The short version: we had a baby.
Her name is Jordan, and she arrived and rearranged every priority I thought I had. Sleep schedules, feeding windows, the specific and relentless math of keeping a new person alive… All of it landed at once, and something had to give.
The website gave.
That doesn’t mean I stopped working, learning, or creating, though.
In March, I attended the 2026 Alabama Writing Workshop in Birmingham, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. A full day of craft talk, industry reality checks, and honest conversation with people who are deep in the same trenches or have already climbed out of them.
I met seasoned pros and emerging authors, had conversations about process that I’m still thinking about weeks later, and got some valuable feedback on my work.
Black Patch Harvest‘s prologue held up well. Got some strong marks from people whose opinions I respect. It also got editorial suggestions that have made a real difference in pacing and flow. That’s the best possible outcome from any workshop experience: you leave knowing something works, and you leave knowing what to fix.
A few people from the event deserve a shout-out.
Bob McGough — Alabama author, podcaster, and all-around great guy! He gave a talk on understanding the publishing industry in 2026 that was refreshingly unvarnished. He also reviewed my work and gave me feedback I’m still applying. If you don’t know his writing, he’s the author of the Jubal County Saga, which is about, in his words, a meth-addicted redneck wizard. If it sounds insane, that’s a feature, not a bug. It’s loads of fun, go check it out on his website here: talesbybob.com.
Katie Ortiz led the session on query letters, titled Witches, Queries, Rejections, Oh My!, and delivered the kind of practical advice I know I needed. Her Southern Gothic aesthetic runs through everything she does, and her debut novel, The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches, is coming from Alcove Press this fall. It’s set in 1870s Alabama, follows three women who form a coven under the guise of a sorority to fight back against the men trying to push them out of their university, and honestly, the premise alone should be enough to sell you. If you’re a fan of Southern Gothic horror and you also enjoy watching the patriarchy get what it deserves, preorder it here.
I also picked up Aimee Hardy‘s debut novel, Pocket Full of Teeth, at the event. Aimee is a Birmingham writer and one of the workshop’s organizers, and the book earned a “must-read” from Kirkus, which is not something they hand out easily. It’s part romance, part horror, part metafiction. I was hooked from the first page. It has one of the most unexpected structure styles I’ve read in the last couple of years.
One more thing worth mentioning: back in January, I placed third in the first round of NYC Midnight’s Short Story Challenge. My prompts landed me in adventure territory, which is not my natural writing habitat, but apparently I can fake it well enough. The judges passed me through to round two. One judge even called my story “stellar,” which gave me a much-needed ego boost. If there’s enough interest, maybe I’ll see about getting that story published somewhere you all can read it.
Round two gave me comedy. It also gave me a brutal weekend to write it in. I had maybe ten hours to build something from scratch and turn it in. Whether that was enough time, I genuinely don’t know yet. The judging is still out. I’ll report back when I hear something.
I also submitted a short story, What Follows The Pines, to Nightmare Magazinewhen they opened submissions back in January. I have not gotten a response yet, so that could go either way. It’s a story I am proud of and hope to eventually share with a wider audience.
The short fiction pipeline beyond that is still moving too. A few pieces in various states of almost-ready. Nothing I want to rush out the door just to have something to show.
Here’s what I’ve learned about creative work since Jordan got here: you stop being precious about the process. You write when the window opens. Waiting for the right mood, the ideal desk setup, or a clean afternoon with nowhere to be is not something you do. You just go.
More updates are coming as we find our rhythm as a family and I carve out more time to write, which is happening the way most real things do: imperfectly.
Thanks for checking back in.
— R.D.
R.D. Sellers 
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