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Newsletter - July 2024

Nancy's Notes, Novels, Noshes, Notions, Nods & Nudges
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  :: a characteristic feature :: to notice or observe with care   

:: to record or preserve in writing :: to make special mention of or remark on  

:: a short, informal letter

Dear Friends,         

 

Summer finally arrived here in Nova Scotia. Somehow it always seems sudden after months of waiting. This year, I started seeds indoors. I had received a hydroponic growing system for Christmas which led (LED…haha) to experimenting with grow lights to get a head start on our short growing season.

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Hydroponics: better than expected.  

Flower and vegetable seedlings: mixed results but good enough. 

We shall see. Gardening definitely keeps me humble, but also hopeful. There's always something new to learn and I love learning new things. 


I am a serial hobbyist. 


During the pandemic, I took up knitting. Learning to make sweaters was my goal. I knitted relentlessly, obsessively, abundantly and often badly for three years. I knit the way I write: with many revisions. But the process reminded me that there is growth potential in allowing yourself to be a beginner. Once I had a small stack of sweaters that I liked (plus socks!), my obsession vanished.

 

There's a long trail of semi-abandoned Nancy hobbies. Weaving. Sign language. Piano. Stained glass. Painting. Macrame. Website design. Second Life fashion. The Practically Creative website. Quilting. 

I did make a star-struck baby quilt for our newest grandchild in 2023.

The rule is: Grandbabies get quilts.

One 'hobby' I never reached my limit on is writing fiction. I thought I might. It's not the best hobby. It's like always having homework. You can't show it off while you're doing it. I struggle with first drafts and once those are done, I edit obsessively, relentlessly, abundantly. Yep, there's a pattern here. 

I finally accepted that it's my thing. When something is your thing, it can become more than a hobby. I became a professional writer in 2015 when complete strangers started choosing my short stories from among hundreds of others, and paid me for the opportunity to publish them.

Novels, however, are where my heart lives. I have written thirteen, all in various stages of completion. That's well over a million words. Three are pretty much ready to go. But for several years, I have felt paralyzed at the prospect of marketing my novels. Last year, I was in a dark limbo of not-writingness. I almost gave up on my "thing.”

Then, I took a chance on asking an editor I admire and trust to work with me on Every Rule Undone. After much review, revision, coaching and with renewed confidence, I allowed myself to explore how to get my book(s) out there. I discovered that publishing and promoting a book is just another thing that can be learned. We all know how I feel about that!

I walked out of limbo into a new world. Over that threshold was a happy fact I had been ignoring: because of my hobbies, I have acquired skills that shorten the learning curve.

 

When I confront new web applications (like the one that sends these newsletters for me) I know I can overcome the initial frustration because I have wrangled dozens of them over the years. I have formatted print and ebooks, and designed covers by doing Third Person Press. I will never master Photoshop but have enough experience to do what I need. I even know how to create a specialized design for those scene break dealies. Oh wait, I'm a writer. *looks up word for scene break images* Fleuron. Ornamental symbol. Dinkus? Asterism? Well. You learn something new everyday. 

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I can't change my personality to be a natural self-promoter, but I already know more than I was giving myself credit for. As for the rest, I can:

  • Learn 

  • Ask for help

  • Do it badly

  • Not give up

:: new and not resembling something formerly known or used  

:: not previously identified 

:: original or striking especially in conception or style 

:: a literary genre

For my subscribers: a snippet of cover,
a glimpse of our main character and the summary for
Book One of Maripesa, the Last Magic City.

Aza Gen lives a sheltered life as a curse cleaner for Maripesa's ruling family. When she is thirteen, Aza develops an ability to split herself and see from two perspectives. She keeps this Talent a secret, not knowing where, or if, it fits in the magical structure of her society.
 
In Maripesa, magic runs in families. Generations ago, the Keepers designed a genetic balance of power. Each clan has its exclusive speciality. Those who practice negative spells—curses and maladies—are at the top of the hierarchy. Unfortunately, those who choose to breed outside their clan must be executed so as not to mingle Talents.
 
When Aza is twenty-six, she suffers personal tragedies as Maripesa's rigid calm devolves under upper clan warfare. Sick, fearful and grieving, she's thrust alone into the city. She encounters hypocrisy and deception—which feel even worse than the twin evils of curses and maladies. But Aza also finds deep wells of kindness and wisdom; romance, sexual awakening and profound new kinships. 

Her special magic finds its place. Women's magic—minimized, ridiculed and suppressed through generations—becomes her focus. Because it crosses and includes all clans, it subverts the system that causes misery to so many. Aza leads a stealth insurrection, unimagined and unseen by those in power—one of whom is her lover and friend. Even as she uncovers devastating family secrets, her rage at mounting injustices will not stop until every outdated rule is undone.
 
Aza and three people from other clans show us the way through this charm-filled, twisty, heartfelt journey about the chaos that hypocrisy and hubris can bring and the healing that kindness always manifests. 

First view of Aza!

:: a light meal or snack

SUPER-QUICK Peanut Butter Cake/Muffin/Bread
 

Cooking is another active hobby of mine. I saw this little nosh on Master Chef Australia—my favorite cooking show. The soft-spoken Pete Campbell from Season 13, 2021 didn't win anything with this recipe, but it was fun to see such a simple dish used there. I  immediately tried it. It is similar to one of those microwave mug cakes only easier. And no flour for those of us who don't eat gluten. You'll probably want to have something with it. Fruit, ice cream, yogurt, jelly?


3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
Whisk the ingredients, put it in a microwave for 60 to 90 seconds.
Great for kids!

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:: a small useful item

:: an inclusive general, concept, a theory or belief, personal inclination

:: an individual's conception of something known experienced, or imagined

When You're Ready

Years ago, a therapist I went to used hypnosis to help me with some issues. When it was time to open my eyes, come back to the room, to the present, she gave me the prompt, "When you're ready."

Like many people, I have the tendency to get down on myself when I don't move forward with my goals in a "timely fashion." I mean…here I am in my 7th decade and only now publishing my novels? What took me so long? But that phrase—perhaps because I was in a hyper-relaxed state when I heard it—comes back to me. It never fails to be comforting because it assumes I will be ready at some point.

Our goals, dreams and potential are not on anyone else's schedule. Sure, we all need to push ourselves to achieve. But if that pushing results in negative progress, it might be time to wait until you are ready. You will be, and if you aren't, then you'll move on to the othe

  • Check out The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams for a good summer read

  • Try being bad at something without giving up--until you are ready

  • Back-up your computer today. On this one, do NOT wait till you're ready 😕

  • Needlepoint pillow suggestion: Calibrate Your Expectations

NUANC/ E

:sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express

subtle shadings of meaning, feeling, or value

Thanks for being here!

See you next time.

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Adorable gravestones I drew and made into a font. YES! You can do that!

They were used in Grey Area, a ghost story anthology that I, along with writers Sherry D. Ramsey, Julie A. Serroul, edited for our Third Person Press adventure.

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