November Newsletter | November is NaNoWriMo Time

50K Words in 30 Days

Penning an entire novel in a month is not only intimidating but nerve-wracking.

I spent much of October planning, plotting, second-guessing, reworking, and sweating over how to approach this next book.

In the end, The Wulver began to take shape.

Isla is a seventeen-year-old high school senior with the world’s weight on her shoulders.

Nine-year-old Logan looks up to his older sister, Isla, and want’s nothing more than for their relationship to be as it once was.

Birgitta flees the only home she’s ever known because staying isn’t an option.

If all goes according to plan, which it rarely does where writing is concerned, THe Wulver will follow Isla, Logan, and Brigitta across an ocean and back over eight years, where their stores will converge on the island where it all began.

Multiple points of view and two timelines are a lot to tackle in 30 days, and I’m probably crazy for trying, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

Pandemonium Cozy Mystery Series Update

The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost did not make the Watty shortlist, but that’s alright. After November, I will take a fresh look at the book and shore up the editing once again.

I’ve received some very useful feedback on where The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost falls short, and I’m feeling positive about the direction the edits will take it.

As for The Girl with the Clock Tower Murder, the second round of edits are complete.

In December, I will start posting the second Pandemonium Cozy Mystery to Wattpad.

In the meantime, chapters have been live since the beginning of October on my Patreon.

If you’d like to receive early releases and exclusive pieces, head to Patreon and join my Book Club.

Shetland Research

I have been up to my elbows in research to get myself into the Shetland frame of mind. Here are some of the books I’ve found valuable.

A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter is a tale of a small community on Shetland that welcomes a stranger who’s the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Fin Learson isn’t like other men. It’s almost like he’s of a different world. The stories young Robbie hears from his grandfather have him conveniences that Finn is the Selkie king.

An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales by Theresa Breslin and illustrated by Kate Peiper is one of the most charming books I’ve read. You can learn a lot about a place by reading about its history. But you learn about a people by reading their mythology.

Breslin weaves these charming, clever tales into a tapestry that children and adults will gladly wrap themselves in at bedtime. Peiper’s breathtaking illustrations help deliver Breslin’s words with magical realism.

Thistledown is a treasury of Scottish wit and wisdom. There is so much charm between its covers that one stagger to pick out their favorite bits.

To sum up this lovely piece of Scottish heritage by Robert Ford, I will leave you with this:

“They have contained things both good and new, but what was good was not new, and what was new was not good.”

The Shetland Islands have a rich history of textile manufacturing. From heavy-duty fisherman sweaters to delicate lace shawls that can take years to create, Shetland knitwork is an age-old artform, rich in tradition, and nothing details this history better than Shetland Textiles 800 BC to the Present, edited by Sarah Laurenson.

I love learning how ancient Shetlanders crafted and used these functional yet beautiful textiles. No wonder this tiny group of islands has become world-renowned for its knitwear.