“Christmas Day has come and gone, the New Year lies ahead. Strange things happen Between the Years, in the days outside of time. Minutes go wild, hours vanish. Idleness becomes a clever thief, stealing the names of the days of the week, muting the steady tick of watches and clocks. These are the hours when angels, ghosts, demons and meddlers ride howling wind and flickering candlelight, keen to stir unguarded hearts and restless minds.”
- from Half Spent Was the Night, a yuletide novella
I hope your holiday season has been filled with good company and cheer, and that your heart is full of bright hopes and plans for the New Year. The time between Christmas and New Years has always felt magical to me, and this year has been no exception. We had a picture perfect white Christmas (something that’s sadly gotten more rare here in Nova Scotia in recent times) and then, when I woke up this morning, the snow had almost all melted away and the landscape was shrouded in a blanket of fog (which was beautiful in its own melancholy way.) Tomorrow it’ll be warm enough for the Mermaids to take one last dip in the Bay for 2024. Huzzah!
Back in 2018 I wrote a short Yuletide novella set in the world of The Witches of New York. Inspired by Victorian ghost stories and Charles Dickens’s Christmas tales, I wanted to write a short story that could be read by a crackling fire in one sitting, and, perhaps, revisited each year like an old friend, Between the Years. Thanks to all who have sent messages on social media and shared photos of your copies of Half Spent Was the Night making an annual appearance during your holiday season. It means the world to me.
I’m including an old blog post at the end of this newsletter with the story behind the novella, as well as a video of the first time I opened a finished copy of the book. I hope you enjoy them.
A Gentle Reminder
The year-end discount on paid subscriptions will be over in just a few hours, so if you’ve been thinking of going paid, don’t miss your chance to get 30% off. Thanks to everyone who has taken the plunge so far!
The Awe Report
I’ve had a couple of long walks along the beach this week, and even though the way was icy and rough going at times, it was worth getting out there so I could feel the sun on my face and witness its brilliant light dancing on the shore. That pretty much sums up my 2024 — rough going at times, but also filled with moments of hope and grace. If I have one wish for us all as we head into 2025, it’s that we’ll keep going, dear hearts, onward, to wonder and light.
from the Archives…
Half Spent Was the Night
So I’ve written a little tale that will appear mid-October (because a certain magical raven didn’t want to stop talking, even when I repeatedly told him I had a different book to write.) “I have unfinished business,” he said. “Can’t it wait?” I asked. “No,” he insisted.
I don’t want to give too much away, but as you can see from the beautiful cover art, the Witches of New York are back, along with Perdu in a Yuletide story that to me sits somewhere between A Christmas Carol and a Dr. Who Christmas special. I’ve always adored short stories that take place during the holiday season—tales of ghosts and magic and time gone wild Between the Years.
The title is actually a line from a carol that was first printed in 1599, “Lo, How a Rose e’er Blooming.” The story itself contains several nods to Victorian tales and fairytales, as well as winter traditions and folklore I hold dear.
…and even a pair of recipes from my family tree. The proof pages arrived on my doorstep a little over a week ago and I was completely wowed (as always) by Kelly Hill’s interior design. I swear after all these years of working together, she’s learned to read my mind!
As I mentioned above, the tale came as a bit of a surprise. Long story short, I won’t be traveling much (if at all) with it because I need to keep at a book I’ve been working on for the last while—my first work of non-fiction, something I call a “genetic memoir.” I promise I’ll tell you more about it, soon.
For now, I’ll leave you with the publisher’s description of Half Spent Was the Night. If you’re in Canada, it’s already available for pre-order via my publisher’s website (see link below.) If you’re in the States and elsewhere, I’ll have an update on how and where to order it in the next few weeks!
From the publisher:
During the nights between Christmas and New Year’s, the witches of New York–Adelaide Thom, Eleanor St. Clair and the youngest, Beatrice Dunn–gather before the fire to tell ghost stories and perform traditional Yuletide divinations. (Did you know that roasting chestnuts was once used to foretell one’s fate?)
As the witches roast chestnuts and melt lead to see the future, a series of odd messengers land on their doorstep bearing invitations for a New Year’s Eve masquerade hosted by a woman they’ve never met. Gossip, dreams and portents follow, leading the witches to question the woman’s motives. Is she as benevolent as she seems or is she laying a trap? And so, as Gilded-Age New York prepares to ring in the new year, the witches don their finery and head for the ball, on the hunt for answers that might well be the end of them.
Yuletide Blessings, Ami!
Loved/felt/lived the opening of Half Spent was the Night — “days outside of time”!!! — so deeply when I read it 💕