Stories I Found
April 14th, 2026
“From the Dust of the Ground”
Dear Readers,
Happy belated Easter! I had the joy of my parents visiting Aubri and I in Massachusetts for the holiday. Getting to see them two consecutive weeks was really great as I got to be with them in their home and then they got to be with us in ours. While they were here, we visited the Louisa May Alcott house in Concord. I highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.
The sun has finally come out on the regular this week, and I have to say that I am greatly surprised by how much it has helped improve my mood. I have taken two delightfully long walks this week and they have helped me clarify my thoughts about work and writing.
I finished Chapter 22 this week! It feels good to break through a puzzle like Chapter 22 after struggling with it for about a month. I have also parlayed this momentum into a great start on Chapter 23. I have a pretty good idea of what the last 3 to 5 chapters will look like, so now it is just a matter of writing them.
This Week’s Chapter
Chapter 16 might be my favorite chapter that I have written so far. It combines some of my favorite things to write about all in one place. It makes a statement about what it means to be human, interrogates tropes in fantasy, achieves a resolution through collaboration, and is full of rich and beautiful imagery.
The events of Chapter 16 were born out of discomfort. Coraadrin’s character ends Chapter 15 trapped in gem stone. While she can still speak to Colthan, she has very little agency and is relegated to being worn as an ornament by her husband. She is quite literally defined by her role as piece jewelry. Coraadrin and Colthan play the function of an idealized mythological romance within the story. If I left Coraadrin in the gem stone, what would I be saying about women? About romance? About love? I very quickly realized I could not leave Coraadrin in the gem stone because it does not reflect what I actually believed. The imagery of gem stones plays on classic fantasy imagery. How can I use it to clearly communicate what I believe?
Chapter 16 serves as an explanation of why Coraadrin’s arc cannot end in Chapter 15. First, it shows that being human involves having a body. That body may not have the same appearance or abilities as any other person, but having a body is a key part of what it means to be human and it entitles one to dignity and respect. Second, Coraadrin embodies the idea of the Image of God or Imago Dei, that humanity is a place where we can look and see characteristics of the almighty God. Third, it is by a collaborative effort that Coraadrin becomes more fully human by having a physical body, reflecting the reality that no one is themselves in a vacuum.
This is only a brief overview of these ideas and there is so much more that was involved in writing this chapter. For example, I will spare you the paragraphs I could write about the various materials in Coraadrin’s body and the painstaking amount of research I did into various stones. There are so many more ideas that I love encapsulated within this chapter but I do not want to ramble on in this news letter. However, if you want to talk more about the ideas in Chapter 16 or any other Chapter, please reach out!
Please feel free to share these newsletters with other people you think may be interested, and leave comments on the chapters!
“After Myliayar, Ikata and Colthan determined what should be done with Tilsitar, Colthan approached his mother Myliayar in the tents that had been put up throughout the new heavens.
“There is something that is of grave concern to me, that I would share with you,” Colthan said to Myliayar, worry creasing his brow as he spoke.
“What is it my son? What troubles you?” asked Myliayar.
Colthan turned away from her, hand rubbing his brow before trailing down to rest on Coraadrin’s amulet…”
Something Extra!
For this week’s Something Extra, we have Cowboy Bebop. This anime classic is one of my favorite TV shows. It follows the crew of the ship the Bebop as they try to make a living in a solar system that has had humanity spread to every inhabitable corner. The crew consists of Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, bounty hunters who call the Bebop home; Faye Valentine, a gambler and bounty hunter who falls back on the Bebop in hard times; and Radical Edward, a hacker and general eccentric. Each episode is self contained, making it easy to pick up and watch single episodes. The music featured in the show is also fantastic and it has perhaps the single best anime opening song ever (you can find the intro in the video below). If enjoy space westerns like Firefly or are generally into scifi, I highly recommend checking it out.
