If it's November, that means... NaNoWriMo! For those who don't know, that stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a worldwide endeavor where writers attempt to write 50,000 words in a month. My latest book was started in NaNo several years ago, and it was published last month - The New Empire. So NaNo can definitely lead to success stories as authors.

Speaking of which, my friend Gabi Coatsworth runs an amazing blog for writers with all kinds of helpful hints and advice, and part of that blog is asking published writers to showcase where they write. She just posted one about... me! Since I just moved to Canada at the end of the summer, I have a brand new writing office of my very own for the first time ever. And I was super excited to show everywhere where I will be writing my next masterpiece... ha, maybe. Here's the post. Hope you enjoy peeking behind the curtain at an author's life! I even have a little Halloween tidbit in there that helps me year-round.

​Speaking of Halloween, hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween last night. My kids enjoyed going around the neighborhood with their new friends here in Alberta, and brought home loads of candy and chips and other treats.

I handed out candy as the good ol' standby of a witch (but forgot to take a picture - whoops) and "brewed" a potion to share with parents (a mulled apple cider drink for the grownups, so they could have a "treat" along the way too).

If you'd like to make some mulled cider as the weather turns colder, here's a good recipe:

1 gallon fresh/unfiltered apple juice
3-4 cinnamon sticks
3-4 star anise
1/2 Tablespoon of whole cloves
1 Tablespoon whole allspice
1 sliced orange
1 sliced ginger root (about 1-2 ounces, depending on how much ginger you like)

Throw all of this in a pot (since I was making a big batch to share, I tripled the recipe and used a canning pot) and simmer for 2+ hours. You can serve as-is to kids - or if you'd like the adult version, throw in 1-2 cups spiced rum (depending on how strong you'd like it).

​Enjoy - and stay warm this winter!

I was so thrilled to read Anthony Avila's glowing review of my just-released book The New Empire. He called it "a must-read historical fiction novel of 2022" - wow!!!

And if you're a horror fan as well as an alternate history reader, check out Anthony's own list of published books HERE and his other fab book reviews HERE.

​Happy reading!