Silver Medal Winners, Hexborn Update & a 70th Anniversary

May 8, 2026 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

Silver Medal Winners

I’m thrilled to announce that The Never Witch and the audio edition of Blood Mark have each won silver medals from the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. It’s gratifying to see these books doing so well, and to know that the writing and packaging are resonating with readers and judges alike! The medals are en route from Britain and haven’t arrived yet. I’ll include a photo next month.

Hexborn Progress

The second book in The Thorne Witch Novels, Hexborn, will be released on August 4, 2026. It has now completed the editing process and I’ll soon be handing it off to my intrepid team of beta readers. You can already pre-order it here from your favourite retailer.

Next up … the cover. This time, the folks at 100 Covers are handling the design. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

A Special Anniversary

My husband and I travelled to Ontario’s cottage country in April to celebrate my dad’s ninetieth birthday and my parents’ seventieth wedding anniversary. They married on a Friday the 13^th —brave of them, I thought. I wrote about it ten years ago on their 60^th. You can find that post here: https://jpmcleanauthor.com/would-you-get-married-on-friday-the-13th/ This is a photo from this year.

April weather in Ontario is unpredictable—sometimes warm and dry, other times wet and windy. This year was wet and wet. Here is a photo of the flooding of the Manitouwabing River at my sister’s place. Happily, the water didn’t cause any major damage.

Next In-Person Events

On May 9^th from 11 am to 4 pm, I’ve been invited back to Coles in the Driftwood Mall on Cliff Avenue for an encore book signing of The Never Witch. That’s the Saturday before Mother’s Day, so if your mom prefers books over flowers, swing by and get a signed copy. Better still, get her a book AND flowers.

What I’m Reading/Listening To

I’m listening to the audiobook of Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister—a paranormal mystery about a woman stuck in a time loop trying to prevent a murder. I’m finding it quite interesting, especially the mechanics of waking up one day earlier each morning. My novel Blood Mark has some time slip in it, so I know firsthand how tricky that can be to write.

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Until next time…

Jo-Anne

Denman Island’s Annual Herring Spawn

March 27, 2025 By JPMcLean 4 Comments

March has been a busy month with Denman Island’s annual herring spawn.

The island where I live is home to an annual herring spawn that occurs between late February and early March. The millions of herring that arrive on our shores turn the water the colour of the Caribbean. A cacophony of sea lions, seals, eagles, and seagulls, follows, along with the fishing fleet. I took this video in early March to give you an idea of what it looks and sounds like.

Oceana Canada provides a more in-depth explanation on YouTube.

It’s loud, it’s bright, and it’s busy. At night, when we’d normally only see stars and a few distant lights on neighbouring islands, we instead look out on what could be mistaken for a cityscape with glaring lights in constant motion.

I wouldn’t want to live with that full-time, but once a year it’s an exciting change of pace.

Witch Book Progress

I’m thrilled to report that my WIP (work in progress) now sits at 80K. The finished draft will end up between 90-100K.

When I’m writing, I find it useful to find a photo that looks like the character I’ve created in my head. This is who I picture for the main character, Adeline Thorne. Adeline is a thirty-four-year-old witch who didn’t come into the magic she should have inherited. In real life, this woman is Magdalena Zalejska, a Polish model.

Upcoming In-Person Events

Can you believe I’m already booking Christmas? Continue Reading

Snow Days and Audio Narration Update

January 19, 2024 By JPMcLean 6 Comments

Snow Days

There’s no better excuse than a snow day to stay indoors by a crackling fire with a great book and big mug of tea. Over the past week, our temperatures here on Denman Island took an unusual deep dive, and Tuesday night we got a dump of snow. It’s quiet and beautiful right now. Blindingly white. But snow rarely lasts long here. It’ll be a memory come the weekend.

New Course Offering

I’ve been invited to lead a workshop on Writing Deeper Dialogue at the North Island Writer’s Conference this weekend. It’s a three-hour workshop from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. on January 21^st at North Island College. Registration is still open if you’re interested. Program details are here.

Audio Narration News

My newest project of narrating the Dark Dreams books is coming along. But to be honest with you, it’s more time consuming than I’d hoped. The early mistakes I made created a ton of extra work. The biggest was being too self-conscious about animating my voice. I figured that out halfway through, so had to go back and re-record the first ten chapters. Fingers crossed, the process will smooth itself out and speed up as I get better at this. Voice actors who do this work all the time have my greatest admiration.

Dark Dreams News

Ghost Mark has received a wonderful review from Scribblesworth Reviews. Julio Carlos is the man behind the reviews, and his sense of humour hits my funny bone.Continue Reading

June Update

June 17, 2023 By JPMcLean 14 Comments

I’ve been splitting my time between the gardens and indulgent reading.

I can’t remember when last it was I’ve spent this much time with soil under my fingernails. It’s incredibly gratifying to see the neat edges and weed-free soil. Though we have had little rain, and the gardens are dry, we’re fortunate to have rainwater stored and have been using that to perk up the plants. It’s mostly flowers and shrubs now, though we still grow garlic and a few other veggies in two raised beds.

Here are some more garden pics:

Reading

And I’ve been devouring books. I finished Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us. Though I’m not a huge romance reader, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn’t expecting to like it, and I LOVED it. I then read Hoover’s follow-up book, It Starts With Us. It wasn’t as urgent or earth shattering, but I’m glad I read it and know the rest of the story.

I’m also doing a beta read of a book that's expected to come out this fall. It’s by W.L. Hawkin and it’s fabulous. I’ll share more about it when I’m able.

When I’m not reading or gardening, I’m preparing for the indie-publishing workshop I’m presenting at this year’s Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival. There’s still room if you want to learn if indie publishing is a good fit for you, and what’s involved in the process. It’s scheduled for July 20th from 10:00-1:00 at the Denman Island Community School.

Kindle Unlimited

You might remember I told you recently I'd put my Gift Legacy books into the Kindle subscription program. Well, I'm happy to report that my first Kindle Countdown Deal was a tremendous success. By the time the dust settled, 2,650 readers had taken advantage of the sale. And two months on, I’m seeing follow-up interest in other books in the series, including read throughs in the Kindle subscription program. This makes me very happy! I'm thrilled to share the books with those of you who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. But it’s a limited engagement, ending on September 2. Download the books, or the boxed sets while they’re still in the program.

Saturday Markets

And finally, if you’re in the Black Creek neighbourhood on Vancouver Island on June 24th, I’ll be at the McLarey Avenue Spring/Summer Market. Drop by and say hello. I’m happy to inscribe a book to you or a friend.

Can't wait to share Scorch Mark's cover with you. Happy Father's Day to all the father's out there. (I'll chat with you tomorrow, Dad!)

Until next time, XO