Making a tiny effort.
That was my policy this summer, and it really paid off. Mostly I made tiny efforts to see people I wouldn’t normally see, to take time to visit with friends, to do things slightly outside my comfort zone. All that (mild) efforting paid off.
I had a busy summer of visits to friends, swims in lakes and rivers, yoga and flower arranging workshops, walks in the woods, walks on dirt roads, weird manicures at dodgy beauty salons, obsessing about my zucchini seedlings, being overwhelmed by my zucchini plants, wishing I had more zucchini, being devoured my mosquitos whilst drinking too much wine, discovering the Upwords board game, selling books, failing to sell books, drinking these “hard” sparkling waters, going into a cave (very scary, do no recommend), discovering reading glasses (they allow you to see better!) and reading three ancient Agatha Christie paperbacks I discovered on a cottage bookshelf, which is the only way to read an Agatha Christie, really... BLISS.
What did you get up to this summer? Did you mismanage your zucchini production? Get a skin infection from a botched manicure? Eat a hot dog? See a firefly? Tell me in the comments! I want to know. The Méli-Mélo community wants to know!
Programming Note
I’m trying something different with the old Substack this year (I’m always tweaking this thing). I have ditched the subscription model (for now — see my comment re always tweaking — adjusting, not drug abusing).
I still believe that writers should be compensated for their writing and that our expectation to get free, entertaining/enlightening content is problematic and is made even more so by the arrival of the hordes of AI-generated articles and content cluttering our screens.
We should pay writers!
But I found the pressure of producing content for my beloved paid subscribers a little oppressive. I wanted to give them more because they were being so wonderful and supportive, but also I couldn’t find the time to create that extra content and then I felt like I was shafting them, which didn’t feel good.
So, instead of the Subscription method, I’ve added a “Buy Me a Cup of Tea” button. This will allow you to give me one-off donation if you’re moved by anything I write.
Anyhoots. I’m hoping this new way will allow you to chuck me a couple of bucks if/ when I write something that makes you think or makes you smile or you’re feeling particularly spendy. You can also become a “member” which just means that you give on a monthly basis.
So, if you’re curious, click on this button and it will take you to to the “Buy Me A Cup of Coffee” site, which manages this kind of thing and has all the appropriate protections in place to safely secure your credit card info. There you can throw me a few bucks if and when you want and I will indeed buy myself a cup of tea, and also feel supported by you!
Substack Links
Article Roundup!
The Curious Case of the Poisoned Cheesecake. Speaking of Agatha Christie, this a great true crime tale of Russians, poison and doppelgängers.
The great question of the ages finally answered: Why do Dads watch TV standing up?
Okay, maybe this is an Agatha Christie Newsletter now… Ranking Agatha Christie’s 20 best novels. I disagree with some of these — I read N or M over the summer and it’s garbage! I also would have ranked Death on the Nile higher, but I can’t argue with the number one pick. Also, hot tip: Number 1 makes a GREAT audiobook for a long car ride!
I’ve only done one of these. Climb to the Top of these Famous Staircases Around the World. I’d best get to steppin’!
Where to find media to consume instead of doom scrolling. I’ve weaned myself off Twitter and have pretty much left Instagram. Substack isn’t a bad alternative. Also, I’ve found Duolingo kind of a soothing/educational way to stare at my phone for a bit of disassociating that feels less icky than the doom scroll.
Book Stuff
I don’t have much on the go in the fall, but I was a busy little bee over the summer.
My first book. THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS, got lots of attention at Bianca Marais’ celebratory and triumphant book launch for her latest novel, A Most Puzzling Murder.
I shared a table at our wonderful local bookstore with novelist and neighbour Jamie Chai Yun Liew and her delightful book, Dandelion.
I also had a wonderful night answering that eternal question “Where do you get your ideas” with the smart and fun audience at the Bonnechere Author’s Festival. The photo below is sort of terrifying and makes me look like a malevolent giant trying to pretend to the good folks at Eganville that I’m not about to scoop them up in both hands and stuff them down my maw, but that is NOT what happened. Instead, I ate a lot of butter tarts.
Thanks for reading my weekly newsletter.
Check out my website and if you don’t already follow me on Substack, that’s where I’m mostly social-media’ing these days!
I invested great amounts of time and effort and a little bit of money into what was going to be a lush vegetable garden, with three kinds of zucchini (!), which is somewhat lush but produced approximately five not so great mini-cherry-tomatoes and that was IT. On the other hand, the fig and pear trees, to which I did precisely nothing, are heavy laden with fruit... so... I'm sure there's a lesson here. Whatever. Also, where is that cheese map to, because I need to go to there.
As one friend who had a visit, how wonderful that was ! As is this Substack…