This week’s zine took a different turn. The last few issues have leaned text-heavy, so I knew I wanted this one to feel lighter — a pocket-sized mini-zine you can flip through in a single sitting.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the books that first gave me that sense of mystery and hidden worlds — the ones that made me believe there were secret doors tucked just out of sight. As a kid, it was Nancy Drew (note to self: we definitely need a Nancy Drew riff zine soon!), The Secret Garden, and The Velvet Room. Later, as an adult, I found echoes of that same magic in novels like Daughter of the Forest and Harry Potter.
That daydreaming led to this zine: a mini-travel guide, not to real destinations, but to the places your imagination loves to wander. These are story prompts disguised as destinations — a forgotten garden, a lost library, a hollow tree. Each one is a little doorway you can step through, whether to spark your own writing or just to give your mind a quick passport to adventure.
I especially enjoyed creating the illustrations for this one — ivy-choked gates, spiral stairs, and an owl keeping watch from a high branch. Drawing them reminded me why I love making these little booklets in the first place.
So here it is: a pocket passport to daydreams. Each page of the Fable's Guide is just a glimpse — a doorway cracked open. The real journey begins when you carry it with you:
Use it as a pocket passport to spark daydreams during a break or commute.
Treat each destination as a story prompt: what would happen if you stepped inside?
Or let it sit on your desk as a reminder that there are always secret havens waiting just out of sight.
The zine may close at the Stone Circle, but the passport is yours to keep — and the next page is always the one you imagine.
I hope you enjoy wandering through it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
Download a printable version below to share, fold, or stash in your backpack for quiet reflection. And don't forget to sign up to my Substack to get email notices when new zines are available!
Please don't forget to download the printing instructions, as well.
