I’m back, baby! I decided to take the summer off from updates here and being super online. I was still working and at my desk but I took a little bit of the pressure away of posting regularly and to just be free to enjoy my time this summer. The last blogletter I shared went into how I was struggling with feeling connected to my community, and I am continuing to try to navigate that space between wanting to be a part of a community and also wanting to have my space and privacy. It’s a challenge! Especially with social media continuing to be deeply in flux. But rather than go into my inner turmoil there, I figured I’d tell you a little bit about what I’ve been up to and what else is going on with me.

I’ve been working on and off on my own writing projects, and admittedly struggling a bit with finding the one that I want to put my all into. I feel pulled in a number of different directions with wanting to try new things, write for different audiences and genres, and then trying to get my brain on board with it all. This summer’s weather really wreaked havoc on my ability to have a clear head, so I did my best to have grace for myself when I needed a break. I made a plan for coming back to my desk in the fall and to have days set aside for specific areas of work (ie. admin, writing, drawing, etc.) and I’m hoping that I’m able to stick with it.

Truly one of the hardest parts about freelancing as a full-time career is juggling all of the different components that go into it, if you don’t have the financial freedom to hire help for those tasks. This is something that I’m still really struggling with—not that I don’t have the ability to do these things, but between the tasks I have to do that are an unfortunate necessity of being self-employed and the writing work I do for others, it sometimes doesn’t leave a lot of time for projects of my own. One of my goals for this year is to finish a short comic of my very own too—and by that I mean, I’m drawing, colouring, and lettering it all myself. This is really the first time I’m posting about it anywhere publicly too, so I guess I’m attempting to make it all the more real by sharing that it’s something in the works. But again, finding time for all of the things I want to do in a week can be quite the task.

This summer has been busy—not just personally and socially, but professionally too. I’ve been doing a lot of promo stuff for Racc Pack and Pillow Talk, and most recently we returned from FanExpo Canada, which was an incredible success. I had my very first spotlight panel on my writing, which was so much fun, and I was so honoured. Thank you to Josh Stafford and Howard Wong for co-hosting that, and taking the time to chat with me. Leading up to the show, I also did a few interviews and such and the Toronto Guardian put together this lovely feature on me, so be sure to check that out.

My promo and touring continues into this fall as well, and I’m currently booking for school and library visits (financial assistance may be available).

UPCOMING EVENTS:

BOOKS OF THE SUMMER:

TV:

I’ve previously included a section on the things I’ve been watching lately…and then I began waffling on whether or not to keep it in. And since I last posted about it, there has been a lot, especially in the reality TV genre. The Traitors (Australia) S2, Love is Blind S6, Below Deck S2-10, Vanderpump Rules S11, Summer House S1, The Jinx Part 2, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City S4, The Valley S1, Great British Bake-Off S14, The Challenge All-Stars S4, Ren Faire, The Mole S2, and Love Island S6 (which was truly a commitment…).

TL;DR—I watch a lot of reality television.

Outside of reality TV though, I checked out Betty S2 (I loved both seasons of this show, so sad that it’s done), Percy Jackson S1, Hacks S3, Delicious in Dungeon S1 (so good, so fun, A+), Extraordinary S1-2 (truly a delight), Trying S3-4, and over the weekend I watched the entirety of the new Greek Mythology series, Kaos.

KAOS was everything that I could’ve possibly wanted it to be. The entire cast was absolute perfection, and the way that the myths were reintrepreted was fresh and exciting! I can’t stop thinking about this show, truly. I loved the casting choices, and the way that they drew from other mythology-based adaptations to create something that felt really original even with material that has been used over and over again. It would’ve been fun as a mini-series, but I am curious to see where it goes—although not super confident in Netflix’s ability to let this show tell its full story.

MY BOOKS:

It continues to be a really busy year for me! I’ve had a few things come out so forgive me a moment while I plug some stuff:

SOCIALS:

And as mentioned above, social media continues to be in flux, so if you want to follow along where I’m most active, these are the places to do so:

And, woof. That was a long update, so thanks for sticking with me until the end here. The perils of not updating things for a few months is that there’s usually that much more to share! I’m continuing to work on some exciting changes to these newsletters and fun integrations, but for now, check back here for more.

Until next time…

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