I'm still working through Moby Dick (very dense book but I'm enjoying it).
My non-fiction read atm is Plutocrats - The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else by Chrystia Freeland.
Figured I might as well understand what is happening even if I don't like it, lol. It's a pretty intellectual slog but I'm doing all right. Chrystia Freeland is amazing.

I took a break from Moby Dick to read God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which is a mystery thriller set at a summer camp in the Adirondack mountains in the seventies. It was very good and a compelling read. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on until the final chapters. Also a good commentary on rich people compared to us regular folk.

Now, back to Moby Dick. I'm still reading White Fragility which is a really informing and necessary read.

We are going to G's brother's place for a barbecue tonight and I'm excited to watch Episode 5 of The Vampire Lestat tomorrow. I saw a teaser clip that made me laugh out loud. I love the humour in this show.

I'm actually re-reading this one. Like The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, I read Moby Dick in my Myth and Language Class at university. It's been a long time since then and I want to revisit Captain Ahab, Ishmael, Queequeg, Starbuck, and so many more wonderful and distinct characters, including the white whale. There is a group of people who see a homosexual subtext between Ishmael and Queequeg, and although I think they are reading more into the behaviour of the time period than I would, I'm not averse to keeping my mind open. At the very least these two men are intensely joined in spirit, which is a joy to read. And I'd forgotten about the humour in the story. Parts of it are very funny.

As I mentioned, I like to read a non-fiction book at the same time that I'm reading a fiction book. This one is next in line.

I watched the documentary, Speechless, and felt no sympathy for the white professor who felt attacked by a request to join a peaceful protest that supported black students and faculty at his university. That professor (ex-professor now, I believe) referenced the author of this book as one of the left-leaning people who are promoting the ideology of (what he believes is) a radical and disproportionate examination of racism in white society.

So, of course I looked her up. And now I'm going to read her book, because, as a white woman with a ton of privilege, I feel a responsibility to educate myself about/ and uncover my own inherent racism. 

I did NOT realize the print was going to be as large as it was, lol.

This is a book I read for the first time in a Myth and Language class at university and I remember enjoying it. I should have re-read it when I was researching for my pirate series because there is alot of great 'what happens on board a sailing ship' stuff, particularly when the weather is bad. There are definitely problematic elements to it, as when the titular character finds himself on an island that is not inhabited by people familiar to him. Interesting to recognize, though, the racist and colonialist attitudes that were prevalent at the time. One of the things that Arthur and his men assess on the island is what is there that they can sell and profit from, ignoring completely the fact that the indigenous peoples living there should have first rights to all of it. Written by Edgar Allen Poe, the story is suitably haunting and unsettling and it is plain to see that Poe has a deep fascination with men being buried alive or trapped in tight confines. He did write The Cask of Amontillado, of course.

I like to read two books at the same time, and one of them is generally non-fiction. 

This one is interesting. I almost stopped reading it during the first chapter when he postulated some things concerning the toys that children are drawn to that I didn't fully agree with, but I kept reading. The chapter on gender and identity is quite good and he supports most of the things I believe. I'm not sure we align completely on our ideas about gender, and I don't think studying chimps and other apes adequately represents our uniqueness as humans. I don't believe humans are better than other animals, but that our use of language and complex tool using brain puts us in a very different category, so that discussions of gender and identity are a specifically human phenomenon.

I've decided what my next writing project will be and it's going to be a western, with vampires.

I loved writing my Northern Horizons series so much that I'm drawn back to that environment, and I also want to write more paranormal, after my pirate series, so I'm setting a vampire novel in the Canadian west. There will be horses and dogs and travel and a very lonely vampire looking for redemption. There will also be a man with nothing to lose who fights for his own future, and complicates this vampire's life in many different ways. Similar themes to those in 760 Miles but complicated by a supernatural element and an exploration of what makes life meaningful, how to live with suffering, and how to manage guilt and live to the fullest, even if you have to do things others might not understand.

I'll be taking the summer off to read and relax, but I plan to start working on The Wild Endless in September and to have a first draft by Christmas.

What am I reading on Sunday, June 14th, 2026?

I found this on a recent trip to my local Indigo, in the bargain books section (LOVE the bargain books section!). I was immediately drawn to the cover and when I realized that it was a curated collection of writings about famous cities, I knew I had to have it.

Peter Furtado takes excerpts from various diverse voices throughout history and aligns them with an alphabetical list of the best known cities in the world. It's enchanting and eye-opening. I enjoyed the way it was structured, with a brief description (by the editor) of each city and why that city was renowned. Then the date of the excerpt and a description of the author and why they found themselves in the city they were describing. 

​I think I paid $20 for this hardcover edition and it was totally worth it.

Did I mention that I'm slowing down? I'm almost 57 so do consider myself semi-retired although I don't ever plan to stop writing, at least while I have the mental and physical capacity to continue. I realized that I had been really pushing myself for five years, mistakenly believing that if I put out more and more books I'd start earning more and more money. My modest goal was to earn enough money to equate to what I might pull in with a part-time retail job. Lol, well that didn't happen. And I worked my arse off. I had so many books published between 2020 and 2025 I astounded myself. But the payoff never came. My earnings remained at a steady and disappointing trickle barely worth mentioning.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that people are actually reading my books. I'm with small publishers who take the majority of my earnings but I can't see my way to self-publishing for many reasons. And I don't do this for the money. I would have stopped a long time ago if that were the case. 
But my goal was to feel like I was contributing to the family income, even by a little bit. Unfortunately, I can't even cover all of my author expenses, because there are so many (website, Bookfunnel, professional email, purchasing paperbacks to sell at events, event registration, occasionally hotel fees). Luckily, my husband is advanced enough in his career that he can support me and our two adult kids who are still living at home (mostly), but I have always felt a bit shitty about this writing gig not being more of a help. 
Now that I'm over 55 and living with a serious chronic disease, I feel less guilty about not working outside the home and not having a job that contributes to our income. I realized that my older brother retired at 55 and lots of folks do if they can afford it (he is partially supported by his wife who has a very important job in the government, and he also receives a modified pension). My husband and I have enough investments that he can probably retire at 60, as long as the kids are supporting themselves by then (fingers crossed).
The third and probably final book in The Arrow and The Flame series, Mist and Snow, is signed with NineStar Press. I imagine I'll be doing edits in the fall as it will be out sometime early next year. 
As for current projects I'm working on, I'm writing what will be a free reader magnet involving my pirate universe right now, and when that's finished (by end of summer or sooner) I'll be writing either a vampire novel or a sci-fi android novel - I haven't decided yet. 
Now that I'm off social media completely, I feel like I'm coming back to myself and I'm fully immersing myself in the present moment. I'm reading actual books again, which was always one of my greatest joys. I didn't realize how less satisfying reading ebooks feels to holding an actual book in my hands. I'll still be reading ebooks, for sure, but I'm rediscovering the joy of physical things, which is delightful. I only have a limited amount of time left on this planet and I feel very intentional and fulfilled right now.
I recently disconnected from Google as well, which took a few weeks as I had three Gmail addresses that I'd been using for years and had to update so many services with my new email address before I could make such a huge change. Please be advised that you can no longer reach me at any of my three gmail addresses ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]). If you need to get in touch you can contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].
Posteo is a German based email service that costs a handful of euros a year (around $20 CAD) and prides itself on privacy, sustainability, and excellence. I also have a personal email address at Posteo as they allow up to three alias addresses as part of the paid service. They also have an easy email migration service and collection service, so that I can get all of my emails in my one inbox. It's brilliant.

...is the title (for now) of a free reader magnet I’m working on in The Arrow and The Flame universe. It’s delightful to be back with Captain Dinesh Martin and Simon White, Squid, Domingo, and the rest of the crew. I realized that I haven’t composed a free story for readers and potential readers in a while, and that introducing folks to the Arrow and her crew might be a good idea to increase sales of the books in my pirate series. 

This story will primarily feature Simon, Squid, and Domingo on an excursion to the markets of Port Royal while Captain Martin supervises repairs of his ship. Domingo is hopeful of finding clothing more suitable to his gender bending sense of fashion, and he has the idea to convince Simon that Dinesh might enjoy some scanty garments in the bedroom if Simon were to purchase and wear them for him. This takes some persuasion but ultimately results in Simon giving it a try and dressing like an 18th century working girl to seduce his beloved captain.

Only a few more days to take advantage of this multi-author giveaway!

So my husband and I headed West early Saturday morning for the Islands and Ink Book Fair at the Gananoque Curling Club. We missed a turn off so arrived later than planned but still with half an hour to set up my table. I had decided on a minimal display this time, as I went full bore at the last two conventions I attended - with fancy little blackboards and stacks of books on my table.

I’m quite happy with how it all looked and I made quite a few sales, so I’m thrilled.

I had decided to discount my prices as well, and to have a deal for buying more than one book. In fact, I bundled my backlist series’ together for $25 for a 3 book series, and $30 for a 4 book series. I’m going to keep doing this, as it makes it a lot easier to offload subsequent books in a series. I also had my individual backlist books at $10 each. My two latest releases, A Flash of Golden Fire and A Hellish Thing, were $20 each or both for $30 and everyone chose the duo. I’ll be keeping this price listing at Can*Con in October. Although I won’t have a sales table in the vendor room, I will have books and bundles on site for the asking.

It’s so difficult for an inaugural event in terms of attendance, and we were all hoping for a more substantial turnout. But the people who did come to my table were lovely and enthusiastic, and I had a great time.

Thanks so much to Mary Holmes and her amazing team for a wonderful event!