March 2025

Hello friends. While I write this, spring has not yet sprung, we are still a few days away from making it official, but it is March and March is hope. Sure, it could snow tomorrow in most of the United States, and there will likely be a sneaky snow flurry or slush storm even after the equinox, it is just nice to know that spring is here. I’m still not adjusted to losing the hour of sleep that most Americans have lost, save for my friends in Hawaii and Arizona, but hope springs eternal. 

I received a print copy of Universal Truth in the mail this week (more on that below). That is hopeful. My boss told me that my part of the university is being tasked with pushing growth. That is hopeful. Cat Morland is whispering in my ear. Since she is the heroine of my next book, that is hopeful. I was invited to two book clubs, and I have an IRL author event soon. That is incredibly hopeful. It is like I’ve struck a goldmine of awesome.  

One of my biggest problems is that I live in my head and I convince myself that the new book isn’t that good, or my boss is asking too much, or that Cat doesn’t have anything to say, or that I will make a fool of myself at the events. Hope can trip me up because what if all that hope is fool’s gold? What if spring is wet, blustery, and soggy. Worse, what if all of that ick is my fault? I know it seems like an odd thing to think, but my brain does what it does sometimes. 

So, much like last month when I told us to get out and read beach reads in the winter, this month, I want us to will spring into existence and push for hope. Read books with a plucky narrator. I always call myself Pollyanna when I am at work, but the truth is, I’ve never read that book series, and that ends now. I have checked out the first book from the library and will report back next month with tales of joy and optimism everywhere.

Now is the time to create something new. If you always “wanted” to write a poem, or paint a landscape, or sing karaoke, go do it. If you write, you are a writer. If you paint, you are a painter. If you sing, you are a singer. It doesn’t matter if someone else thinks it is good, all that matters is that you are happy with it. That you enjoyed the process. Like hope, art lives in the act of doing it. 

Notes from my bookshelf

I just finished a glorious collection of time travel stories by Jack Finney called About Time. Some of them are dated to be sure, but there is a sense of longing for things to be better. Sure, some time travel stories are dystopian, and I would be lying if I didn’t prepare you for the fact that two of the stories are dour, but as a collection, it is pretty hopeful.

I also read Rebecca Ross’ Letters of Enchantment series about monsters, myths, and magical typewriters. It subverted so many of the YA tropes that one might encounter in a book series like this. I actually think the second book was better than the first. So fun. 

Notes from my keyboard

HUGE News!!! Universal Truth is ready for preorder. You can order it in all the places you buy books. Direct from 4 Horsemen, on Bookshop, or if you are in the UK you can get it at Blackwell’s. Of course you can get it from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, OR, ask your local bookshop to preorder it for you!!!

If you can’t wait and you simply must have a copy now, I have a deal for you because you are a subscriber to this newsletter! You can sign up for Booksprout and you can get the digital arc FOR FREE! You can follow this link to Booksprout. It is safe and secure. The only thing I ask is that after you read it, that you please leave a review on Goodreads and Booksprout. If you have not left reviews for Welcome to Mansfield or That Other Dashwood Girl, or any of my other books on Goodreads, I would appreciate it so much. If you have already, thank you!

Thank you again for being a subscriber. 

ARF