniversary for Lorellum Fantastica is just over a week away on September 22. To celebrate this milestone, I’m happy to share not just one announcement, but two!

Lorellum Fantastica Season Two launches next week

Elandra is back!

After a nine month hiatus, Lorellum Fantastica is back for a second season. I’ve spent a decent portion of 2025 brainstorming and experimenting to make LF more sustainable to keep up with.

What’s changed

• Entries are now much shorter, designed to be read in < 5 minutes.
• Entries will be published monthly.
• Entries can center around any tidbit of worldbuilding—for example, how a flower was used in an assassination, or why dwarves are allergic to water.

Season Two launch content

Season Two will launch with a bunch of new content:

• Six new Entries, starting with the mysterious and apocalyptic Starfall
• A new continent map from Elandra’s world
• Website updates to account for Season Two’s changes

So, when does all this launch?

Next week! 

That’s right—September 21, 2025, one day before the one year anniversary of Lorellum Fantastica. Stay tuned for an email next Sunday for the official launch.

But that’s not all…

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Launching alongside LF S2 is James’s Journal, a monthly journal that follows my journey as a writer. Within each journal, you’ll find the following sections:

• Lorellum Fantastica
  • A new Entry in my free fantasy serial, along with any other writing updates.
• Travelogue
  • Travel directly inspires much of my writing. I’ll include one of my favorite photos from recent travel with a thought or two.
• Movie Journey
  • A few years ago, I started a movie journey in which I watch the most culturally impactful movie(s) of each year. I started in 1939 and am now over 130 movies in. I’ll share one of my recent watches that I really enjoyed.
• Pupdate
  • I take way too many photos of my dogs: Beyla and Lamington, a Golden Retriever and Corgi, respectively. I’ll round up the journal with a cute or funny photo and a little snippet about what’s going on in their lives.

The best part is that you don’t need to do anything to start following James’s Journal.

Starting Sunday September 28, I’ll convert this existing newsletter into James’s Journal, so you should automatically start receiving Journals into your inbox. How convenient!

It all begins next week

September 21, 2025 – that’s when all these things kick off. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped bring these ideas to fruition.

And of course, thanks to you, dear reader, for your support. I can’t wait to share this next step of the journey with you.

See you next week!

James

Hey there!

It’s been awhile. How was your summer? Hopefully you got some (but not too much) sun?

In my last post at the end of 2024, I talked about how Lorellum Fantastica was going on a hiatus while I focused on things for my novel, Blood of Mezmatl.

That’s now done! Mezmatl is edited, polished, and ready for a showing out in the traditional publishing industry. While I search for a literary agent, I’ve turned back to Lorellum Fantastica. It’s crazy to think about, but we’re now coming up on its one year anniversary!

OK, to be fair, I haven’t published any LF in 2025.

But I plan to change that—and more.

Exciting changes are coming to Lorellum Fantastica, as well as this newsletter and the website itself.

Stay tuned for more details next Sunday!

James

Hey there!

I hope you’ve had a great holiday season, and an even better 2024. As the year comes to a close, I’ve been looking back on the last several months since I launched Warden Writing. It’s been a ride! Here’s some fun stats:

• 4 Volumes with 4 Entries each, for a total of 16 Entries
• Across all volumes, 23,000 words – approximately 83 novel pages
• 208 years of in-world history covered across all Entries

Thanks so much to everyone who has been following along with Lorellum Fantastica’s maiden voyage. Thanks as well to my beta readers and their unwavering support and feedback. I’m so thankful to have been able to share this world with all of you!

What’s next for Warden Writing

I think 2025 is going to be a big year.

Chief amongst my priorities is seeking publication for Blood of Mezmatl. Up until now, my writing time and energy has been split between BoM and LF. I’ve decided that, in order to give BoM what it deserves—to ensure the best possible showing out in the publishing industry—I need to devote all my time to it.

Lorellum Fantastica, therefore, will be taking a bit of a hiatus.

Elandra deserves a vacation, anyway

While there won’t be new Volumes or weekly Entries during the hiatus, this isn’t to say I won’t be working Lorellum Fantastica at all.

These last several months have been a proof of concept. While I love LF, I’ve come to find that it’s drawing more time and energy from my writing time and personal life than I initially anticipated. I’ve been thinking over the existing format of LF and have some ideas on how to make it slicker, shorter, and more efficient to publish. Ideas that will make it more sustainable for me to keep a regular schedule while pursuing bigger projects like Blood of Mezmatl.

Ultimately, I don’t want to give up either of these, so it’s just a matter of having a think over how to strike that balance. In short—stay tuned on what’s next for Lorellum Fantastica.

Besides, after what she’s been through recently, I’d say Elandra needs a bit of a break.

See you in 2025!

Thanks again to everyone for all of the support, feedback, and readership on this journey. I’m excited to see where Warden Writing will go in 2025!

Where does it all end?

Relga Craythe, Queen of Rivona, sails the raging river of war. Although her victories are tremendous, and she has reclaimed all previously lost territory, a more ominous question looms above her campaign—and her very life. How does she calm the currents? Where does she disembark? Where does it all end?

Find out in the riveting finale of Reclaimer!

Newsletter readers get early access and can read the new Entry now, before it’s released to the rest of the internet. Thanks for staying subscribed!

Happy reading, and see you next Sunday for an update on Lorellum Fantastica in 2025!

More stuff

Lorellum Fantastica releases once a week, but there’s plenty of other things to check out between new Entries!

• Check out the LF homepage
• Explore LF’s previous Volumes and Maps
• Read other short stories from me
• Explore art and other projects on my website

See you in the stories!

Reclamation or revenge?

With her revolutionary deepwater ships, Relga Craythe has returned to her throne, offering Rivona a chance to turn the tide of war. Now one question remains: what sort of path will she strike? Reclamation of all that has been lost? Revenge for what has been done to her people?

Newsletter readers get early access and can read the new Entry now, before it’s released to the rest of the internet. Thanks for staying subscribed!

Happy reading, and see you next Sunday for the finale of Reclaimer!

More stuff

Lorellum Fantastica releases once a week, but there’s plenty of other things to check out between new Entries!

• Check out the LF homepage
• Explore LF’s previous Volumes and Maps
• Read other short stories from me
• Explore art and other projects on my website

See you in the stories!