A Letter from Caitlyn Paxson

Dear Reader,

Today is my birthday! 

It’s been a regrettably long time since last I wrote. Winter and early spring ended up being a reclusive period, in part because I had a lot of feelings about 2024 to process, and also because I had a book to write.

The sequel to A Widow’s Charm was due on May 1st, and I made that deadline by the skin of my teeth. Writing an entire novel in a year—and having people, people with expectations, waiting for it—was a new experience for me. I’m very, very grateful to have things like deadlines and expectations for my writing, but it was definitely a challenge! I tend to have a very meandering way of coming up with a story, and that requires lots of time to go down false paths and then ponder them for weeks until the right way becomes clear. You can’t really do that when you only have a year! I'm grateful to everyone who put up with me being absent-minded and just generally absent, with special thanks to my husband, Magill, who supported me through more than a few plot-related panic attacks. 

The author and her assistant.

Monty was also very supportive. This is how 90% of the book was written.

And speaking of books…

Writing:

Things are progressing with the production of A Widow’s Charm in ways that are both thrilling and terrifying. We just began sending it out to other authors to request “blurbs”, which is publishing-speak for pithy recommendations, so now I have the knowledge that over the next six months, some of my all-time favorite writers will be reading my book. No big deal, right?  

We’re also in the middle of the cover design process, which is exciting and wild and I can’t wait to be able to show you the final product! In the meantime, I’m very excited to give you a little preview of the interior title page…

*Incoherant excited shrieking*

  
I love it so much! The vines! The fonts! The tiny, frolicking dog! It’s absolutely perfect, and there’s something about seeing this that makes it all feel much more real.

Crafting:

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I have become completely hyper-fixated on the idea of making my own clothing. I was just pontificating about it to a couple of friends who were visiting, thinking about how when I was a teenager and in college, I dressed quite eccentrically, always swanning about in long skirts and pirate blouses and generally looking like I’d run away from the Renaissance Faire. But over the course of the next two decades, I began living in larger cities, and quickly discovered that being noticed when out and about was not always a positive experience. I dressed eccentrically to please myself, but I disliked the attention it garnered from others. Over time, I toned-down my fashion sense to blend in a little more and be less conspicuous.

When we moved to the Island, I quickly realized that even my closet’s most demure offerings were going to stand out – and here, it’s really not a bad thing. Maybe I’m just reaching an age where I don’t care anymore. In any case, I’ve decided to fully embrace my desire to always dress either like one of the Romantic poets or the muses they wrote poems for – and that’s the wardrobe I’ve been making for myself. I’m particularly proud of this linen dress and button-down shirt, as I drafted the patterns myself.

Lilac frolic.

Reading:

I still feel very behind on my reading for the year. Audiobooks have been my saving grace, and I savored every word of The River has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar and Saint Death’s Herald by C.S.E. Cooney, both of which were released this spring. If you’ve been here a while, you know that both authors are my darling friends, and I had read parts of these works before publication and already knew I would love them. But I must say, the audiobook experience of both of these works takes them to a whole other level. The production on The River Has Roots is exquisite – the narrator’s voice has the perfect tenor and burr for relating a fairytale inspired by one of my longtime favorite ballads, The Two Sisters, and recordings of Amal and her own sister singing and playing harp and flute together are woven perfectly through the narrative. Saint Death’s Herald is read by the author herself, and there’s nothing better than listening to Claire read her own work, doing all the voices and accents to perfection as she continues the tale of tender-hearted necromancer, Miscellaneous Stones. Needless to say, I highly recommend both books.

Books amongst the violets.

I also picked up a copy of The Incandescent by Emily Tesh while travelling in May. It tells the story of an English school of magic – from the perspective of the beleaguered headmistress who is desperately trying to keep all of her wards from being eaten by demons. The narrative voice is quite funny, and the pacing delighted me by having what I thought would be the big climax instead take place about a quarter of the way into the book – which meant the story was more about what happens after the big bad thing. Also highly recommended!

Musing:

There’s a busy summer ahead, full of museum programs and gardening. I’m especially excited to deliver my L.M. Montgomery program again this summer, In the Time of Maud, and while I was visiting Orwell Corner Historic Village to make some preparations, I got to meet these charming residents:

Can you spot both foxes?

Big stretch.

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.