April 2025

Hello friends,  

Can you believe it's April? It seems like it should be October by now, doesn’t it? I think part of my problem with the full understanding of time is that I’ve never really gotten off the agrarian calendar. I went to preschool at age 3, and I’ve never stopped being in school. I have been a student, teacher, or both since 1976, so for me, April is late in the year. My “year” ends in May or June. I work year-round, but the fact is, working in higher ed in the summer is quite a bit different than fall. There are fewer meetings and more projects. Projects are usually creative and fun (if you consider writing curriculum fun, which I do).   

For everyone else, it might feel like November because the world is on fire, and the amount of news stories you are flooded with from the firehose of chaos wears you down. I get it. I am tired. Super tired. Tired with a cape…and yet… (the rare double ellipsis) I am not feeling totally beaten down. Why? Well, as promised, last month I read Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Potter, and boy, am I GLAD I did.  

If you’ve read the book or the 13 sequels, you get why the word glad is in all caps there. Pollyanna is an orphan who plays the “glad” game. Her father, a poor missionary, taught Pollyanna that even when things are terrible, she should find something about which she can be glad. I mean, some of the things she does are such a stretch, but in the end, she is always glad, and everyone is glad.  

Here’s the thing, if I were to write the Pollyanna Chronicles, which I am not, and modernize this story, the first thing she would do would be to walk up to the marginalized kid in the cafeteria and be their friend, and everyone would be glad. I would, too. The world needs a bit of gladness, and so, while I can’t play the glad game, because I’m not always glad, what I can do is be a bit of a Pollyanna light and look for the good.  

I am not looking for the good in some of the monstrosities that are happening in the world, but I am focusing on the good in my life. The small wins, and the big wins. As the great Virginian, Jason Mraz, once said, look for the good, or as Maggie Dashwood’s favorite singer, Matt Nathanson, would say, find the little victories.  

Here are some of mine. I was invited back to a book club last month and it was such a glorious time. I am honored and humbled. I had the chance to speak at my local bookstore this month, AND I am invited back to have my own little table on Indie Bookstore Day. I mean, how cool is that? Also, I was invited to another book club a few days later. It is so good. I am so GLAD. Just this morning, I went out for a long walk, and by the time I got home, I wrote a children's song about birds.  

So, dear subscribers, what are some of the good things you want to share? Tell me about a little victory that makes you feel great. I’d be glad if you did.  

Notes from my bookshelf 

In my effort to fill my animal bingo card, I picked up a book called Martin Marten by Brian Doyle. It is both a love letter to Gary Paulson and Sir David Attenborough. It is a coming-of-age story for a 14-year-old boy, and this is real, a pine marten called Martin. Don’t think about it too hard, but once you are done reading it, you will not be able to stop thinking. 

Unrelated to animal bingo, I read the biography of The Bangles. The book, Eternal Flame,  is written by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike. So the name of the band is close to an animal name, and her middle name is Otter. So…Maybe related to animal bingo. I have always liked The Bangles, and this was such a passion project for Bickerdike and the band. Spoiler alert…The Patriarchy sucks. 

Notes from my keyboard 

Well, the time has finally come. I am rolling up my sleeves and beginning work on The Austen Chronicles book five. It is called Haunting Northanger. Our heroine, Cat Morland, will make her Austen Chronicles debut. I am excited for you all to meet her. She likes punk rock but doesn’t care if it gets a bit poppy, just as long as the songs don’t last longer than 3 and a half minutes, or she loses focus. Cat has an undiagnosed learning disability (although the narrator will certainly let you know, Dear Reader). She likes horror films, and that will play a huge part in her story as she navigates her first trip away from home to spend a summer at drama camp at Mansfield College. The whole gang will be there.  In fact, it will be the only book that features all six of the main characters in the same book, and they will even be in one scene together. Should be exciting! 

I started a new web series called Fireside Chats with A.R. Farina where I spend a few minutes, twice a month, talking about books in general and Jane Austen in particular. You can watch and subscribe here.  

If you didn’t get a chance to pick up the ARC of Universal Truth, you can follow this link to Booksprout. I just ask that you give a review in return.  

Thank you again for being a subscriber.

ARF

TThank you again for being a subscriber.  

Thank you again for being a subscriber.  

ARF