Happy new year, everyone! We've had a lovely family holiday, eating vegetarian tourtière and other goodies, and listening to my small but growing collection of vinyl on the Fluance record player that I asked for as my combined Christmas/birthday gift.

I'll be 47 in a few days, and as is often my wont with birthdays, I've been pondering mortality and other big questions.

I rewatched the 2021 David Lowery film The Green Knight this week. I know that it had a divided reception among medievalists, but I adore it. This time around I particularly appreciated the imagery of greenness as life/death, without any division where that slash is. The decision to be ready to die is the same as the decision to be ready to live. In a way, it complements the opposite imagery in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, which is partly about clinging to half-life:

Hi everyone! First things first: it's been a while since we did a giveaway, and I have a few spare copies of some of my books, so let's do it! If you'd like a signed paperback of The Embroidered Book, The Chatelaine, Alice Payne Rides or Assassin's Creed: The Resurrection Plot, shipped anywhere in the world, email me at kateheartfield@gmail.com by noon ET on Nov. 30 and I'll use a random number generator to choose one winner and ship it out. (Note that both AC: TRP and Alice Payne Rides are sequels!) If I choose you, I'll need to know:

• Which book (TEB, The Chatelaine, Alice Payne Rides or AC: TRP)

• Whether you want it personalized to you or as a gift (depending on where you live, I should be able to get it there before Christmas, although I can't guarantee that.)

• Your mailing address

This will be my last newsletter for 2023 (barring any huge news) and I just want to say thanks to everyone who's picked up one of my books this year, or spread the word. It was a big year for publications -- the paperback of The Embroidered Book, The Valkyrie, the reissued version of The Chatelaine, and Assassin's Creed: The Resurrection Plot. I wrote a blog post reflecting on the year in life and writing.

Hi everyone! First of all, a quick housekeeping note. I've just changed the newsletter delivery system from Mailchimp to Buttondown. My main reason for this is that Buttondown does not use newsletter content to train generative AI (or sell it to others to do so.)

So far, so good with the move, but if you notice any technical issues, please do let me know, at kateheartfield@gmail.com.

With Christmas coming up, a note that if you'd like a signed copy of one of my books, I recommend getting in touch with Bakka Phoenix in Toronto, or Perfect Books or The Spaniel's Tale in Ottawa. They all ship and have at least some signed copies in stock (and for the Ottawa stores, I can go in to personalize copies as long as you give us a little notice.) I'm also happy to mail signed and personalized bookplates, my treat. Brookline Booksmith will have bookplated editions of The Valkyrie available to coincide with our online event (see below.)

(Also: if you know anyone who'd like a copy of Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy in Italian or Polish, do get in touch! I have an extra copy of each and can send them out, signed, for the cost of shipping.)