I realize 2022 still has another month to go but I wanted to write this post before I got into gift wrapping and traveling to see loved ones and eating way too many sweets.

Writing Stuff

I wrote the first draft for The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street in three months (a new record for me) and published that in May. Then I turned around and wrote the first draft of the second Homefront Hearts book in two months! I’m now in the planning stages of the final book in the trilogy and I’m on schedule to publish books 2 and 3 in 2024.

The second Homefront Hearts book is from the POV of Maisie’s friend Nora and I very much enjoyed telling her story.

I know what book I plan to write after the trilogy is released and I’m really excited about it. But that won’t be something I can talk about for a good long while.

A recent development in my writing life is something that doesn’t officially start until January. I was recently invited to join the Paper Lantern Writers, an author collective focused on historical fiction. I’m really looking forward to working with this wonderful group of writers.

UPDATE: Last in writing news but certainly not least, The Spirited Mrs. Pringle made the long-list of the 2022 HFC Book of the Year awards! The shortlist and winners will be announced on December 31st. I submitted the audiobook specifically since the narrator, Annette Chown, really brought the story to life with charm and wit. Click the graphic above to see the whole list. Click the image below to learn more and listen to a sample.

Online Presence

I recently blogged about how social media is a mess. Generally, I still mean that. I’m not doing much for Facebook these days, I quit TikTok (outside of watching funny animal videos anyway), I don’t post on Instagram enough and I quit my beloved Twitter when He Who Shall Not Be Named purchased it and hate speech was welcomed back with open arms.

I’ve found a safe haven at Mastodon. I adore it. In fact, today marks my one-month anniversary on the platform. It doesn’t have as many users as Twitter, sure, but it also has a lot fewer bots and trolls. It’s not owned by a childish attention-seeking billionaire (it’s not really “owned” by anyone). There is no advertising—servers are run on donations from users. There is also no algorithm to promote popular posts in your feed. And people are just… nice. There is simply less drama. It’s lovely.

If you are interested in joining but find the process a bit daunting, there are a ton of ‘getting started on Mastodon’ articles out there. Here’s one that looks good. And once you get there, make sure to gimme a shout!

I also plan to track my reading on Storygraph on 2023 instead of Goodreads. I just want to try something new.

I think I’m also going to try to blog more in the new year, on this website and over at The Lazy Historian.

Personal

After a pandemic-caused two-year delay, my mother and I finally went on an incredible trip to England and France with lots of stops at historic attractions: Versailles Palace, the Paris Catacombs, the City of Bath, Westminster Abbey, The Old Operating Theatre, the Tower of London, the Museum of London, Hampton Court Palace and a lot more. It was my third time visiting London, my second time visiting Paris, my first time visiting beautiful Bath, and my mom’s first trip to Europe. It was busy but an amazing time.

And yes, I’m already gathering ideas for my next trip over.

In late September, my beloved Atlantic Canada was roughed up quite badly—Prince Edward Island (where I live), parts of Nova Scotia (where I grew up), and Newfoundland and Labrador bearing the brunt of the record-breaking winds and torrential rain. We lost a few trees in our backyard (including a much-loved flowering crab) and our fence sustained some damage but we were lucky. We lost power for nine days. That seems extreme but there were people in PEI who lost power for TWENTY days. Because of damaged infrastructure and an overloaded network, cell reception was limited for several days. Some people living along the shore even had their cottages ripped from the ground and tossed elsewhere. Many businesses were destroyed.

Tree damage in our backyard. We got off lucky.

It was a very stressful time. Not that long ago, Atlantic Canada didn’t get hurricanes. This is the second bad hurricane we’ve had in just 20 years. Climate change is super cool, right?

A few more photos from around PEI:

On a happier note, I also began some minor construction in my office—turning an unused closet into a mini library. I managed to put a big hole in the wall while pulling a board off so then I got to learn how to patch drywall. Oops. I’m picking up the Billy bookcase from my grandmother’s house at Christmas—making that thing fit into our Nissan Leaf is going to be an interesting challenge. hahaha

oops.