Hello everyone and welcome to episode 74 of the Saved as Draft Podcast! As mentioned in the intro, be sure to check out Edward.Marlo.Ruiz’s new magazine that’s out now. Please find links to everything else discussed on this episode below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight is on A Writer’s Voice! Don’t forget, you can also grab a copy of their poetry collection that’s out now too!

Weekly Shout Outs

* Millcreek Village Library Life: Closed for Inventory by Jenifer Jorgenson

* Embodied Memories by Coral Evermore

* Part 1: Before the Election by Laurie MacIntosh

* 10 Most Common Homestead Animals by Alley Hart

* Padre Celestial and Mother Mugre by Edward.Marlo.Ruiz

Power up Prompt Stories

* What the Water Remembers by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

* An Empty Name for Water by Vonnie G. Clemens Jr.

* A Transformative Love for Nature by Leeron Heywood

* The Putrid Truth by Gregory Blair

* The Bog by J.M. Gooding

* Where Crows Don’t Drink the Water by Yorviing

* Putrid Delta Blues by Every Root, Every Thorn

* La Rivière Revoltante by Bradley Hurt

As I mentioned on the show, Laurie MacIntosh posted a piece today after the deadline called The Putrid Delta. I’ll be covering this one on next week’s episode, but check the link in the meantime!

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

There are some seriously talented poets on Substack. So many, in fact, that Stefan Pasek and I have decided to feature their work in a new monthly series!

That’s right, this recording of our stream from June 18th is the first in a new monthly series where we read and discuss your poems LIVE! We’ll also take submissions for these streams ahead of time, so keep an eye on both of our subscriber chats if you want to have your work read in a future stream.

In the meantime, please find links to all the poems (barring one that wasn’t published at the time of recording) from this month’s stream below in the order they were read:

* When Will Cascadia Speak? by Hazel

* Unpublished Lovecraftian poem by Mark S, PhD

* Caged Smoke by Kate M. Sine

* Our Nation by Sage Taylor Kingsley

* Exquisite Devastation by Joel L

* The Bottom by David C. Roberson

* The Secret of the Little Leaves by Silvia de Negrobosco

* God is a Woman (And I learned That Early) by Tavis Ferguson

* We’re Still Here by Mina Howell

* The Art of Observation by Labyrinthia Mythweaver

* Look it in the eyes by Jake Gardner

* Flesh to Gold by Novaheart

* I’m too stupid to do this anymore by Spencer D.W.

* The Guardian’s Heart by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

* Dread by Lila Cave-Park

* Simpler Times by Bradley Ramsey

* A Feather on the Floor by Stefan Pasek

Subscribe Now so you don’t miss out on submissions for the next LIVE Poetry Reading!

This story is my submission for Hallie Jules’ birthday prompt, in which one of her characters accidentally pulls other fictional characters into our world and has to get them back home. Learn more about the prompt here. Also, happy birthday, Hallie!

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 73 of the Saved as Draft podcast. Here are links to the two items I mentioned in the introduction:

* Hallie Jules’ Birthday Prompt

* Novaheart’s 400 subscriber special video

Please find links to everything else mentioned in today’s episode below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight for pride month is on Avery Bridge! Avery also shared a link to an anthology they were included in, which highlights Bi+ authors. Shout out to Bi+ Book Gang as well for putting that collection together.

Find a link to purchase your copy below:

This Week’s Sponsor

This week’s sponsor isn’t fictional! Well, it is fiction, but that’s beside the point. I am very excited to spotlight my friend J. Alleyn Winchester and the upcoming second book in his Nature Calls series!

The second book is out very soon, so find a link below to grab your copy of the first book in the series today:

Weekly Story Shout Outs

And of course, a HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted links for a shout out this week. I pick five at random, so here are the stories featured on this week’s episode:

* Not My Father’s Son by Brennen Costa

* The Sable Mere by Sara da Encarnação

* Another Request for Time Off by Jenifer Jorgenson

* Selket Hara by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

* Gods, Ghosts, and Ghastly Fanfiction by Hallie Jules

Stay tuned for the next shout outs thread this coming Tuesday in my Subscriber chat! And, don’t forget, Power up Prompts resume tomorrow as well. You know what? Better subscribe, just in case:

I’ll see you all next week!

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 72 of the Saved as Draft podcast! This week, my guest is KJ Harlow, and it’s an amazing interview about his recently finished series Slice of Death, which you can check out by clicking the link below:

Community Spotlight

This week, the community spotlight is on Novaheart! Her series The Crown of Ashes and Blood is not one to be missed! Find all of her published works on Amazon, and be sure to subscribe to her Substack as well!

This Week’s Sponsor

This week, our sponsor isn’t entirely fictional! Shout out to Hazel and the Your Potato Digest Podcast. A huge thank you to Wendy Russell as well for reprising her role as Russet in this week’s episode.

Weekly Shout Outs

This week, the shout outs were picked from The Halls of Pandemonium. Here are the featured works:

* This Old House by Mina Howell

* Thoughts Before the Storm by Daniel Coates

* Second Blood by Anton Anderson

* The Archivist by L.G. Wells

* La Nuit Rouge by Hallie Jules

* Death Takes a Vacation by Tina Crossgrove

* The Sampler by BentButTrue

* Grocery Store Tater Talk by Hazel

New Writing Challenges to Check Out

Be sure to check out some of these awesome new challenges happening around Substack:

* June Poetry Adventure hosted by Verdant Butterfly

* The Cozy Quill Fantasy Writing Competition hosted by Tamsin G.

* Prompts From the Valley Nis hosted by Hazel

Halls of Pandemonium Winners

Below are the first place winners from each bracket! To see the full, final leaderboard, head on over to Scriptorum.

M. Brandon Robbins takes home the win for the lightweight bracket!

* Total Submissions: 14

* Final Score: 232

* Top Story: The Downward Spiral

Nimita Kaul is our grand prize winner for the middleweight bracket!

* Total Submissions: 32

* Final Score: 939

* Top Story: I Got Told

Gary L Taylor is the winner for the heavyweight bracket!

* Total submissions: 32

* Final Score: 2,774

* Top Story: Ship Comes in Every Day

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

This is my entry for Day 30’s microfiction prompt in The Halls of Pandemonium challenge. Check out other entries from the final week here.

Welcome to episode 71 of the Saved as Draft podcast! I hope you’re all enjoying my ongoing series set in the world of Pandemonium. You can read this week’s episode here.

Community Spotlight

A huge thank you to Hazel and L.G. Wells for organizing the collection of amazing messages I received and reacted to on Episode 2 of the Your Potato Digest podcast.

And of course, thank you to everyone who sent in words of encouragement for me: Daria, Richard Pack, Wild K. Nebula, Edward.Marlo.Ruiz, Mina Howell, Maryellen Brady 💗📚, Verdant Butterfly, J.M. Gooding, The Circus Dragon, Daniel Coates, and Wendy Russell. Thank you so much for all of your messages!

Week 4 Halls of Pandemonium Leaderboards

We’ll start with links to the unranked stories I featured this week:

* Consumption Becomes You by Coral Evermore

* Hold the Door by Hallie Jules

* Ya’ll are Making too Much Work for Kira by J.M. Gooding

* Steered by the Heart-Compass by Leeron Heywood

* Rats Don’t Drown by Yorviing

* Rainfall by M. Brandon Robbins

* I am the Storm by Daria

* Bracing the Storm by Nimita Kaul

* The Friendly Spinetail Steve by Bradley Hurt

* The Song That Never Ends by Sarah Tinney

* Wurstland by Gary L Taylor

* Blort Reginald the Third by Verdant Butterfly

* But You Left by Mina Howell

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 and welcome to episode 70 of The Saved as Draft podcast! This week, I sat down with Wild K. Nebula to talk about her latest projects and much more. It’s a fantastic interview, so I hope you all enjoy it!

And, if you’re curious to check out an excerpt from her upcoming novel, Beta Gamer Three, you can read an excerpt at the link below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight is on Rebecca Watson (ReBe). If you’re interested in donating or sharing the recent GoFundMe page that launched to support her, you can find that right here.

Halls of Pandemonium Week 3 Leaderboards

Here are links to all the stories featured in this week’s episode, starting with our unranked shout outs:

* A Special Love Language by Terrifying Tales

* Cat Piss at the Foot of God by Every Root, Every Thorn

* So, I Wrote an ‘Axe’ Murderer by Wendy Russell

* My Draft-Eating Parasite Has Better Taste Than the Algorithm by J.M. Gooding

Week 3 Lightweight Leaderboard

* The Thing Inside by M. Brandon Robbins

* A Hymn Sung Softly by Yorviing

* Persephone’s Footsteps by Daria

Week 3 Middleweight Leaderboard

* Scars Refusing to Hide by Nimita Kaul

* Where Are They? by Sarah Tinney

* The Bone Witch Cometh by Richard Pack

Week 3 Heavyweight Leaderboard

* The Changing by Gary L Taylor

* The Tape by Verdant Butterfly

* The Director’s Cu— by L.G. Wells

Hello everyone! Welcome to this week’s episode of the Saved as Draft podcast. Please find links to all this week’s stories (and a link to Scriptorum, where you can see the mid-month leaderboard) below:

Community Spotlight

This week, the spotlight is on Vonnie G. Clemens Jr., who has been hosting a new series called Bedtime with Cooper that I absolutely love. Be sure to check out his profile and subscribe so you don’t miss out on new episodes!

Week 2 Unranked Story Shout Outs

* Melody Beneath Concrete by Eira Linden

* The Muses by Hazel

* My Muse Abandoned me and I Returned to Splatterpunk Roots by J.M. Gooding

* A Flight Curtailed by Leeron Heywood

* Limited Bandwidth by Maryellen Brady 💗📚

Week 2 Lightweight Leaderboard

* The Downward Spiral by M. Brandon Robbins

* Waiting on Nothing by Lila Cave-Park

* Me Times Three by Daria

Week 2 Middleweight Leaderboard

* Via Con Me by Nimita Kaul

* All The Time to Spare by Jeremy

* Dig Down to the Core by Sarah Tinney

Week 2 Heavyweight Leaderboard

* Ship Comes in Every Day by Gary L Taylor

* My Fairy Muse by Verdant Butterfly

* The Grief Buffet by Rebecca Watson (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 everyone! Apologies for the late upload, but this week’s episode is here. I’m really excited to unveil the top stories from week 1 of The Halls of Pandemonium challenge.

And of course, my guest this week is eco-fiction author, poet, and podcaster, Mina Howell! Mina is here to share updates on all her projects and to talk about what’s next in 2026.

Find links to everything else mentioned on the show below:

Community Spotlight

This week’s community spotlight is on Tamsin G., a writer of cozy fiction, and an artist of immense skill and talent.

She’s been stuck in Substack jail after a short hitatus, so please head on over to her publication and check out some of her work to boost her back into the algorithm’s good graces!

Unranked Shout Outs

* My Must Got a Promotion and Rewrote my Childhood by J.M. Gooding

* Beginnings (Cento I) and (Cento II) by Wendy Russell

* The Spirit of Foul Play by Gregory Blair

* Art Imitates Life by Memphis King

* That’s No Iceberg by Hallie Jules

Week 1 Halls of Pandemonium Leaderboards

* DEIGN by Albert Kivak

* Chop-Chop! by Anton Anderson

* Joint Interplanetary Link Layer (J.I.L.L.) by Brennen Costa

* Paint with all the Colors of the Wind by Daria

* Morning Coffee by DJ Stapleton

* I Got Told! by Nimita Kaul

* My Mother, My Hero by Richard Pack

* Again by Sarah Tinney

* Multifaceted by Daniel Coates

* Main Sea Suction Valve by Vonnie G. Clemens Jr.

* Two Letters, One Truth by Verdant Butterfly

* Wet, Red, and Slick by Gary L Taylor

* Dear Kira by Mina Howell

* He Could Have Drawn Worlds by BentButTrue

* Tumble’s Bath by A.M. Bowman

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