Hi again! A happy, and hopefully not-sweltering, midsummer/summer solstice to everyone who reads these little snippets of my thoughts. May the longest day and shortest night of the year bring you good times with good weather and with great people.
Without going into spoilers, midsummer features very prominently in Tales of a Stranger Sister, so I wanted to talk a little bit about that here. Honestly, those chapters were probably my favorite to write during both the initial draft and subsequent rewrites, and it was one of the few times during the whole process where I never struggled to move from one word to the next. A chance to put into words those feelings of pure, unadulterated joy is one of the memories I’ll most treasure as I look back on creating this book in both the near and distant future.
More than anything else, those chapters were definitely the most fun I had during the whole process, and I certainly made sure to indulge in describing as much wonderful summer food as possible. Much of it was based on, or at least heavily inspired, by the food I would indulge in as a younger man during the long summer months, and while we’re still a few more weeks away from the best sweet corn of the season here, every time I re-read those passages while editing, I could taste it in my imagination.
The other part that was an absolute joy to write was the midsummer night bonfire sequence. Again, without giving any spoilers, that whole sequence has been something I’ve wanted to do in a fantasy story for a long, long time, so I’m eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to do so with my debut novel.
Anyway, to those who’ve read it, I hope you felt the joy that I felt crafting those chapters, and to those who may be thinking of giving my story I try, I hope it brings to mind pleasant memories of long warm days, short warm nights, good food, and better company.
And to help set a mood for those chapters and for summer in general, here’s a piece of music from The Gothard Sisters that will hopefully inspire thoughts of summer festivals full of merriment and wonderful food under clear, blue skies.
Until next time, stay cool, everyone!
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