A Letter from Caitlyn Paxson

Dear Reader,

At long last, A Widow’s Charm is finally out in the world! Sound the trumpets! Ring the bells!

If you feel so inclined, you can buy it wherever books are sold, or order it here!

Even though I’m a writer, I’m really struggling to put into words what it means to me to finally reach this life’s ambition that I’ve been working toward for almost twenty years. Already there have been so many magical moments, from working with my amazing agent and editors to announcing the book’s sale and showing off the cover design to hearing from early readers that they felt connected to the people I made up in my head. I think that might be the most magical part for me: feeing like these characters now have a life of their own.

It all comes down to the characters for me, because A Widow’s Charm began with one who refused to be ignored.

I’d recently moved from the big city to a farm on a bucolic Island, and I developed the habit of taking long walks through my neighbor’s fields, skirting around giant wheels of baled hay and clambering through the scraggly trees and underbrush of the windbreaks that separated them. I felt so peaceful, relieved to leave the noise and pace of the city behind.

But there was this character, this little voice that began chattering inside my head as I walked: a self-deprecating, hilariously wayward necromancer who wouldn’t stop complaining. I wanted to know who he was, and why he was so full of complaints, and what might be done to cheer him up. I realized that, much like me, he had just moved to the countryside, and unlike me, his move had not been voluntary. He was injured, in body and spirit, and he did not appreciate the mud, or the lack of company, or the wildlife. But despite all of that, he was funny. He made me chuckle to myself as I walked.

What he needed, I decided, was a kindly neighbor to look after him a bit. But what if she had a problem of her own—a problem that only a necromancer could solve?

Thus Elmwood and Hilde came into being, and I proceeded to fill their story with all the things I like best: Scandalous innuendo. Earnest romantic longing. Banter. Cozy domesticity. Loving depictions of food. Musings about mental health and grief. A farcical musical bedrooms sequence. Messy, flawed people who are trying their hardest. The passionate removal of historical garments. A naughty dog. And just a little bit of magic.

A Widow’s Charm is a book that I wrote for myself, for the joy of it. And now I get to share that joy with you!

And if I may be allowed a moment of gleeful celebration – I also get to share that joy with the New York Times, who gave my book a glowing review last weekend, calling it “a classic fantasy romance!”

I also want to remind you that I’m doing a series of launch events, most of them in conversation with my darling friend and fellow writer C.S.E. Cooney, so if you live near any of these places, I hope to see you there!

And lastly, I want to share something special with all of you who have been following along on this journey.

Over two years ago now, when I sold the book, my darling husband (who is a video editor) made me a celebratory present: fake end credits for a make-believe movie of my book, in the style of the end credits of The Princess Bride (my favorite movie of all time)! He cobbled together footage from various costume dramas and found actors who resembled my characters and even scoured all of cinema history for a clip of a badger hound (it’s from a 1970’s Hungarian family movie). It was such a beautiful gift – a way for it all to feel real when there was still a long wait ahead. I’m very fond of it, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

Watch it here.

Until next time, wishing you the best books and most berry-full brambles,

Caitlyn

I write this from the traditional unceded territory known as Mi’kma’ki, and I am grateful to call Epekwitk my home.