🎉 The Write Catalyst Short Story Contest is Open

Enter by July 22 View in browser Win cash, get published, and share your work with with world. The Write Catalyst Short Story Contest is officially open for submissions. ENTER THE CONTEST We have run this contest twice before under our former brand, the Writers' Mastermind at Let's Get Published, where it was recognized by Kindlepreneur as one of the best writing contests to enter. Both times, we were genuinely moved by what writers sent in. The quality of the stories, the range of voices, the courage it takes to put your work out there — it reminded me why we started this writing community in the first place. This time, there are cash prizes on the table, plus publication on the Write Catalyst blog/newsletter and promotion to the whole community. Here's what you need to know: SHORT STORY CONTEST 2026 PRIZES — 1st Place: $150 cash or gift card + publication + 1-year Write Catalyst membership — 2nd Place: $50 cash or gift card + publication + 1-year Write Catalyst membership — 3rd Place: $25 cash or gift card + publication + 6-month Write Catalyst membership (All placing stories receive mailing list and social media promotion) SHORT STORY CONTEST 2026 DETAILS — Entry fee: $5 per story (multiple entries welcome) — Word count: 1,000–5,000 words — Genre: Open — write what you love (excluding extreme horror and gratuitous erotica) — Format: Classic Shunn manuscript format (blind judging — no name in the file please) — Deadline: July 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM EDT -- A panel of judges will evaluate each submission for plot, theme, structure, characterization, atmosphere, originality, prose, and overall impact. Note: In the past, members of the Write Catalyst community were not permitted to enter our contests. I'm happy to announce that we have changed that this year as our new submissions system allows for blind reading (meaning we can't see the name of the story's author). Members may now enter stories as long as their submission is not one they have shared with the group before (as in getting any type of feedback during a write-in, Facebook group, or privately via email) or has used any part of the story in one of our live reading events. If you've been sitting on a story — half-finished in a drawer, waiting for the right moment — this is it. To submit, fill the form and upload your story. ENTER THE CONTEST We can't wait to read what you create. UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION May the muse be with you, Christa "Wojo" Founder, Write Catalyst ⬇️ Don't forget to follow our new social links  christa@writecatalyst.com You received this email because you signed up on our website or entered our writing contest. Don't want to to hear from us?  Unsubscribe

Mythic Bastionland + MOAR PLAYERS

͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Mythic Vagabonds: A Campaign Framework for 4+ Players Mythic Bastionland + MOAR PLAYERS Samuel James Apr 3   READ IN APP   There was a poll a few months back on the Mythic Bastionland asking how many player characters is optimal for a long-running game. And of the 27 responses, the results were pretty stark: As stated by one user: “That’s a strong consensus.” There’s a few reasons for this: Spotlight. Many of the Arthurian legends and fairy tales don’t feature a rag-tag band of more than four. This is because the featured characters are HEROES. Combat. Three knights is enough to survive nearly all encounters but not too many to overpower the enemies with brute force alone and no wounds or casualties. Medium. I run this game online and three players just works best logistically. Too many people on an audio call isn’t my cup of tea. But what if they weren’t heroes, but little better than squires? And what if they weren’t powerful enough to trounce every combat even if there are six of them? And what if you’re running in-person or don’t have qualms about being online with 4-6 players? Glad you asked. But here’s a solution. Enter the Vagabonds You are a vagabond. You want to be a knight and live by the Oath, but no seer has yet found you worthy of knighthood. The knight you served together died yesterday, changing your status from squires to little more than vagrants. To create your vagabond, roll d6+6 for each Virtue. Then roll d6 Guard. Gain a Lesser Feat based on your highest virtue (if tied, choose which Lesser Feat to take): VIG: Lesser Smite - Use before rolling a melee attack. The Attack gains +d8. Pass a VIG save or lose this Feat until the end of combat. CLA: Lesser Focus - Use after rolling an attack. Perform a Gambit by discarding an Attack die of 3 or lower. Pass a CLA save or lose this Feat until the end of combat. SPI: Lesser Deny - Use after an Attack roll against you or on ally within arm’s reach. Discard one Attack die of 8 or lower. Pass a SPI save or lose this Feat until the end of combat. Then roll for your Property and begin your adventure! For Property, roll d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20: d4 BASICS: 1 rations, 2 torches, 3 rope, 4 dagger (d6) d6 ARMOR: 1 helm (A1), 2-3 coat (A1), 4-6 shield (d4, A1) d8 RARE ITEM: 1 plate (A1), 2 rare poison, 3 alchemy tools, 4 crystal ball, 5 extravagant harp, 6 informative book, 7 precious stone, 8 charger d10 UNCOMMON ITEM: 1 animal trap, 2 smithing tools, 3 herbalist kit, 4 scribe set, 5 lute, 6 sustenance, 7 stimulant, 8 sacrament, 9 uncommon poison, 10 riding steed d12 COMMON ITEM: 1 saw, 2 fishing rod, 3 sewing set, 4 candles, 5 shovel, 6 flute, 7 hound, 8 spikes, 9 crowbar, 10 mirror, 11 chalk, 12 pony d20 WEAPON: 1 pitchfork (d6 hefty), 2 hatchet (d6 hefty), 3 staff (d8 long), 4 logging axe (d8 long), 5 pick (d8 long), 6 club (d6), 7 handaxe (d6), 8 mace (d8 hefty), 9 axe (d8 hefty), 10 poleaxe (d10 long) 11 sling (d4 hefty), 12 javelin (d6 hefty) , 13 shortbow (d6 long), 14 shortsword (2d6) , 15 lance (d10 long), 16 greataxe (2d10 slow), 17 longbow (d8 slow), 18 curvebow (2d6 long), 19 longsword (2d8 hefty), 20 greatsword (2d10 long) When you recover GD after combat, recount a time in service to the knight you served, now fallen. Vagabonds gain Renown any time they would gain Glory if they were knights. Vagabonds are not worthy or trusted to lead as a knight are. When encountering a seer, the referee rolls d20 in secret for each vagabond: If the result in equal or lower than that vagabond’s Renown, then the seer finds them worthy of knighthood. Change “Renown” to “Glory” and keep the same score, then obtain all the knight Feats and gain d6 in each Virtue. It’s heavily inspired by the opening of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a young swordsman is without his knightly mentor and now goes about the realm fulfilling the oath (haven’t watched, but I’ve now read all three novellas, highly enjoyed). But this campaign frameworks sprinkles a little bit of Fagin in there as your group will likely feel more like a band of orphans than the Knights of the Round Table. Put there is also a clear path to knighthood: gain Renown, find a seer, hope you’re Worthy to be knighted. It has elements of chance and an admirable goal that unites the group. For formatting perfectionsts like me... there is something I put up on itch.io with it’s own one-pager with the text above and a nifty character sheet to accompany it. If you’d like to support making more Mythic Bastionland stuffs, this is how to do it! MYTHIC VAGABONDS ON ITCH.IO Plus, wouldn’t it just feel nice to print off a handy sheet for the table and one sheet per player and just GO FOR IT? Yeah, we’re all about getting gaming goodness from farm to table real quick. May all your games be Mythic and filled with good players! -Sam Pledge your support Find more Mythic Bastionland greatness on the Syllabus! Looking to add recurring NPC plot threads? Check out Mythic Denizens! The Dreaming Dragonslayer blog is FREE to ALL. If you wanna support this work, browse my itch.io page so you also get a game for your generosity. Contact me directly here if you have any questions or want to tell me something cool. :) Want to check out over 100 knightly fantasy resources? Browse the Mythic Bastionland Syllabus. Want to see bunches of other RPG blogs in my webring? Check out rootr.ing! Long live the blogosphere! Want an index of the most popular posts on Dreaming Dragonslayer? Click here for 5+ years of nerdy writings! GAME ON!   Like Comment Restack   © 2026 Samuel James 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

The Missing Link Between “Normal Labs” and Persistent Symptoms

Many people are told their hormone labs are "normal," yet continue to struggle with fatigue, brain fog, weight changes, mood shifts, or other hormone-related symptoms. What's often missing from the conversation is this: hormones don't work based on levels alone. They work based on how well your cells can respond to them. Inflammation, chronic stress, metabolic dysfunction, and environmental toxin exposure can interfere with hormone receptors, meaning the signal never fully reaches the cell, even when labs look fine. I recently published a blog that breaks down the emerging science of hormone receptors, why normal labs don't always reflect true hormone function, and what actually helps restore healthy hormone signaling. 👉 Read the full blog here! To your everlasting health, Dr. Tracy If you wish to stop receiving our emails, you can unsubscribe from this list. 2401-A Waterman Blvd, Ste 4 #296, Fairfield, CA 94533, US