The opposite of depression is expression; The last Knitting Pilgrim of the year; Drunk Fiction
I saw this on Facebook last week and it really resonated with me.
It can be hard to keep our heads up. The world is very, very busy, the economy is troubled, the state of world affairs is large and confusing, work pressures are daunting and relentless, there’s that AI thing lurking at artists’ (and everyone’s) doorsteps, and the dental bills, well, in my case, they’ve piled up recently. It can all be loud and intrusive.
What’s the solution?
For me at least, it is to shut out the noise, stay off social media for as long as I can each day, and write.
It’s practicing self-care in the moment, and, hopefully, putting some good into the world with writing.
This will be a short missive to let you know about one exciting thing and two upcoming events.
First, the exciting thing – last week, At Last Count was one of the four top sellers at the wonderful bookstore, A Novel Spot. They’re located at 1500 Islington Ave., Unit 4,Toronto, ON, Canada M9A 3L8. I can’t tell you how this makes my heart sing.
Kirk said to me, look, you’re in the same league as Mats Sundin. A friend on Facebook then corrected him and said no, Mats Sundin is in the same league as Claire. Ha. Never mind the 3 other amazing authors!
As for events, Kirk and I have the last show of The Knitting Pilgrim for 2024 this coming Saturday, Nov 16 @ 7:30pm at Guildwood Presbyterian Church in Scarborough.
This is the last Toronto show for a while—next year, we have a month of shows in British Columbia in April, and other shows beyond that which we’ll be ready to announce soon.
For tickets to see the show at Guildwood, go here.
And lastly, at 5:30pm on November 26 at The Caledonian, 856 College Street, Toronto, I’m taking part in a fun event called Drunk Fiction, which is the brainchild of Emily Weedon.
Emily, like me, is both an author and screenwriter. Her book, Autokrator, published in 2024 by Cormorant Books, can be bought everywhere you find good books. And fun fact about Emily: with co-writer Kent Staines, she was the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards winner for Chateau Laurier—the most awarded web series in the world that year. I mean, come ON.
Last year, Emily wrote about At Last Count in her book ramble here.
I’m looking forward to being in such good company with Emily and authors Jowita Bydlowska, Nora Gold, and Jonathan R. Rose.
Would love to see you there.
Until then…
Create, create, create.
Claire
