July Monthly Magic
Life in surplus
Hello!
I am writing under disappointing conditions.
It is currently 80 degrees here in Portland. It’s 9am. Fern (aka the newfie) is panting from the bathroom, already too hot, and we still have at least one more day of this heatwave. I’m researching sun umbrellas and moving to Tromsø, Norway because both Fern and I wilt once it hits 75. Fortunately, we have the magic of air conditioning (though it’s struggling to keep up), and I’m sitting in front of it sending blessings to whoever invented it. I hope they’re living (lived?) a life of comfort and indulgence. We owe them so much.
The heat provides an excellent excuse to spend time indoors, which is perfect because somehow ALL of my library holds came in within days of each other. I collected every one of them because I’m bad at understanding time and somehow think that I can read all of these in three weeks with only an hour each day. Maybe it will happen?
I’m grateful for the depths of summer, even if it’s hot and overwhelming, but I’m already longing for autumn.
I hope you’re reading this somewhere temperate and beautiful, preferably by a beach or pool.
And now the library books are calling me. I’ll share more next time.
Wishing you more magic,
Demi
What’s Brewing
I’m still on the querying journey, seeking an agent for my astrology-inspired adult fantasy novel. After receiving feedback that answered a nagging question, I withdrew all existing queries and revised the opening chapter. It’s SO much more aligned now, and I’m honestly surprised I didn’t update this earlier. It’s true what they say, sometimes you are too close to it to see what needs to happen.
I’m waiting on one more piece of feedback before I enter the query trenches again. Stay tuned!
Monthly Magic
Each month I share recent obsessions that add a little more magic to the world. Here are my favorites this month:
🤓 Love these stats about Pagebound’s book forums. Fantasy is well-represented in the top six, and now I’m wondering if maybe we should try out their discussions as a potential option instead of Storygraph? Let me know what you think!
✨ When a friend told me about her experience with reiki, I had to learn more. This fascinating episode explains how it works, and the part about the chakras and nerve centers aligning truly blew my mind.
📖 Spotify recommended The Witch’s Way to Wealth* book, and I was in the mood for something different, so I gave it a try. I listened to the first half in two days. It’s part mindset, part financial advice, part witchy woo woo—unlike anything I’ve read. I completed the money mindset journal prompts and the results were verrrry interesting. If you pick it up, let me know!
🎧 I recently started listening to the Inspired Risk podcast. Every episode leaves me inspired and ready to take on the world. This one’s a favorite.
*Bookshop affiliate because it’s literally a book about manifesting money. Also, the day after I started reading it, multiple checks arrived in the mail. Coincidence or magic?
On the Podcast
I’m on a bit of a mythology kick, and it continues with our latest podcast episode! A.J. Peterson returned and brought along Rebecca Brodkey to chat about mythology books (including theirs!), why we love them, and which ones you absolutely must read.
Pour a cup of something powerful and settle in for this episode (toga optional).
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Watch on YouTube:
More Magic Book Club July
The Bookshop links below are affiliates. If you purchase through the links, Bookshop shares a small percentage that will be used to keep More Magic running. Thank you for your support.
For July, we’re heading to turn of the century New York in The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Helene joined us for the podcast episode to share BTS of the book and some (non-spoiler) tidbits about the other two books in the trilogy. Episode goes live end of this month, so there’s still time to finish the book and listen when it drops. :)
The details:
A golem and jinni form an unlikely friendship in turn-of-the-century New York, facing threats that challenge their existence and force a fateful choice.
How to Participate
Online: Join the Storygraph Buddy Read to chat as you read. We all comment while reading, and it locks what you can see based on where you’re at in the book to avoid spoilers (I share screenshots in the bottom of this post).
You can also comment on the book club post on Substack when it goes up at the end of the month. And this year every book club book will also have a podcast episode (available on YouTube too so you can comment!).
In Person in Portland, OR: If you’re in Portland, join us for the in person book discussion! For this one, we’ll be meeting at 10:30 am on July 25 at Harlow on Division. Register on Meetup so I know how big of a table to grab. We’ll see you there!
Want to plan ahead for the rest of 2026? Here’s the schedule:
August - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet
September - Hekate by Nikita Gill
October - Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
November - Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
December - Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the books!
Demi
More Magic is a growing community of fantasy readers, both online and in person. My hope is to inspire you to find magic in daily life, read more books, and spend less time at the whims of algorithms. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, the podcast, and/or the in-person community in Portland and would like to show your support, consider liking or sharing this post, purchasing books through the Bookshop.org links below, or buy me a coffee. Thank you for being part of the community!