HeyJaredThe Wandering Pen
The Wandering Pen is a monthly newsletter from me, author and podcaster Anna Mercier. I'll share craft resources I'm learning from, books I'm loving, and general wild anecdotes about life!
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 5
- Latest publication
- Sep 10, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 13, 2026
Latest issues
How I Fast Drafted a Novel in Five Weeks (opens the original)
Read excerpt
I’ve always struggled with first drafts. Yes, I know that first drafts are garbage. Yes, I know I can just use [brackets] and move on with my day when I don’t know the mechanics of how a scene will go. Believe me, I’ve tried giving myself the freedom to write badly. In the end, I lost my way and fell out of love with the project. Writing badly gave me speed, but it didn’t give me the pulse I needed to see the draft through to the end.Then I was given a five week deadline to finish SCATTER THE NI
Top Five Tips for Debut Year (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Y’all, I thought I knew what to expect for debut year. I’d lived vicariously through other friends, heard their ups and downs, and prepared myself to not give a shit about moving the needle. These things helped, but I quickly learned that every author’s experience is different because we have different strengths, desires, and dreams. I’m grateful I started therapy a few months before AWHF released because it helped put a few tools in my box to make these last two months an incredible experience.
Pop that bubbly, we're revealing book two! (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Let’s start August out with a BANG, friends!Life has been a big ball of chaos. I’m currently pushing through a cold I caught at Comic Con while also trying to meet my deadline for book two, but I wanted to take a little break to share with you the official announcement of book 2! It’s now Publishers Marketplace official which means I get to share it with you on Substack first. I’ll be making a post on Instagram in the future, and I’d love your support over there to celebrate even more when the t
How to Maximize a Scene using Avatar: the Last Airbender (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Hello friends! Welcome to the chaos. Please pull up a chair, sip this new energy drink I found at Aldi, and take a breather with me.Life has been wild. Between book launch, friends visiting, Comic Con, and band camp—all while on deadline—I’m running on absolute fumes. However, I’m also bursting with Substack posts, and I know writing them will bring me life. Some things to look forward to from me: SDCC diary, an essay on Hadestown, and a note about how resilience is a key ingredient to life.For
Fast Drafting Diaries (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Hello, friends!If I’m keeping up with time, ALL WE HUNGER FOR has been out for three weeks. I’m still processing all of my feelings about debut and
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.