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 13th —brave of them, I thought. I wrote about it ten years ago on their 60th. 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 9th 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…
XO
Jo-Anne
First stop: Toronto
I love the old stone buildings and the towering spires of the Cathedral Church of St. James is a beautiful example.
Red brick is a Toronto staple and found everywhere. I snapped a pic of the Flatiron building with the Trompe l’ceil wall on the rear.
City Hall made me pause. I remembered finishing a ten-kilometre Miles-for-Millions walkathon there when I was a pre-teen (though I can’t remember where the trek began or what we were raising money for).
I stopped to watch dogs and their owners enjoy a whimsical spouting fountain in Berczy Park that made me wish I still had my dogs.
The St. Lawrence Market hasn’t changed, though the pork chops weren’t piled sky high in the butchers’ cases like they used to be.
Like a lot of you, I’ve been in a whirlwind of cleaning, wrapping, cooking, baking, entertaining, and being entertained :). I’ve also been packing for a winter road trip back east to spend a rare Christmas with my family in Ontario. And also like a lot of you, rare is the morning when you wake up with a leisurely stretch and wonder how you’re going to fill your day. Especially this year. Leisure doesn’t even have a seat at the kiddie table.
Screeching Halt
But on the bright side, we’ll still have a white Christmas with my family, and we’ll still be able to visit with friends along the way. For us, it’s the people who make Christmas special, and the rest of it though nice, is simply glitter on the tree. Not critical, nor necessary, and easily done without.