Saved as Draft

Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special episode of the Saved as Draft podcast. This week, I’m joined by writer, artist, and animator James Nethery, who runs BrewBob the (not so) Beer Snob here on Substack.

You can also find BrewBob on TikTok and Instagram if you’d like to check out more of James’ videos and craft beer reviews.

Here are your timestamps for this week if you’d like to jump to a specific segment:

* 4:05 - Community Spotlight

* 7:41 - Writing Discussion

* 46:21 - Comedy Segue (Featuring Lord Devereaux)

* 50:13 - Weekly Shout Outs

* 58:02 - The Second Indulgence Week 1 Recap

* 1:15:50 - Next Week on Substack

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight is on michelle ray! Michelle recently released her memoir, which I discussed during the episode. Grab your copy here.

As I also mentioned in the episode, Michelle read one of my poems to her class last year and sent over their feedback. That piece was Funhouse Mirror if you’re curious to check it out! You can find their feedback in this thread.

A huge thank you to Michelle for all the support!

Writing Discussion

This week’s writing discussion thread was all about keeping the creative spark alive when life gets hard. You can find all the responses here.

Weekly Shout Outs

* You’re an Animal by Alexandria Fergusson

* The Fall of Crows: Non Serviam by Kairos and Friends

* And you don’t seem to understand by Prachi

The Second Indulgence: Week 1 Stories Leaderboard

And now, for the part you’re all waiting for. In this episode, I looked at the top performing stories from week 1 of my ongoing horror writing challenge. These are the individual stories that scored highest.

The final winners of the challenge will be chosen based on their total author score, but those numbers will remain a mystery for now.

And now, a look at our three brackets, plus some Wild Card stories I selected, and of course a few stories from the Unranked bracket! Keep in mind, these scores were captured on Thursday of this past week, so they may have gone up since then.

1. Johnathan Vance - The Golden Sequence

* Total Score: 24 points

2. Alexander Aviles - Chapter 1: Chimera

* Total score: 23 points

3. Victoria "Moueska" Buritsch - Ritual

* Total score: 17 Points

Wild Card

My wild card pick for week 1’s lightweight bracket is He Brought Back What? by Fritz Fallen!

1. Beastly 𖤐 Being - Salt Tumor

* Total score: 44 points

2. Felix Thornfell - Anthropic Identity

* Total score: 21 points

3. Arlo Vell - Hope is a Funny Drug

* Total score: 15 points

Wild Card

While this person is submitted unranked since they work on the challenge, they would most likely join the middleweight bracket if they were competing.

For that reason, my wild card pick for middleweight this week is A Proud and Bloodstained Family Business by Leeron Heywood!

1. Verdant Butterfly - Devereaux’s Masquerade Pt 1

* Total score: 99 points

2. Gary L Taylor - Eyes

* Total score: 80 points

3. ReBe - Opening

* Total score: 46 points

Wild Card

For our heavyweight bracket Wild Card, I’ve selected The First Smokesmith by Richard Pack!

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hello everyone! This week’s episode of The Saved as Draft podcast is packed with all kinds of good stuff. The Second Indulgence Horror writing challenge is also underway. If you’d like, you can check out my Day 1 entry here.

You can find the Week 1 prompts here, and our Aperitif prompt is still open here as well. Find links to everything else from this week’s episode below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight is on Science Fiction Stories! Join this science fiction writer for standalone stories and several mini-series as well.

Learn more about their work here.

Weekly Writing Discussion

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the writing discussion this week! You can find the full thread and all the responses here. A huge thank you to all of the author who shared their thoughts this week:

* Maryellen Brady 💗📚

* Jenifer Jorgenson

* D D Wise

* Dan Gummer

* Beastly 𖤐 Being

* J.M. Gooding

* M.N. Straun

* Hazel Allen

* J. Alleyn Winchester

Weekly Shout Outs

Once again this week, I asked you to pitch me your work! Here are the top 5 stories from my Tuesday thread in no particular order:

* Will I Be Okay by Hazel Allen

* Chapter 2: Survival of the Fittest by Alexander Aviles

* The Halls: Return to Sender by BentButTrue

* 2009 by Drown the Thought

* While I Am Still Here by Sara da Encarnação

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hello everyone! This week’s episode is massive, so make sure to check the links and timestamps below so you can find what you’re looking for.

Today also marks the launch of our Aperitif Prompt in The Second Indulgence Challenge. Find that prompt here if you’re interested, or click here to learn about the challenge as a whole.

Our sponsor this week is also real! Check out the first episode of a new D’veen and Imagingings Universe crossover with J. Alleyn Winchester. This one is canon to D’veen as well, so don’t miss out!

This week’s guest is Gary L Taylor who submitted written answers to his questions and to community questions as part of his Halls of Pandemonium winner interview!

Here are your timestamps for easy navigation:

* 5:40 - Writing Discussion

* 31:30 - Gary L. Taylor interview

* 59:50 - Weekly Comedy Skit

* 01:05 - Shout Outs

* 01:19 - Power up Prompt Stories

Community Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Johanna C. Eschwald! Be sure to check out her ongoing series, and her latest poem.

Weekly Shout Outs

Thank you again for the amazing pitches this week! Here are the stories I discussed:

* Love Language by Spencer D.W.

* Mulan Searches for the Medicine of Immortality by E. H. Lau

* Dog Years by Asteria 👻🪻

* The History Behind my Debut Novel: The Devil’s Dance by Author Jolandi Stadler

* Zandry and the Witch: Episode 1 by Kiki Ellingson

Power up Prompt #39 Stories

* Where the Fog Ends by Sara da Encarnação

* Not a Minute too Soon by Felix Thornfell

* By Teeth We’re Bound by H. Reid

* The Missing Crown by Anton Anderson

* Chapter 1: Fir Bolgs by Alexander Aviles

* The Squirehood of Vaeloria by Mina Howell (Part two here)

* People of the Stairs by Hayden Waring

* The Aethelwurm Crown by J.M. Gooding

* Heart of Fire by Terrifying Tales

* Penalty Increased for Lack of Creativity by Every Root, Every Thorn

* Serve the Titans by Beastly 𖤐 Being (Part two here)

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Please enjoy this narration of my poem titled "How do we know this isn't hell?"

Welcome everyone, to episode 87 of the Saved as Draft Podcast. Lots going on this week, so please find a list of time stamps below if you’d like to quickly navigate to your favorite segments:

* Writing Discussion: 7:30

* Challenge Announcement: 36:55

* Story Shout Outs: 43:00

* Power up Prompt Stories: 56:05

Find all the links from the show below:

Helpful Links

* DREADtober Year 2 hosted by Derek James Kritzberg

* Sunday Plot Luck #2 hosted by Indie Ink Fund (Next one out tomorrow!)

* September LIVE Poetry Reading recording with Stefan Pasek

* Cosmic Pirate Horror from Spencer D.W.

Community Spotlight

This week’s Community Spotlight is Vesper L. Rayne! Learn more about this author’s projects in their full introductory post.

Writing Discussion

Check out this week’s writing discussion thread here, and a huge thank you to everyone who participated. Hear their responses (and my own) in the episode. You can also read my full article on scoping your stories.

Weekly Shout Outs

* The Crystal Dragon: Chapter 1 by Layla | The Fiction Forager

* A Single Futile Shot by Daniel Coates

* Surrounded by Nimita Kaul

* Green Eyed Monster by Horror With A Grin

* Behind the Scenes: Death in a Nutshell by M.R.R Jack's Tales of Pictavia

Power up Prompt Stories

A huge thank you to Gary Mucklow again for writing this week’s Power up Prompt and reviewing the entries!

* Just a Minute by Hayden Waring

* The Listening Room by Mina Howell

* I Remember Now by J.M. Gooding

* The Missing Minute by Cailin

* Irrecoverable by Kayleigh Thorpe (Thorprune)

* Midnight Hall Performers by J.E. Vance (Author)

* The Choice by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

* Sloppy Old Man by Beastly 𖤐 Being

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Note: Several Poems in this month’s live contain themes of suicidal ideation, depression, and the loss of a loved one. Please consider this before watching or listening.

Another month, another LIVE poetry reading with my friend Stefan Pasek, and if we’re lucky, a new portrait of us both from Nimita Kaul.

If you weren’t able to make the LIVE, don’t worry! We have all 2.5 hours of glorious poetry and discussion here, ready for you. You’ll also find links to everything we read below:

* Well-Behaved Stories by Hallie Jules

* Catacomb by Laura B

* Sanpo Biyori Da Na - A poem by J.E. Vance

* I wanna fly by Sarah-SMR

* NecRomance by David T Etheredge

* The Dog Was the Only Professional Here by Tavis Ferguson

* But Obviously by Nimita Kaul

* The Bard Has No Master by Jennifer Howard

* Death has it by Beastly 𖤐 Being

* Depressing the Darkness by Lea

* Soaring by Gary L Taylor

* Alabaster Wings by Alexa

* No Face by Mina Howell

* A Version of Me by Bradley Ramsey

* Light of the Sinking Moon by Stefan Pasek

Want to Get Featured in a Future LIVE Poetry Reading?

Subscribe to both myself and Stefan Pasek so you don’t miss when we open submissions for next month’s event!

Welcome everyone to this week’s episode of The Saved as Draft Podcast. We’re switching things up this week in terms of order and structure, so please let me know what you like (and what you don’t like) in the comments.

In the meantime, find links to all the things featured in the show below:

Community Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Loke Vreding! Loke’s latest post is an amazing piece about the rise of AI and their stance on how it relates to creativity. It’s a piece I highly recommend, and it makes for a fantastic first impression as well.

Weekly Writing Discussion

Our discussion this week comes from my subscriber chat thread, which I post every Wednesday. You can find all the responses here, but I wanted to shout out everyone who contributed as well:

* Aegon Targaryen

* Mina Howell

* J.M. Gooding

* Sara da Encarnação

* ReBe

* J. Alleyn Winchester

* Anton Anderson

* Nova Beaumont

* Leanne Shawler

* Charlotte Henley Babb

* Asteria 👻🪻

* Wendy Russell

* Stories Sown With Hope

* W.G. McMullen

Weekly Story Shout Outs

* The Circuit Breaker of the Heart by ReBe

* The House That Held a God Pt II by Aegon Targaryen

* Hildegarde on Falling by Wendy Russell

* It’s All Greek to Phil Episode 11 by Hallie Jules

* Pālīs by J.M. Gooding

* Princess Isadora III, The Queen Who Never Was by E. H. Lau

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hello everyone! As many of you know, my birthday was this week, and as is tradition here, I wrote an article about that.

I also took some time this week to look back on the show here, and I recorded the longest stretch of unscripted audio I’ve ever done, where I reflect on why I started this podcast and what I hope to do with it in the next year.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback as well in the comments below. In the meantime, here are links to everything discussed this week:

Community Spotlight

This week, the spotlight is on Whimsy & Woe! Brude just opened submissions for an upcoming anthology this week. The theme is Adorable Abominations, and you can learn more about how to submit your own entry here.

Weekly Shout Outs

* Word Carrier by A.M. Bowman

* A Dud of Kittens and Hammers and the sequel by J.E. Vance

* The Battle of Gingivitis Cave by Jenifer Jorgenson

* An ode to yearning to know someone by Hiyori_Onigiri

* Lights Off by ReBe

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Hello my friends! Welcome to episode 84 of the Saved as Draft Podcast. This episode features a full interview with Halls of Pandemonium Middleweight Bracket winner Nimita Kaul! Her interview begins at 34:58 if you’d like to skip right to it.

As part of our interview, Nimita also discusses the meaning of the word “Chaukhat “ in Hindi, which means “doorpost” or “Threshold” in English. This is the design she picked in response to Mina Howell’s question during the interview.

She recently painted an example of this as well! Check that piece out below:

Not only that, but The Circus Dragon herself makes an appearance in this episode, playing the role of Smog’s mother, Mrs. Smog.

Find links to all the stories mentioned in this episode below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s spotlight was on J.M. Gooding who recently came back to Substack after a small break. To learn more about what we discussed on the episode, give his latest Kira story a read.

Smogust’s Story Hoard Week 4 Shout Outs

* When Completeness Comes by J. Alleyn Winchester

* Until Reality Notices by Wendy Russell

* Twilight of a Hero by Bradley Hurt

* Earning Dreamwielder Marks by Leeron Heywood

* The Envious Bookwyrm by Andy Scotts

* You Had Wings Then by Johnathan Vance

* These Old Wings by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

The Writer's Journey is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Another month, another LIVE Poetry reading featuring work from Substack authors! This was Stefan’s and my third time hosting one of these, and they truly get better every time. A huge thank you to everyone who joined, and to the authors who submitted work.

Find links to everything read on this month’s stream below:

* Sylvan by Kate M. Sine

* The Dog Who Never Asked me to Audition by Tavis Ferguson

* Kryptonite by Hallie Jules

* I Will Die on This Street by Sarah-SMR

* Broken, not Broken by Tricia Meyer

* Lover (A Poem) by Sam Lexow

* Everbloom by 𓏸𓈒𓆡 Ocean Being 𓇼𓈒𓏸

* A Grave Within a Grave by Laura B

* Hosanna by Melanie Cole

* Oversoul by Alicia

* The Bell-Phony by Stefan Pasek

* Quantum Immortality by Bradley Ramsey

Subscribe now so you don’t miss the next LIVE Poetry Reading (or your chance to submit!)