my writing playlist

If you’re new here, I’m Addison! I send emails that’ll take you five minutes to read twice a month. Stick around for stories, writing tidbits, and general tomfoolery.

Also—if you’re in Central Florida, I’m hosting my first-ever author event at Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford, FL this Friday! Q&A, preorders for my next book, and more shenanigans! Sign up here to attend (it’s free!) or, honestly, you can just show up. I’d love to see you there.

Are you a playlist kind of person?

I’m not. What a fun conversation this is so far!

For someone with a music degree, I’m not a big music listener. I do listen to music a lot, but it’s often in the context of something else. I’m usually learning music for a performance set or for my students. Or maybe I’m putting on chill acoustic music for Baby H while we’re playing in the living room. A lot of times, I’m riding along with my wife’s musical fixation of the moment (which is nice, because she has great taste. Love you, babe.)

But when I’m writing or editing, I usually need one of two things. Either I’m taking in the coffee-shop ambiance of soft pop and bean grinders and people named Ashton ordering flat whites, or I’m working in silence.

For me, it’s about focus. I like background noise, but when I’m alone, my music-theory brain latches onto whatever it hears. Melodies, chord progressions, harmonic structure, and other nerdy things like that commandeer my central nervous system.

Still, whenever I do put on a playlist for writing, it’s this one.

Something about curating my own set of easy-listening piano music makes it easier for me to accept it as background noise. I like my playlist, and maybe you will too. You might even hear a couple of my songs on there.

Don’t forget to check out Marrow and Soul wherever books are sold!

Barnes & Noble (paperback and hardcover) | Amazon (eBook, paperback, and hardcover) | Goodreads (leave a review)

THREADS OF LIGHT // The book is ready. I’ve finished my final proofread, and I’ll be ordering copies as soon as the Kickstarter funds clear. It’s finally time to stop scouring my Vellum and Scrivener files for errors until my eyes ache.

KICKSTARTER // I’ll do a breakdown in another email, but for now, I’m excited to announce that the Threads of Light campaign is officially over! Along with surpassing last year’s campaign, we sold all ten of our Nightlight Boxes. That means ten people will get a deluxe package with signed limited editions, stickers and bookmarks, and a unique, hand-crocheted luceren stuffie!

If you missed out, stay tuned. I’ll be running some giveaways in the lead-up to Threads of Light’s release in March.

VESPER // Oh, did I mention that I started drafting a brand new book? Vesper’s first draft is well underway, and despite lots of baby sickness and an ER visit for me (more on that another time), I’m hoping to finish this manuscript by the end of the year. Maybe after that, I can figure out what I’m actually going to call this book!

Imagine if the Witcher was supposed to protect mystical creatures instead of hunt them. If that sounds like your vibe, you’ll love this book.

SPOOKY FINALE // I can’t believe it’s here, but Spooky Finale is fast approaching. Yes, we haven’t even released Book Two yet, but Book Four of Safran’s journey has been yearning for an outline for months now.

I’ve finished the scene outline, where I noted key plot points and elements of each scene in the book. Next is the beats outline, where I’ll write out every beat of every scene. If that sounds exhaustive, it is—the beat outline for the first two scenes is 982 words long!

Lots happening in my writing world right now. Follow me on Instagram for the daily scoop, or come see me in person at Spellbound Bookstore on the 25th!