I was kinda over this week by Tuesday, which tells you almost everything you need to know about it. Almost. In the interests of fairness, I’d call it more of a mixed-bag, Dickens of a week. I had a breakthrough slash moment of insight on some personal matters that have been on my mind a lot lately and that, while not exactly fun, was definitely a net positive. Therapy is a wonderful thing, friends. [Especially if you find a good therapist who gets you. Not always a given, so don’t be afraid to try a few and never just settle.]

I have some updates on the book front, but I’ll save the long story for another, separate post. I did finish my umpteenth (and final!) edit of A Party to Murder this week, and I am very happy with it. I will need to do a proofreading pass at some point in the not-too-distant future, but I am ready to call this one officially “done”. It’s not the end of the journey though … stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I’m now trying to get myself psyched up to start writing book #5. Writing and editing are totally different modes, and since the end of July, I’ve been focusing exclusively on the latter, so I’m a bit nervous about being able to switch gears. But I’ve been making plans, and those plans involve me finishing the first draft of book #5 by the end of November. Ambitious? Not if I can get back into the writing pace and form I had while writing book #4. Will I be able to do it? Wish me luck.

Fall is taking its sweet time coming this year – not that I’m complaining! – so I’ve been in a kind of limbo with my outfits. My mind is thinking sweaters and jackets and layers, but the weather is, like, nah. So, for now, we compromise. I just hope this doesn’t mean we skip the season entirely, and go straight to winter. I don’t think I could handle it.

I did splurge at Value Village last week and bought a pair of mid-calf Dr. Marten’s boots. I won’t tell you how much I paid for it, because it was ridiculous. [Ok, fine, I’ll tell you: it was a little less than half the retail price. But, hey, at least they look brand new.] I love the knee-high Docs I bought earlier this year, and this version had been on my Poshmark watchlist at one time, so I knew it was a worthwhile purchase even accounting for the thrift grift. I can’t wait to bust out my boots, with skirts and dresses, this fall.

Oh, and my daughter has already informed me that we need to work out a co-sharing agreement 😉

The other thing I (kinda) overpaid for this week was a cream version of my fave H&M cardigan. I know you might be thinking ‘what’s the big deal about an H&M cardigan’, but let me tell you: I’ve worn the black and blush versions of it all year, constantly. If you’ve been seeing the outfits I post here, I’m sure you’ve noticed. I’ve been looking for a white or cream version at the thrifts since the spring, with no luck. So, this week I finally caved, and bought one on Poshmark. With shipping, it ended up being $30CAD, which was probably the original retail price, sigh. At least it’s a cotton blend. And the fit is chef’s kiss, 10/10 no notes.

I better not find the same one at the thrift store this weekend!!

Have a great weekend!

After finishing the first draft of The Mysterious Affair at Gaunt Hall back in July, I spent the rest of the summer catching up on my long-neglected TBR list. And I made a decent dent! Of course, I also added books to the list, so the physical pile is just about as tall as ever … but we’re still gonna count that as progress. Since at least one person expressed interest in seeing what I’ve been reading, I decided to do a speed round of quick reviews here; if you want to see (and hear) more, you can head over to my writing IG account [murders_she_writes] where I post regular book reviews and reccs.

This is a verrrry random assortment of non-fiction books, but all ones I enjoyed a great deal (for different reasons). I thought Saving Time by Jenny Odell was a thought-provoking follow-up to her previous book How To Do Nothing. In the last few years, I have spent a lot of time examining my relationship with the concept of ‘productivity’ (particularly but not exclusively in connection with creativity and creative work) and working to disentangle myself from unhealthy habits. I find books like Odell’s to be helpful as I’m figuring out how to reframe my perspective and my own internal language around work, rest, and creativity; they are a good counterpoint to the capitalism-driven messaging I’m constantly bombarded with on social media.

Gwyneth by Amy Odell (any relation, I wonder?) was a fun, gossipy celebrity bio. Nothing deep, but sometimes you just want that hit of 90s nostalgia, yeah? At the other end of the spectrum, Pathogenesis by Jonathan Kenndy was a serious but engrossing read. As the title says, it’s a look at human history through the lens of epidemiology; basically, how various pathogens have influenced our history, from the paleolithic era onwards (up to and including the COVID years). The book is well-written and very accessible.

As I was writing The Mysterious Affair at Gaunt Hall, I fell down a rabbit hole of reading about the history of magic — research, if you will. I read a few books by Ronald Hutton, who is a preeminent scholar in this field, but they were generally fairly dense and leaning more towards the academic. The Book of English Magic, on the other hand, was both super informative and super accessible. It’s a good introduction to basically every aspect of (English) magic from pre-Roman times onwards. You can read about Druids, water dowsing, cunning folk, wizards, Rosicrucians, Wicca, and more. And each chapter has a really good bibliography for further reading.

The Life of Stuff by Susannah Walker was quietly devastating, and so so good. It’s a memoir that touches on grief, identity, mental illness, intergenerational trauma, and our relationship with the objects in our life. The book describes the author’s attempts to grapple with the legacy left by her mother, who was a hoarder in her later years — both the physical (her mother’s dilapidated house full of objects) and the emotional (their own difficult relationship and their family’s history of mental illness, alcoholism, and fractured relationships). As someone who, like the author (and her mother), sees objects as vessels of personal history and identity, this book struck many, many chords in me. It’s beautifully written and thought-provoking. Highly recommend.

Of course, I’ve also been reading a lot of historical non-fiction because that’s my ultimate jam. These were all pretty good reads, but my faves were the two Queen Victoria books (that was another one of my recent rabbit holes) and the Casanova book. It’s always exciting when I see that Lucy Worsley has a new book.

I spent a bunch of reading time trying to find comps for The Mysterious Affair at Gaunt Hall in preparation for querying, which meant lots of fantasy and fantasy-mystery on tap. None of these books ended up being good comps, but they were super fun reads. My top faves were Rivers of London, Voyage of the Damned, and Early Riser. I think I have found my new fave series in Rivers of London; I have already devoured the next 2 books, and am patiently waiting for the rest to come in (via holds at my library).

The Eighth Detective is just straight mystery, not fantasy, but it has a cool premise and will keep you close to the edge of your seat all the way through. The Thirteenth Tale is also not fantasy, but rather gothic suspense. Not my usual flavour of tea, but I enjoyed it quite a lot — the writing is beautiful.

These 2 are my most recent reads, and I’m going to go against the grain (maybe?) and say that I preferred The Daughter of Doctor Moreau to Katabasis. I have a LOT of thoughts on the latter, which could be a whole separate post, but suffice it to say that I simply found TDoDM to be a more fun, engrossing read. Katabasis is a far more ambitious book but (imo) doesn’t quite succeed in all of its ambitions and also has some pacing and characterization issues that got in the way of the story (for me). If you’ve read it, I would love to hear your thoughts.

And please share your recent reads and reccs in the comments!!

This week was just one, long spiral. I was getting annoyed at myself for not being able to pull out of it, and then I realized that there is Just. A. Lot. Going. On. right now. Like, A LOT. In the world, at work, in my personal sphere. There is only so much emotional regulation my ADHD brain can handle at one time. Sometimes, falling apart (for a little while) is just, well, unavoidable. I know I’ll pull myself together again sooner or later. In the meantime, what I need most from myself is grace, not a guilt trip.

It hasn’t been all bad, though. This past weekend, my husband and I had a blast at dinner with some new friends; we celebrated our daughter’s 12^th birthday (she’s officially a tween but going on 25, lol!); and had a lovely family BBQ at my dad’s house. I got a pedicure and finally found a cute pinkie ring (it’s been a journey, y’all).

I also did the seasonal switch in my closet, moving from summer to fall and doing some editing in the process. I may have jumped the gun a bit – the weather has been holding steady here (for once!) – but I was feeling the urge for a clean-out / fresh start with my clothes. As the season progresses, I plan to do more editing because I still feel like my closet is too full for my current needs. I’m finding that I crave less variety than in the past and gravitate more towards wearing my fave pieces on repeat.

The problem is that there are very few low-hanging fruit left to trim in my wardrobe. It’s easy to pick out and get rid of items that are ill-fitting, poor quality, or not my style … but that doesn’t describe anything currently in my closet. Like, I love all of the eleventy million skirts I currently own. I might love some of them slightly more than others, but the differential isn’t so significant as to make it a no-brainer when it comes to downsizing. I know, first world problems.

To not compound my problem, I’m staying away from fall trend forecasts. I don’t need to play with fire temptation when it comes to buying new things. I’ve also decided to forego making a fall wishlist this year – mostly because I don’t feel like I need anything, and also because I don’t want to convince myself I need anything. I am debating potentially getting a long trench coat (thrifted, of course) but I’m not entirely sure that the oversized look is something I like on myself. I think I’ll try on a few options if/when I come across them at the thrift store and assess.

Which reminds me … I still need to go through my outerwear closet, oop.

And my shoes.

I guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.

Have a great weekend!