Hello Everyone!

I hope you are staying safe and healthy and enjoying the new year. I’m still hunkered down pretty well, only going out to take Renee the Italian Greyhound to see her favorite people at the pet food store. She is still trying to recover from her tragic tooth issue and consequent dental surgery and complications, but I am glad to say she is doing a lot better than she was a month ago. She’s still on a mainly soup-based diet, but she’s eating pretty happily instead of trembling in terror. She goes back to the vet next week to get checked out again, so fingers crossed for a positive outcome there.

I myself have been super busy trying to do three projects at once, which I don’t recommend. One of those three projects is The Singing Shore, my NaNoWriMo project. I’m now about 255k words into a planned trilogy of about 300k words. I’m trying to tell myself that the finish line is almost in sight! I will certainly keep you updated on my progress. Meanwhile, if you’d like to see some of my inspiration, you can check out my Pinterest page. I’ve added some boards on kanteles (Finnish harps), icebergs, and other things that make appearances in the story.

I have managed to read some really good fantasy books recently. I’m currently listening to the audio version of Kazuo Ishiguro’s (yes, that Kazuo Ishiguro, of Remains of the Day fame) literary fantasy The Buried Giant, set in post-Arthurian Britain. It’s a dense, beautiful work about memory and trauma, along with magical creatures. Highly recommended.

And I just finished The Conjurer, the final book in Luanne G. Smith’s Vine Witch trilogy. It’s set in an alternative version of early 20th-century France, where magic is real and witches make wine and perfume. All three books are fast-paced, easy reads that still manage to convey a lovely sense of place and time, with a distinctly French feel full of colors, tastes, and scents. Also highly recommended.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations?

All the best,

E.P.