Some conditions create wonder. Fiery leaves of autumn under a heavy gray sky. Delicate snowflakes falling while a winter fire crackles. Flowers blossoming with petals still wet from a springtime downpour.
Those moments invite you to pause, to appreciate the world around you.
Summer, however, invites the opposite.
Instead of inspiring wonder, it creates irritation.
Dry and brittle grass. Desert air sucking all moisture from my eyes. Days of oppressive heat that transform the sun into a laser burning my scalp in just a few minutes.
We’re in the thick of summer now, with a heatwave here in Portland pushing temps into the upper 90s. It’s the type of heat that makes me long for the perfect climate of October when the seasonal rains have just begun and we all breathe a collective sigh that it’s time to slow down and turn inward.
But we’re months away from that, which means I have to settle into the season, to push myself to see beyond the thermostat.
Some might say the answer is to learn to appreciate the heat, that every season has its own beauty.
I ignored that school of thought and found the truth: summer’s magic arrives with a glimmer once the sun sets and darkness settles.
Those are the moments where we lean back under the black sky and share the origins of the constellations. Enveloped by the still-warm air, we confess our secrets, loosen our muscles, and sink into the world around us in a way that we can’t in other seasons. It’s only in summer that we can comfortably spend a night outside in darkness.
The mantra of most seasons may be carpe diem, but summer will always say carpe noctem.
Monthly Magic
Each month I share links to stories (real and fiction) that add a little more magic to the world. Here are my favorites this month:
Plotting an escape from the city to watch the Perseids meteor shower next month. It’s my favorite cosmic event with up to 100 meteors viewable on the peak days, perfect for summer magic. The best nights to watch the shower this year are August 12 & 13. The moon will be mostly full, but you’ll still be able to see plenty.
My new favorite children’s book hits shelves August 1 and is officially available for preorder. I Came Here for You by Marianne Boules is about a seed who leaves the ancient forest behind to embark on a new journey. I had the pleasure of reading an early draft, and this tale is full of magic the magic and heartwarming wonder we adults tend to lack. Perfect for anyone who’s ever left home on your own adventure or if you want to instill a sense of confidence in your little ones. Preorder a copy here.
It’s vacation season, and if you need inspiration on a destination, check out this list of places that inspired magical cities from your favorite novels.
If you’ve been dabbling with writing your own magic, two Substack publications want to add your stories to the world! The Otherworld Magazine is accepting submissions for Folktales and Fairy stories, and Emerald City Ghosts is accepting submissions until August 15 on the theme of Graveyards and Funerals.
I’ll never look at tiny fairy scenes the same after reading this story. It’s a quick read that will persuade you to not cross the path of fairies, just in case. I will be carrying salt and ignoring potential fairy offerings for the foreseeable future.
More Magic Book Club July
It is finally July, which means I finally get to read The Web of Time by
! When I saw that her book included portals, gods, and ancient cities, I immediately added it to the book club list. I’m near the end of the book now and am ready to book a flight to Rome and Tunis from the descriptions alone.
Here’s a quick overview:
Far beneath the ground, a web quietly spins.The threads are keeping time, marking history. What's done is done. Until now.
Protected by the gods and powering the three Great Portals of Kindness, Art, and Language, The Web of Time re-arranges itself as humans change their minds, fall in love, or cause empires to rise and fall. When the Great Portals close from the world, time begins erasing itself, histories start to disappear, Earth falls into chaos, and the gods don't know how to stop it—until Jack meets Anna.
If you’d like to chat as you read, make sure you join the Storygraph Buddy Read. I’ve been commenting and updating as I work through the book. The official discussion post for Substack will go up at the end of the month.
Want to plan ahead for the rest of the year? Check out the schedule:
July: The Web of Time by Flavia Brunetti
August: Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
September: Water Moon by Samantha Sotti Yambao
October: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
November: Once Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
December: The Everlasting by Alix Harrow
You can also revisit past book clubs in the archives.
Happy reading, and as always, wishing you more magic,
Demi