Happy Tuesday!

A new episode of our Diving into Writing podcast just came out yesterday, and you can listen to it here or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.


Being the animal lovers we are, it was a matter of time before Lucinda and I ended up talking about animals and how we (don’t) write them into our stories.

Here’s what came up during the episode:

  • Because horrid things tend to happen to the animals in the novels Lucinda reads, she doesn’t want to make herself include animals in her own story-telling
  • When I just started writing, I always forgot to include animals into the story (unless they were relevant to the plot). Now, I always do but only in a way that fits the worlds she’s building.
  • Lucinda and I realising that our shared love for animals leads Lucinda to NOT wanting to write about them and me to DEFINITELY wanting to write about them
  • Lucinda and I discuss some ways animals can be included into stories without them having to be integral to the plot and in ways that subtly demonstrate your values around animals

Happy Monday!

A new episode of our Diving into Writing podcast just came out, and you can listen to it here or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.


During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle check in with the goals they’ve set for themselves six weeks ago and discuss not just how it’s going but also what they’ve learned about themselves thus far.

It’s never too late to join the party, so if you want to start planning and tracking your writing life as well, you can get Mariëlle’s Quarterly Planner + Daily Word Count/Hour Tracker here.