Stories I Found
February 3rd, 2026
In the Deep Places of the Earth
Dear Readers,
These past two weeks have seen some exciting developments for me! After discussing my work situation with family and friends, I had decided to pursue independent consulting. I was expecting this to take some time to ramp up. However, God had other plans. Byron (my father in law) was very kind to introduce me to some folks that he knows. Turns out they were looking for someone who was capable of running trainings on Microsoft Excel. This falls right in my wheelhouse, as I have course work in training and development and love Excel. All that to say, work has had some unexpected positive developments!
Writing has been progressing slowly over the past two weeks. I have been busy getting things set up with consulting and doing all of the things that need to happen to forward the insurance claim process from Aubri’s recent car accident. That said, I have gotten some work done on Chapter 21. I had to hammer a few plot points out that I was not expecting to need when I first conceptualized the chapter. It is coming together, but the unexpected challenges of writing never cease.
This Week’s Chapter
After a slightly slower, more introspective beat in Chapter 10, Chapter 11 is much more action driven. We follow Silnethren after he and Kalikel go there separate ways. He has a lot of work to do, and the souls of mortals are constantly calling out to him.
I think that Silnethren really enjoys the most mundane aspects of collecting the souls of mortals. With that in mind, large events like the a town burning down, likely grieve him as there is no ceremony or ritual involved in such death. Such events also very quickly grab his attention. I imagine Silnethren experience such mass tragedies very intensely, not unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi sensing the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars. So, for Silnethren, the smaller, souls that experience more intimate, peaceful deaths are more satisfying to usher to the crystal halls.
We also get to see more of Colthan and Coraadrin in this chapter. They start taking on more and more of a primary role, particularly moving into Chapters 12 and 13. They have some key interactions with Silnethren in Chapter 11, particularly Colthan. In their conversation, I think that Silnethren really recognizes that Colthan’s relationship with Coraadrin has changed him for the better. So Silnethren does what he always does: seeks to preserve the thing that he believes is good and beautiful.
Please feel free to share these newsletters with other people you think may be interested, and leave comments on the chapters!
“When the siblings parted ways, Silnethren traveled north, for a great number of souls called to him from near the mountain Milmota. As he traveled on the road, stands of trees burned black stood on either side. He continued walking until, among the charred trees, Silnethren saw on the road two figures. One whom he recognized, Colthan and with him a woman. Colthan seemed strong and healthy as though he had not aged a day since last Sil saw him. But the women seemed tired, wearing the worn garb of a healer. Wrinkles had begun to creep across her face, and a deep, ragged cough haunted her.
“Silnethren!” called Colthan, “It makes my heart glad to see you!”
“Colthan!” replied a shocked Silnethren, “Why are you here? You did not come…”
Something Extra!
Did you know that I have an Instagram page? If you want to follow along with my writing in another way you can check out Stories I Found on Instagram! I post when new chapters come out (with a special meme preview for each chapter) and I also post commentary on the symbols you see on the webpage, discussing how they fit into the culture of the world. So, if you want to learn even more about the world I am building head on over!
