Issue #39 - December 2020

Dear Readers,

How are you all holding out? I hope you are all okay and as well as you can be despite all the many many difficulties right now.

On the coast, we live in a total wilderness, and we can't see any lights anywhere--except for our one neighbours, my parents.
So Luke had the great idea of trying to set up lights around our giant trees. Basically trying to make our own light show. Oh! It is SO cheesy. We only managed one big maple tree so far, and we had no plan, so the lights are all zigzaggy. It turns on at 4:30 in the afternoon and has a timer set for 6 hours. It does make me giggle though.

One nice thing of late has been some of the early review attention for The Secret Fawn. Kirkus Reviews is notoriously difficult. So it was so lovely to see that this book by Elly Mackay and myself (published by Tundra) received a star. It says, "Sweet and pretty for bedtime or naptime—and validating to little ones all the time." Which really warms my heart because that's exactly what I was hoping.

This December I'm also doing a writing workshop on the Sunshine Coast through the Gibsons Public Library. I've been wanting to get more involved with the book and writing community here, and I'm so happy to be doing this event. It's open to kids of all ages who are interested in books and writing. And the good thing is that because it is on Zoom, it's also open to all those who might not live here too! It's December 16, 3:30-4:30. The link is here and you have to phone in to the Gibsons Library to register.

I've been slowly working on a variety of different projects which has been really nice. For a period of time I lost my "drive", but it's back now, and I always love to dabble in a few different things. I honestly have to credit some of the kids that I did a birthday party zoom call for re-inspiring me. They were so eager to hear about what I was working on next and they thought it was so cool it reminded me how much I liked the ideas too :)

Ori's been extra adorable it seems. He's good at wearing his mask, too, whenever he needs to. I wonder what he's going to think when he sees pictures of this time years from now?

I love setting up our house for the holidays too. I really do. Luke and I actually designed and thought about the house as a Christmas house, so that was important to us! We just got the Christmas tree up and I truly feel like looking at it lightens my mood!

My biggest wish for this Christmas is wellness, and to see a big smile on Ori's face on Christmas morning. Lots of love to you all.

xx
Kallie