A Letter from Caitlyn Paxson

Dear Reader,

It’s high summer here on Epekwitk, and my weeks have been full of the bustle of gardening and museum programs. Safe to say, it’s my busiest time of year, so it’s important to take the time to stop and smell the flowers.

After a couple of pretty challenging years in the veggie and cut flower garden, I seem to be having a real redemption arc! I’m cautiously optimistic that there will be a wealth of tomatoes by August, which is very exciting.

Meanwhile, I wait for edits to the sequel to A Widow’s Charm and spend a lot of time daydreaming about what I want to write next. There have also been some exciting developments regarding a cover and blurbs and when it will be available to pre-order, but I can’t share that with you quite yet! Soon, though, I think.

Crafting:

After taking a break from Wreath of the Month for the first part of the year, this month I felt compelled to get out there and put some plants on my head for art. Last year, I started both dyer’s chamomile and yarrow from seeds and both came back this summer with great zeal, so I had a big, satisfying armful of flowers to work with!

Dyer Queen! After taking the photos, I removed all the heads of the chamomile and set them out to dry – I’m hoping to do some natural dye experiments before the end of summer. I thrift a lot of old bedsheets and table cloths to feed my new sewing obsession, and I’m thinking this could be a way to make some of them a bit more exciting, color-wise. And speaking of sewing, I also made both the blouse and the bodice I’m wearing in this picture!

Interpreting:

I’ve been spending a lot of time running around to museum sites, training staff and delivering programs. I’m especially excited to be back at Orwell Corner Historic Village, delivering our L.M. Montgomery experience, In the Time of Maud.

There are many reasons I love spending time at Orwell, not least of which is the fact that there are baby goats. Every workplace ought to have baby goats.

Reading:

It’s time for another romance roundup!

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti – Vasti is quickly becoming one of my favorite historical romance writers between this and its prequel, N’er Duke Well, which I read over the winter. In this one, our heroine is the shy author of seditious pamphlets, and the earl in question is not at all the person she thought he was when she showed up on his doorstep with a proposal of marriage. Sexy and socially-conscious!

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell – This one will make you want to go on a biking tour of 19^th century Cornwall. A naturalist agrees to participate in a bicycle race in hope of convincing a painter-turned-cyclist to paint seaweed samples for a lecture she’s giving. It’s every bit as adorable as it sounds and also addresses what the trans masculine experience might have looked like historically in a really thoughtful way. I have a real soft spot for when it’s clear that that author fell down a research rabbit hole and wants to tell you all about some niche corner of history (in this case, bicycle clubs!).

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban – I’m only a third of the way into this one but I feel confident in including it here because so far, it is both funny and charming! Two debutants team up parent-trap style to give their parents a second chance at love… only to find themselves falling for each other! Such a clever premise and I’m already fully invested in both romances. It also provides a very realistic peek at what it’s like trying to live your life wearing a cage crinoline.

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen – This is the third and final book in a series that begins with The Undertaking of Hark and Mercy, which is one of my favorite romance novels of all time, so you’d better believe I was hyped for this! Rosie is an immortal badass who works as a ranger in the unearthly land of Tanria. When she gets stuck inside its bounds with the mysterious man who created the portals that connect Tanria to the rest of the world, they ought to be focused on how to get home – not how to get into each other’s pants. But, well, you know how it is. This is a satisfying ending to a truly original romantasy series and I can’t recommend it enough!

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon – (Not pictured because I listened to the audiobook). Apparently this book began as a longstanding joke on the RPG show Critical Role. I’m not a Critical Role viewer (I’m sure it’s delightful, I’d just rather play D&D myself than watch other people play it) so I went into this with no context, reading it as a straight-up romance, and it didn’t disappoint. It frolics through all the classic romance tropes very earnestly as a merchant’s daughter with magical powers road-trips her way to an arranged marriage in the company of a half-orc who has decided it’s his responsibility to keep her safe. If you’ve ever played Smash or Pass with the Monster Manual, then this is a book for you!

Musing:

Many people are suffering right now and a lot of things are terrifying. It feels a little disingenuous to present all flowers and romance and baby goats in the face of it. But the flowers and romance and baby goats are the things getting me through, so I hope they make your day a little brighter, too.

A couple weeks ago, I participated in a fundraiser organized by my dear friend C.S.E. Cooney, reading poetry to raise money for World Central Kitchen. It's not too late to donate if you’d like to. You can do so here. If you donate, you can reply to this newsletter and I will send you one of the poems I shared during the fundraiser.

I will leave you with an image of foxgloves by twilight.

Until next time, wishing you the best books and the 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.