The Quill & Candle #1

How a Month of Storytelling Reshaped My Writing Life

Welcome to The Quill & Candle—your weekly dose of stories, book reviews, writing insights, and a peek behind the scenes of my life as a fantasy-writing priest. Pull up a chair, pour something warm, and let’s dive in!

Fr. Roderick Vonhögen

☕ From Forest Path to Page

A month ago, I never imagined I’d call myself a Substack writer. I was a YouTuber, a podcaster, a TikToker—wired for sound and screen, not blogs and newsletters. But here I am, 34 stories later, wandering the woods each afternoon with a phone in hand, spinning tales into the hush of pine and birdsong.

Something shifted. A creative dam burst open, and the stories haven’t stopped since.

It began with flash fiction set in the world of my fantasy novel—a mythic medieval Ireland where monks cast story spells and shadowy forces stir. But soon, another kind of tale appeared: whimsical, heartfelt fables set in Rome and the Vatican, told through the eyes of animals. These stories for children bring history and faith to life through lambs, seagulls, and even a marble elephant.

Together, these two threads—epic fantasy and Roman animal fables—have become the heartbeat of my daily storytelling. And this week, that rhythm carried me past 33,000 words in my fantasy anthology, and well over halfway through the children’s book. All thanks to a simple routine: walk, dictate, transcribe, and polish—coffee in hand, story in heart.

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🛠️ Behind the Quill: My Writing Method

Since I’ve started posting a new story every single day on Substack, I’ve had people ask me, “How do you manage to write so much without burning out?” Or more often: “Wait—you’re actually writing these daily?”

Yes. Every story is new. Every day.

So for this week’s Quill & Candle, I thought I’d take you behind the scenes—into the woods, actually—and show you the method that’s helped me unlock a tidal wave of creativity.

It all begins with a walk.

🌲 Step One: The Forest

Every afternoon after lunch, I put on my boots and head into the nearby woods. It’s peaceful there. No distractions. Just nature and imagination—two things that get along famously.

As I walk, I let my mind wander. Sometimes I already have a vague idea; sometimes, a brand-new one shows up uninvited, like a wandering bard in need of a warm fire.

And then, I pull out my phone.

🎙️ Step Two: Dictation in the Wild

I open a voice recorder app, and I tell the story aloud, as if you were walking beside me. No script. No outline. Just an idea, a mood, a character—and we’re off.

It’s not polished. There are tangents, pauses, even the occasional “uhhh…” as I figure out what happens next. But here’s the thing: it works. Telling the story aloud gets me out of my head and into the flow. There’s no inner critic when you're halfway up a hill describing a goblin ambush.

✍️ Step Three: Morning Alchemy

The next morning—usually around six, before emails and errands—I sit down with my coffee and open the transcript. It’s messy, sure. But within the mess is a living story, ready to be shaped.

I trim. I tighten. I sometimes rewrite the ending if the walk ran out of steam. But in general, the bones of the story are there. The core has already been told. I’m not writing as much as I’m editing a story my walking brain already delivered.

Most stories end up being about 1,200 to 1,500 words. Some are fantasy tales, others cozy animal fables set in Rome. And a few are, well, much darker (see this week’s Leech story...).

🔄 Why It Works

This daily rhythm—walk, tell, edit—has changed the way I write. It’s loosened something in me. It’s taught me to trust the creative process and to stop chasing perfection before the story has even arrived.

It’s also been surprisingly fun. Like opening a mystery box every day and wondering, “Who will I meet today? A saintly lamb? A cursed baker? A Rome-loving elephant?”

So that’s how the magic happens. Not in some writer’s tower with quills and candlelight—but out on the trail, with muddy boots and a mind full of stories.

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📚 Story Round-Up: Week 23

For those of you who don’t have time to read every story in The Daily Scroll, here’s your weekly sampler platter—seven freshly-baked tales, seasoned with magic and metaphor.

🌸 The Girl Who Drew the World (June 1)

A magical quill. Two sisters. One can paint flowers into reality. The other? Ambition and envy. A charming cautionary tale about creativity, power, and the cost of beauty conjured on demand.

🥧 The Pie Runner (June 2)

A boy with wind in his feet delivers pies with glee until he runs headlong into the passage of time. A poetic ode to aging, purpose, and the race we all eventually lose—beautifully bittersweet.

🐖 The Truffle Hog (June 3)

What if a pig could sniff out more than mushrooms? One vial of magical liquid later, the search for treasure gets out of hand. A strange and whimsical tale that grows darker than expected.

🐑 Agnes and the Little Lamb (June 4)

How do you tell the story of a martyr to children? Through the innocent eyes of a lamb destined to serve a sacred purpose. A gentle way into a weighty legacy, and a tribute to Saint Agnes.

🧛‍♀️ The Leech (June 5)

Sister Siobhán heals the sick with potions and prayer—but what happens when a mysterious woman brings something truly monstrous into her life? Inspired by real priestly experience, this metaphorical tale of emotional vampirism is one of the darkest and most personal I’ve written.

🐘 Hannibal’s Last Elephant (June 6)

A tiny elephant with an Egyptian obelisk on its back gets its long-overdue tale. Inspired by Bernini’s intriguing statue near the Pantheon, this story traces the imagined fate of Hannibal’s last gentle giant.

🐸 The Art of Eating the Frog (June 7)

A monk, a magical druid, and a frog walk into a productivity parable. Tasked with singing the Easter chant, the monk learns that sometimes the secret isn’t swallowing the frog—but feeding the cat first. A cozy fantasy for anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by an impossible task.

👉 You can read all my stories at fatherroderick.substack.com

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✨ My Fantasy Anthology - Update

This week also brought major progress on my fantasy anthology. I’ve begun shaping the frame story that links all the tales—a mysterious tavern run by angels. It appears only to those in need, offering warm drinks and listening ears as patrons share the stories that form the core of the collection. Think Canterbury Tales, but with celestial bartenders and fewer fleas.

This framing device is doing wonders for my worldbuilding. It’s a doorway between tales, gently binding them together with candlelight and wonder.

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🪱 Story Behind the Story: The Leech

I don’t often talk about this, but The Leech wasn’t just fantasy—it came from a very real place. Three times in my life as a priest, I’ve faced people who crossed boundaries in ways that left me shaken and wary of stepping outside. Caretakers, especially those who live alone, are vulnerable to emotional stalkers. They don’t mean harm, not at first. But they drain you.

I shaped that fear into the story of Sister Siobhán, an old nun, a caretaker, a healer. When a woman with a supernatural leech arrives, she tries to help—but the danger doesn’t vanish with the creature. It comes back, in human form, with demands, accusations, and terror. Writing that story helped me reclaim some power. Maybe it will do the same for a reader.

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📖 Fantasy Book of the Week: The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

Books. A bookstore. A talking tabby cat. Need I say more?

This delightful Japanese novel is a gentle portal fantasy wrapped in a bookstore’s dusty embrace. A young man inherits his grandfather’s bookshop but has no love for stories—until a talking cat drags him into magical quests inside the world of books. Each chapter is a fable, confronting the dangers of consumerism, superficiality, and isolation in modern reading culture.

It’s not your typical Western plot arc. It flows more like a Studio Ghibli film—quiet, strange, heartfelt. Reading it felt like wandering through Tokyo at twilight, half-dreaming. If you love cozy fantasy and gentle magical realism, this one purrs in the right key.

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🧙 Coming Soon: Choose Your Own Fantasy Adventure

What if the next story wasn’t written by me—but with you?

I’m planning a new community project for my upcoming BookTok channel: a “choose your own adventure” short story, where each chapter ends with a decision for you to make. Sword, candle, or mug? Left door or right? You vote, I write the next chapter based on the winning choice.

Think of it as a collaborative tavern tale told in real time. If that sounds like something you'd join, leave a comment or shoot me a message. If enough people raise their mugs, we’ll light the candles and begin.

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🪔 Until Next Time...

Thank you for making this space—this tavern of the imagination—so warm and alive. Whether you're here for the stories, the writing journey, the fantasy book recs, or the simple joy of chatting about candles and quills, I’m grateful you stopped by.

If you’d like to support my work, you can do so at fatherroderick.com/join. And don’t forget, you can get the stories daily (The Daily Scroll) or weekly (The Quill and Candle) on Substack. Totally free.

Until next week—may your quill stay sharp and your candle bright.

Warmly,
Father Roderick
Storyteller. Priest. Book-loving hobbit in disguise.