I seem to have a knack for always landing somewhere close to my family and my home provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, no matter how far away I am physically. When I subletted an apartment in Charlottetown, PEI with my cousin, we lived in the same building that two of my aunts previously had. When we moved to Halifax, NS, we ended up in an apartment that was directly across the street from where another of our aunts had lived while in university. I didn't expect this pattern to hold true when I moved to Toronto, but when my girlfriend and I got our apartment n Etobicoke I found out from my aunt that her husband grew up in this area and that her cousin also lived here for a while. We also realized while moving in that we were close to a street named Prince Edward Road. And, as I learned over Victoria Day weekend, our apartment is just about 3km away from Lucy Maud Montgomery House and Lucy Maud Montgomery Park.
That was definitely not a name I expected to see on the map in west end Toronto.
Lucy Maud Montgomery is probably one of the most quintessential Canadian authors. Her books have been published around the world and in numerous languages, and adapted multiple times for stage, screen, and television. She is also one of my favourite authors, and her books number among the few that I will never tire of rereading. With my family ties to PEI, is it any wonder I connected strongly to her imaginative heroines and the homes in my favourite place in all the world? I even quoted a passage from one of teh Anne books when I gave my mother's eulogy, a tribute to all those days spent reading and watching Anne together.
As an adult, I have also realised that - while I still feel a strong connection with Anne - I also feel I have a lot in common with the author. We both loved our family homes on PEI, we are both writers, both lived in Halifax for a time, both followed a significant other to Ontario, and both battled depression in our lives. There is a certain congruency to our lives, continued by the fact that we landed in the same place in Toronto. We are, as Anne Shirley might say, kindred spirits (or, from the later books, part of the race that knows Joseph).
LM Montgomey died at the house she called Journey's End -- the one on Riverside Drive, near my current residence -- in 1942. Officially, her cause of death was a coronary thrombosis. But, according to her family, it may have been a result of suicide after years of struggling through depression.
I don't believe this place will be my Journey's End. I have a long road ahead of me still, and a lot more resources than Montgomery could have imagined in the 1940s to help me along it. But, it is still a little comforting to know that the woman I so greatly admire, who would understand the sadness and homesickness I sometimes struggle with, also made her home here. I like knowing there is that connection to cling to when home feels too far away.
No matter how far away I go, my family and my island still have ties to my heart, guiding me to safety and reminding me they are always there to catch me. I'll always find a way to hold them close until I return again, even if it's just through an afternoon spent reading in a park named for another woman who held tightly to those same roots.
Love,
Kelsey
Author Notes
I have been trying to force myself to focus a bit more on particular projects over a certain window of time, rather than theying to juggle all of them at once. Especially now that I am working again, there simply isn't enough time for me to get any meanigful amount of work done if I'm jumping around too much.
Right now, my main focuses are my solo game series (more on that in the next section), writing an Author Avengers prompt story, and finishing the outline for my second chance space romance. So far, that last one has mostly been brainstorming and creating a playlist that I add to wheneber I hear a song that makes me think of those characters or that idea.
It has been a bit of a shift to go from being unemployed and thinking writing and freelancing were going to be all I had to rely on. On the one hand, I am relieved to have some stable income again. On the other hand, I miss the amount of free time I hade. I felt like I had just starrted to settle into a routine and figure out what I wanted to focus on and pursue with regards to writing, and now everything has shifted again. That doesn't mean I am giving up, though! One thing I spent a lot of time on over the past eight months was how I do want to pursue my writing more, and I don't want to be solely reliant on a single income stream going forward. I will still be pursuing the goal of doing more with my writing and crafting, the timeline and schedules might just have to look a little different than I thought a couple of weeks ago.
Gaming Table
Good Society continues to be a lot of fun. we just had a session last night (as I am writing this) and our characters are continuing to be a delightful mess. My character, Lady Rilla Avington, is currently being courted by Mr. Ambrose Lockheart, the nephew of an old money dowager who has tied his inheritence to him marrying the woman of her choice (ie. Rilla). A bit to both of ther surprise, the pair of them seem to match each other quite well and are quickly becoming friends. However, Ambroses's crush on the local vicar, Henry, and Rilla's pining for her old flame, Lilibet, make the question of romance a complicated one, even more so when Henry is trying to help push Rilla and Ambrose together, and Lilibet is crushing on Ambrose and wants to split him and Rilla up.
All of this is such a mess that will probably get worse before it gets better, and I am loving every second of it.
What I'm Working On
I have been editing my playthrough of Reincarnated as the Unlovable villainess for my ko-fi solo game series. I am about seven days into the editing and starting to get to the point where I think I really found my rhythm with this game. I am not sure when it will start posting, since that depends on how much editing time I can get in, but I will be sharing progress on social media and some larger sneak peeks on ko-fi for anyone that joins my memberships.
Crafting Corner
Fleece & Harmony Blanket
I am continuing the process of sewing all of the squares together. I just have three of them left to attach before I can start working on the border of the blanket, but it feels so close to being done!
Bookmarks
I am workng on a bookmark to fit this months theme in the ko-fi discord: mermay. I have a couple inches left to knit on the current bookmark before I can shape the point and attach the mermaid charm. I am hoping to be able to share the finished bookmark by the end of the month.
Desert Bus Craftalong
I got my acceptance email for this year's Desert Bus Craftalong this week! If you aren't already aware of it, Desert Bus For Hope is an annual charity stream marathon in support of Child's Play charity. Each year community members donate handmade items through the craftalong to be raffled or auctioned off during the stream. In the past, I have donated handmade headbands and gloves inspired by the event itself and a hood inspired by kingdom hearts. This year, I will be making a double knit scarf inspired by Sailor Moon! I am currently yarn shopping and creating the pattern so that I can start knitting.
Reading Nook
Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery - 5 stars
I have been gradually revisiting LM Montgomery's bibliography for a while now. Having finished Rilla, I have just one more of the Anne books to read before I move onto the Emily series.
I love that Montgomery chose to write about the experiences of Canadian women during World War I in this book. Rilla somehow balances the light tone of the Anne books with the tragedies of the war in a way that doesn't compromise or downplay either. I wasn't sure I would enjoy a book without Anne as the main character as much, but Rilla (Anne's daughter) was a delightful heroine, and I think this may be one of my favourites of teh series.
It's also absolutely where I stole the name for my Good Society character from.
Firebugs by Nino Bulling - 3.5 stars
The art in this graphic novel was beautiful, but there were times when I found it difficult to read. I appreciate how open it was in its portrayal of sexuality and gender identity, but I did feel like I didn't quite grasp how the environmental topics fit in there. The ending also felt a little abrupt for me.
Basically, a mixed bag. But I did read it very quickly and can't say I regret doing so.
Poetry Reading
Take Me Home
No matter how long I live in the city,
Every so often I have to return
to where the lights do not block the stars from sight,
and birds are heard more often than sirens.
To where I can taste the salt on the sea air,
and smell something other than fumes.
No matter how long I live in the city,
sometimes I just need to return to a place that always feels like home.
-KLC 2024
Spotlight
Fellow Author Avengers member, Aradhna, has recently uploaded her work to itch.io. Check out her page and consider purchasing some of her stories here!
Reader Reward
Thank you for reading all the way to the end of this newsletter! For this edition, all readers have access to a code to download a free copy of my business card world building game, Our Commune. I hope you enjoy it! And please consider telling me how it goes or leaving a review/comment on itch.io if you play it.
