November has come and gone, which is always a bit sad. November is my favourite month of the year, and I always get a little dispondant to see it go. Well, that, and I'm typically also looking down the barrel of loads of work to try and get it done before December's holiday breaks.

I will, however, be taking some time off my regular postings near the end of December. Just one less blog post, and one less vlog, so not the end of the world hopefully. But it'll be nice to actually be able to enjoy my time off with my family.

But that's next month. Right now, we're recapping what's gone on in November.

Substack/Blog Posts

This month did not have a nice little theme like the last two. Though, there was a few on Taylor Swift (oops).

• ​The Taylor Swift Mythos - Before writing out my sample chapter for the proposal, I decided to sketch out some of my overarching ideas here. Ended up only being a part of what I'm talking about in the book, which is a good thing - means there's a lot to say as we go on! Anyway, this is all about how Taylor Swift has created a complex mythos.
• ​Merida and the Myth of Wild Red Hair - This one actually came out on my birthday! And as someone with red hair, I wanted to take some time to talk about a greater social myth - that of the red haired woman.
• ​100 Research Responses - I should probably think about rephrasing the title on this one... But anyway, this is a review of some of the research I managed to gather in the first 100 responses on my Taylor Swift survey!
• ​Can Myth and Capitalism Co-Exist? - A frequent remark when people hear about the idea of mythology and pop culture is "well, that was just made to make money". In this essay, I ask a very important question: does that matter?

Video Essay

This month's video essay is all about Disney's Encanto. This is o ne of those films I return to every so often, and I decided to finally actually say something about it all. In this one, I talk about how Mirabel's gift in being able to truly see and understand the stories of those around her helps to open the way for true empathetic understanding.

Writing Vlogs

• ​Writing a Nonfiction Sample Chapter | Taylor Swift and Mythology | Nonfiction Writing Vlog - I have now, officially, written the very first words for the Taylor Swift book and research project. Ahh!
• ​A Fiction Day Out | Cafe Hopping, Rainy Days, and Project Submarine - Today's a very rainy day in Salisbury, where I decide to stay out of the house, cafe hopping, and writing in my fiction novel I'm calling Project Submarine.
• ​Enjoying Loads of Data | A Research Day for Taylor Swift and Mythology - I recorded this after getting my first 100 responders. So if you read the substack post where I sorted through this data, you can now watch how I got that info and sorted through it all!
• ​How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal | Why, How, and The Details - In prep for writing the Taylor Swift book proposal, I thought I'd take some time out to explain a bit about how a proposal works: why we do it, what questions you have to answer, and some of the biggest sections that make up the proposal.

Well, that was November! I'll be back next month with some lovely thoughts to conclude the year, and then - of course - the December recap. Until then, be good to one another!