More Tea Parties | Content warnings
This month marks our second anniversary! Thank you so much for joining us and supporting us this whole time. Without further ado, let’s grab our drinks and talk about our favorite moments from this past year and what we’re looking forward to!
1. What are some of your favorite memories as a JAAM reader from this past year?
Pineapple
As a reader… wow. So many things happened this year. It feels like so long ago. I can’t believe so many things have happened already. Cat and Tied to You finished this year! We got to start The Halloween Bash and Apple Slice!! I’m really happy that we’re seeing the return of Apple as a writer in 2022 with the Apple Slice stories! Ocean’s Favor was such a fun and sweet ride.
The Halloween Bash is a lot of fun, too. The purple lipstick scene has *inspired* me in ways I won’t disclose right now. (Though that didn’t technically come out until January 2023…)
I am sad we had to say goodbye to Tied to You, though. Some of the parts of that story were probably my favorites. The romance was more mature than we see in The Halloween Bash, so it was a bit more my cup of tea.
All that being said, I am looking forward to the rest of Halloween Bash and whatever Raspberry and Apple write after this!!
Aside from that, I really had a lot of fun reading the responses in the Favorite Beverages tea party and the moodboard tea party! Ha ha ha. I was sneaking into our drafts to read their responses before it was ready to go up because I was so excited!
Raspberry
As a reader, I feel like I was THRIVING this year! Apple is back and creating amazing stories. I can’t even begin to describe how many FEELS I got while reading Ocean’s Favor. And Pineapple with How Journey’s End?!?! She can attest to the amount of fangirling I’ve been doing. I’m so lucky to be part of the JAAM fam because I could not survive if I didn’t have their drafts to tide me over all the time.
Apple
The first chapter of How Journeys End went up in the very first month of 2022 and it has been at the front of my mind ever since. I mentally come back to it with every new piece of information that unfolds in the story. Pineapple did such an amazing job with the set up; the character growth and, in some cases, character decay that happens is so pronounced because of how perfectly Chapter One establishes who these characters are.
And speaking of perfect moments, I have to talk about Ms. Peregrine showing up during the fairy fight in Cat and the Cryptid Summer. I’ve talked about this scene before, but I need to talk about it again. The battle choreography! The dramatic sacrifice! The sarcasm and the stakes and the feels! Raspberry is a genius, honestly. She’s also extremely versatile. Tied to You is a completely different genre, and she can most definitely do both. Colin running—literally running—after Amy in the final episode, when he’s said before that he hates running, has been living in my brain all year.
2. What are some of your favorite memories as a writer for JAAM this past year?
Pineapple
I started How Journeys End this year! It’s been a fun ride. Full of ups and downs. Some characters I didn’t really plan on have become my favs, and I have strayed from my outline so that I am running roughly right next to the original.
I didn’t finish NaNoWriMo this year, but it was a totally different experience than I normally have. I was in a house by myself so I could write pretty much uninterrupted. I was unfortunately in kind of bad health during the whole month, but it gave me some pretty good ideas about how to maximize my writing output. It was a lot of fun while it lasted and I got a lot of stuff done.
I thought writing for the Loving Day tea party was a lot of fun. When I originally proposed the idea, I was worried that the content would be too heavy, but it was… nice to be able to write about these things in an open place with someone who had similar experiences. I do talk about these things often with friends and family, but it’s different now because it’s recorded somewhere. So that was a nice thing to talk about.
Raspberry
This year has been a lot as a writer I think. Honestly, I don’t remember most of it haha. CatCS Season 1 ended, and I already miss writing some of those characters so much. And Tied to You also concluded, so I’m back to one active project on the site. I still feel torn about the things I’ve made and have the urge to go back and edit them to death, but that’s honestly me with everything. And of course, Halloween Bash is in the works this year. It was my “quick Halloween project” turned “okay, just like 3 episodes” turned “guys, I think we’re looking at a series” project. But it’s given me more time to flesh out some of the characters a bit more. And it gives me more research time for the next project I’m working on, which I’m both excited for and procrastinating on. Writers, am I right?
Apple
I’ve really enjoyed outlining my stories this year! There’s a lot of pressure that comes with writing the actual episodes people are going to read (although, I still love writing them!). Since the outlines are usually only seen by me, they can be silly and extra and dramatic and cheesy and maybe a little unhinged. It’s so much fun. I also love all the research I’ve gotten to do this year. From pirates and ships to figuring out how big a bow and arrow would need to be in order to shoot across a lake, I got to learn some really cool stuff thanks to Ocean’s Favor.
3. What are some future JAAM things you’re looking forward to?
Pineapple
I’m really looking forward to what my friends are doing next! I know what Raspberry’s next plan is, but not Apple’s so I’m SO excited to be surprised and see how everything works out!
I don’t know if I’ll end up finishing How Journeys End this year, but I’m slowly trying to plan what I’ll work on next. Of course I’ll try to finish up my drafts of my current story first ha ha ha. Hopefully I’ll finish that soon!
I’m going to be working hard on some more artworks for this year too, so I hope everyone will look forward to that!
Raspberry
I’m really looking forward to reading more of Apple and Pineapple’s works! They really are my favorite writers, and it feels like Christmas every time I get to catch a sneak peek of their projects. I’m also looking forward to my new project, if I can get the details down in time. And of course, I look forward to the last few episodes of Bec and Ash, my ship that refused to be contained to a standalone piece.
Apple
I can’t wait for there to be JAAM merch! I’m not sure when it will happen, but just the idea of owning things with my favorite characters from everyone’s stories and Pineapple’s gorgeous art on them has me so excited. I am also fangirling in advance over Raspberry’s upcoming story! Like, you don’t even know! It’s going to be amazing. Of course, I can’t talk 2023 without mentioning new chapters of How Journeys End! Pineapple is going to hit us with more magic and romance and betrayal? Yes, please. Sign me up. New year, same fangirl. I hope everyone reading has the most fantastic New Year too!
Thanks for reading! Did any of our favs line up with yours? How was your year as a writer? Let us know in the comments or let us know on Twitter @JaamWriting!
JAAM Writing 