The Crackling Quill // May Edition
The monthly newsletter of T. Albright
So nice I did it twice! Welcome to my second newsletter.
This month’s edition has a new short story, summer project updates, a little literary love note to the Greensboro Bound Book Festival, swoony book recs, and wildlife adventures.
Celebrating Moms Everywhere
As a genre writer who has never been in love, been kidnapped/murdered, pet a dragon, or lived on an alien planet (big sighs all around), the adage “write what you know” has always stymied me just a bit. Yes, yes, I understand it applies to emotional truths, not just practical experiences, but for a long time I stubbornly refused to write anything that came close to resembling my mundane reality.
This whole Crackling Quill project has been a fun way to exercise some new writing muscles, in that I’m starting to write about subjects I have some expertise in, partly because writing a story a month doesn’t leave a ton of time for research. So I’ve found it a helpful shortcut to lean into subjects I know a little about already, hence rock climbing in April (check out Rock Solid if you haven’t yet), and now the double whammy of theatre and being someone’s child in May!
The Mother of All Mysteries centers on Morgan and her perfect Mother’s Day gift — an immersive show at her theater (shout out to all the kids who force their art on their families). But when the family cat vanishes hours before curtain call, chaos takes center stage. Family feuds, frantic phone calls, and feline drama abound. 💔🐱
This 5,000-word contemporary short story is (hopefully) a hilarious and heartfelt whodunit about love, loss, and finding what matters. My intent when I conceived it was to write a cozy mystery. I always like the idea of a cozy story, but I usually wind up going darker or spicier, so I’m consciously working on staying in that tonal space. And I’d never taken a crack at a mystery before now. I think it checks both boxes. And you, lucky reader, get to enjoy a double dose of spring coziness, before I crank up the heat for summer (more details below).
If you enjoy the story, I hope you’ll leave a review on your favorite site!
Creative Update
June’s story is going to be 🔥. Here are the highlights:
Curses.
Lesbians.
Peru.
This Solstice-set story is steamy, and long (so long I’m toying with the idea of breaking it into installments, stay tuned). It’s turning out to be so much fun to write. I can’t wait to share it.
In other news, I’m moving into the polish stage on book one of my collaborative middle grade series with my producing partner, and I’m excited to tell you more about it soon.
I’m also elbows deep in research for the adult queer paranormal romance series I’ll be working on during my writing retreat in two weeks. 😱 I’ll be secluded in an old house for a week, and my goal is to finish the zero draft (aka the vomit draft, or the sh*tty first draft) by the end of the retreat. I’m currently accepting good vibes and chocolate to help me power through. I got some early feedback from a trusted friend over the weekend that really lifted my spirits and reinvigorated me about this project. Remember to surround yourself with good people.
Literary Love Note: Greensboro Bound Book Festival
Saturday, May 17 was the 7th annual Greensboro Bound Book Festival. I love this annual literary fête in my adopted hometown. What writer wouldn’t relish the chance to rub elbows with other awkward book lovers and listen with a mixture of awe and envy to the authors we all (secretly or not so secretly) aspire to be?
I am a good literary citizen 😇, so I volunteered with the festival in the morning and helped set up the author green room. Then I beelined over to the Greensboro Public Library to check out their series of writing workshops. In between sessions, I picked up a couple of books (of course) from the Scuppernong Books table, and chatted with some other readers about their favorite books from the past year. On my way out the door, I submitted suggestions for authors I’d love to see at a future festival. NC-based author T. Kingfisher was at the top of my list, 1) because she is amazing and 2) because What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier #3) is at the top of my fall release list.
Thanks Greensboro Bound for another fantastic year! See you next April. ❤️
Read These Things
Looking for a charming contemporary lesbian romance with parent representation? I wasn’t. But I should have been, and then I’d have read When You Least Expect It sooner. I usually have a long queue of books and audiobooks at the ready, but last week I found myself in the weird lull between when my Spotify audiobook hours renewed and when my next audiobook hold from Libby came through, so I popped over to my tagged library titles and saw this one that had been hanging out for a while. Great cover, fun premise (a divorce attorney falls for the ex-wife of her former work nemesis as she helps her get a divorce), and available to borrow. I started it with fairly low expectations. I was totally delighted by the slow burn romance and the holiday theme that manages to carry through the whole year (go figure I love a holiday theme). If you’ve considered picking it up, this is your friendly nudge to do it already.
I also mentioned being buried in research. I’m currently reading Mary Roach’s Spook, which is as entertaining and insightful as expected. She’s my hands-down favorite popular science writer. Whether you’re interested in dead bodies, space travel, war, or the intersection of the human and animal worlds, she’s covered it. This is my blanket recommendation for all of her books. The world is so much weirder than we give it credit for.
Just for Funsies
Also this past weekend, I hauled my family up to Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC to take in the views and get up close to some wildlife. It did not disappoint. We took a behind-the-scenes animal tour where we got within petting distance of these lovely critters, checked out the animal meal prep kitchen, and heard the details of how the park dealt with damage after Hurricane Helene. We were also nearly blown off the mountain, which is apparently common. Who knows which of these elements might end up in a future story!
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