Where Life's Quills Become Your Wings
Soul Bard Academy-home at last
Welcome back, everyone.
If you’re feeling the up and down of this summer’s ending, trust me. I’m right there with you. This summer has been full of them. Since the school I was teaching at virtually downsized and released me from my contract in April 2023, I’ve worked for two different companies as a project manager. I understand what Shelley Paxton means when she says, “When we slow down long enough to know ourselves, align with our souls, and set intentions for what we really want, magic happens.” This line is on one of the first opening pages to her part memoir, part manifesto called Soulbbatical: A Corporate Rebel's Guide to Finding Your Best Life, which I’ve linked in the title name for you to consider if you so wish. It’s a solid read.
That single line keeps resonating so much to the point I’ve had to stop saying there’s no such thing as coincidences… I’ve created so much magic in the last two quarters.
Now that I’ve been released from my day job again, and we’re being forced to look for a new home before we’ve completely moved into this one… it’s time to lean into that magic for me again.
I’d like to start helping others do the same more often.
That’s one of the reasons why Soul Bard Academy is all the more important to me as a writer. At the end of the day, I’ve had to accept one fact this summer.
What’s my purpose?
Not my passion—we all know that’s writing The Merna Annals and it’s growing, sprawling, weirdly connected universe. While it’s contained onto about 4ft x 4ft of bulletin board paper at the moment, it could become upwards of 20 books or more in the next decade. I’ve already written eight of them either to completion or zero draft.
My purpose, on the other hand, hasn’t changed much since college. Back then, I said, “I want to teach writing, so that people can understand and appreciate its art.”
Now that has be redefined all the more.
“I want to teach other souls how to tell their story in writing, the greatest form of human expression.”
On paper. On screen. We are faced with one critic. The worst one of all.
OURSELVES.
“I want to continue to be a light in the darkness for people looking to share their story to heal themselves and others.”
Soul Bard Academy is the other way outside of my YouTube channel to make that happen in my opinion. And it opens tomorrow, Saturday, September 9, 2023 with its first paid course.
I can hardly way to nerd out about writing with you and other people in more ways than one! Enrollment opens tomorrow on the first course!
SHOUT OUTS to Other Epic Authors You Might Love
Aftermath by Lacey Ray
Tazio is so over being a Reaper. The hours are lousy, the paperwork sucks, and the souls are whiny! He's done his time and is more than ready to move on from his 100 year contract.
Simon Caldwell's living with a ticking time bomb. This damn heart of his is ready to explode at any moment and he's going to fight death with everything he has, because he has something worth living for.
When Tazio and Simon meet they both can admit the attraction is undeniable, but the timing is horrible. Can these two opposites make a deal and help each other out? Maybe explore the spark of electricity along the way?
For fans of Gena Showalter and Kelley Armstrong
Wedding of the Torn Rose by Brian A. Mendonca
A merchant who abandoned his birthright…
A princess with a dark secret…
And an encounter destined to change their lives forever…
Down on his luck, Kaine Khalia was gathering mushrooms in the forest to sell in the nearby capital. A young woman’s screams were the last thing he expected to find. Dashing to her rescue, Kaine finds himself face to face with a monster that should not even exist, fighting for his life as well as hers.
His world only gets crazier from there. Kaine returns with Princess Lydia to her father’s castle, where he discovers himself in the king’s good graces. Confused and leery by a reward beyond gold, Kaine reluctantly agrees to remain and help with Lydia’s younger siblings. Life could not have thrown him more.
Plunged into a world of magical intrigue, unrest, and political maneuvering, each new event leaves Kaine feeling out of place and, worse, dangerously exposed to a growing threat. The Darian Kingdom stands at the crossroads. Lydia’s upcoming wedding to the prince of the Throatian Kingdom will soon become the defining moment in Kaine’s life.
With secrets revealed, and the perils of war looming on the horizon, it is going to take every ounce of loyalty, imagination, and willpower for Kaine to survive, and, if he is fortunate, stop the fast approaching storm from burning his world to the ground.
Journey with Kaine as he attempts to prevent a war and save a kingdom in the first volume of the Symphony of Crowns and Gods series.
Wedding of the Torn Rose is a fast-paced fantasy adventure with mystery, action, and magic.
As always, please continue to take care of yourselves, lovelies. I know you’re worth it.
Sincerely,
Jenna O’Malley
Your Soul Writer