Summer Camp 2026
For the seventh July in a row—seventh?!—the ever-loving ECC is going to camp. Summer Camp, that is. And he/I could not be more excited.
Summer Camp, in case you’re not familiar, is a World Anvil community event which challenges writers, gamemasters, and other creative folks to respond to a series of prompts released throughout the month. It’s one of my favorite times of the year and has been invaluable in shaping the story I’m currently telling in The Blood of Seven Queens.
This here page—the one you’re reading right now!—is my hub for all things related to the event. And it all starts with a pledge and some homework.
First, the pledge: I, the ever-loving E. Christopher Clark, pledge to complete every prompt that World Anvil releases. Even if they release an extra hundred and sixteen prompts, they will be done.
Second: an additional challenge, just for myself.
A Camp of Two Cities
As much as I can, I'm going to limit the scope of my writing this Camp to two cities in my world: Saltgate and the Emerald City.
Almost all of the forthcoming issue #7 of The Blood of Seven Queens will be set in the city of Saltgate, and I’ve already been working on a new map and all the landmarks and neighborhoods that go with it. But there are still plenty of nooks and crannies that I might fill in with Summer Camp prompts, and each of those will help me feel inspired throughout the writing and illustration process.
As for the Emerald City, it remains this enigma that I struggle with every time I go to depict it in the comic—and I’m hoping that Summer Camp can help me fix that. I won’t be returning to it until issue #8, so it’s not as much of a priority, but I feel like having two cities to choose from will make it easier to stick with this constraint than having just one.
So, we’ll see if I stick with this, but that’s the plan for now. Let me know what you think of the idea in the comments below.
Prep Month
Week One
Theme
The theme for the first week of Summer Camp 2026 will be love. And given that the heroine of my story is destined to become the Queen of Hearts, I am loving this theme.
Though Frieda will eventually take on the traits the Queen that we know and love from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, right now she’s much more beloved than maligned. Her enemies are afraid of her, as they rightly should be, but her people adore her. You might even say they love her.
On the opposite side of the world, in the Emerald City, folks might wonder why the indigenous halflings stick it out in a city that can be so hostile towards them. But if I better explain their love of the land, I think I can make it all make a lot more sense.
Homework
World Anvil gives us homework each June to help prep us for July, and this year they’ve done it again—with a twist. Instead of just one set of assignments, we’ve been given a virtual hopskotch board to play with. But like my pal Kitoypoy, I’m actually already doing all of these things as part of a sitewide refresh I began last month.
I may do the optional warm-up prompt that the Anvil has given us (”Write a settlement that’s associated with love”) at some point this week, so stay tuned. Janet Forbes inspired me with her suggestion that she might write about a red light district in her world, and I have just such a place in Saltgate that it might be helpful to brainstorm about.
Week Two
Coming soon…
Week Three
Coming soon…
Week Four
Coming soon…
Hooray! Can't wait to make stuff with my friends again this year! I'm so excited for what you make. Btw, #6 came in the mail and I already read it. Great work as always and I'm enjoying the Frieda to Glinda pipeline that you have going on!
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak. I'm participating in World Anvil's Summer Camp 2026, are you? Check out my progress at my Summer Camp 2026 Hub!
Yay. Glad you enjoyed the new issue. I'm anxious to get started on the next one, but I'm thinking I might take a break for Summer Camp and Prep month. Feels scary but feels like it might be the right thing to do.