We’re writing to you today from a very weird liminal space.

Here’s the deal.

On Thursday, we submitted a full draft of our book Fairylore to our agent and our editor.

On time. Formatted. Footnote abundant. Tied with a bow stolen from a clootie tree.

(Just kidding on that last one, we’re not FOOLS.)

It’s hilariously longer than the approximate word count we were given because the fairies just kept coming, and who are we to say no to fairies?

We are so flipping proud of what we made. It has scholarly bones (you should see the bibliography – absolutely unhinged, it goes on for years) but it’s super readable and sometimes even, dare we say it, funny? We’re sure it will go through some transformations before it’s in proper book form (and in your hands!), but it’s a full manuscript draft that we feel really good about.

Cue the champagne, etc, except…

By the time you read this email, we’ll have edited and turned in the first half of our final scripts for our new Great Courses series on urban legends.

The second half of the series is due next Monday.

All together, those twelve episodes add up to the length of a second book.

(You can laugh at us. It’s very funny. We are absolutely laughing at us.)

So, it’s back to the mines (of Moria) for us.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already watched our first Great Courses series (on Dracula and vampire folklore), we’d like to point out that it’s October and your assignment is clear. You can stream it with a free trial. One of the episodes is titled “Once Upon a Vampire,” so you know it’s gonna be good.

(Already watched it and loved it? Leave a review, send us a picture of it, and we’ll send you back a Dracula grimoire page that’s not available anywhere else!)

Not quite as seasonal but Sara just published a new poem called “Needles and Pins” on The Orange & Bee, in which Little Red Riding Hood takes on a messed up medical system. It’s also vulnerable AF. [And, Brittany adds, SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD.]

We’re hoping to have more for you very soon, but for now, we’ve got scripts on digital demons and ghosties to revise.

We hope you are rich in pumpkin spice, decorative gourds, and maybe even cozy sweaters!