2021 has been… a year. One that felt both very long and over in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, we have had a plethora of romance novels come out to occupy our time, make sense of the world, and have a little fun. I read a lot of books. A LOT of books. Some I finish, some I don’t, some I buy and they sit happily unread on my bookshelves and eReader. I spend a ton of time looking at books that are coming out—I just received my first email about a JUNE 2022 book—and noticed some trends throughout the year… Trends that I think we’ll continue to see explored, subverted, and challenged into next year as well. WITCHES 2021 was the year of the witch! September and October 2021 saw a bunch of witchy, cozy, paranormal romance novels come out, and I am here for it all. Women (and men, too) discover their powers and how to control them, but also what can happen when they let loose a little, too. PAYBACK’S A WITCH by Lana Harper, who was a guest on the Fresh Fiction Podcast earlier this year. BLACK MOON RISING AND BLACK SIREN’S SONG by Mila…

Food is almost as important as knitting in my Knit & Nibble mysteries. The members of the Knit and Nibble knitting group take turns hosting the club’s weekly meetings, and each week’s host serves a sweet treat with coffee and tea at break time. I include at least one recipe in each book, often for the sweet treat baked and served by my amateur-sleuth protagonist, Pamela Paterson. In devising the recipes that my characters make and serve, I like to keep the time of year in mind. Knitty Gritty Murder takes place in May, so I have Pamela bake a rhubarb cheesecake for the knitting group. The recipe for that creation appears at the end of the book and photos of it appear on my website’s Knitty Gritty Murder page. But May is also the month for strawberries. Knit and Nibble’s only male member, Roland DeCamp, prides himself on doing his own cooking when it’s his turn to host the group. But he’s not the most experienced cook, so I give him simple recipes. In Knitty Gritty Murder, he serves Strawberry Jell-O Pie, which I learned to make in high school and which requires little more than a box of…

As I embark on this journey into becoming a published author, I had a stark realization – my former creative endeavor is about to become… a job. A job I am very grateful for and you better be sure I’m going to work super hard to make this job as an author a successful one. But what am I going to do now… for fun? Throughout the pandemic, people have suddenly found hobbies. Some people work out, others started making bread, and some people even learned new skills. Starting last fall, when my book was officially out on submission, I decided to find something new to occupy all the free time I had with a kid in virtual learning, working on what I hope will be book 2 in my series, figuring out how to safely celebrate the holidays in a meaningful way, and try to you know, breathe a bit. Clearly, I need MORE to do, right? CROSS-STITCHING/EMBROIDERY Look, there’s something very cathartic about stabbing something over and over and over again. The tips of my fingers aren’t all that happy, but I’m enjoying this! I’ve done some simple patterns, stitched pithy sayings on sweaters and fabric bookmarks, and…