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Happy Canada Day from the True North, built on Native land, forever strong and free. 🇨🇦

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I got the news this morning that my good pal Rodger Turner passed away last night. If you’re local to Ottawa you might remember him as one of the owners of the House of Speculative Fiction along with his family of choice, Pat and Jon Cavan. You’d see him every Saturday in the store sitting in the doorway that led to the kitchen, happy to talk books though grumpy with anyone who was a bit of an asshole (if you’ve ever worked in retail you know how that can be). Or maybe you knew him from his long association with the World Fantasy Convention. He was on the board for years and administered the ballots for the awards, handing them out in the last few years with his dear friend Jo Fletcher before he became too ill to attend the convention. Or maybe you knew him from The SF Site, the review website that for a long time was one of the few, earliest, and certainly best, online sources for news and reviews of everything to do with fantasy/SF/horror. Or maybe you were an author who their website built and maintained by him, or a reader who visited such sites. While he wasn’t an author/artist/editor/agent he was certainly one of those quiet presences in the background who made the field a better place. He dabbled in publishing and was always keen to bring a new authorial voice to the attention of readers. And through it all he was my best friend for over forty years. The worst thing about getting old is losing all the people who’ve been such a big part of your life for years and years. We’re left to carry on and the world feels that much smaller.

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Today marks a year since we said goodbye to MaryAnn but it still feels like just yesterday. I like to think she's hanging out on a lake somewhere with her brother Jim and our pal Kenny, Johnny asleep at her feet, all the trials and sadness of their final days washed away as they laze under a night sky, listening to the water lap against the shore and off in the distance, the cry of a loon. ❤️❤️❤️

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The signature pages for the limited edition of the 1st Juniper Wiles book have arrived so guess what I was doing? https://juniperwiles.com/

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juniperwiles.com

Production by Conni St. Pierre Original music by Charles de Lint (c) 2011, used by permission.

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So this is fun to be able to post.

Announcing a fabulous new Limited Edition publication of Juniper Wiles from Triskell Press, in a gorgeous foil-embossed edge-sprayed premium collectible hardcover. Signed and numbered by Charles de Lint, and limited to just 300 copies. These books are available ONLY by pre-order, and when they're gone, they're gone! Now taking pre-orders, with delivery estimated to be early-mid August. $52 US plus shipping https://juniperwiles.com/

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I was lucky to read the ms. of this a while ago and the book has stayed with me ever since. The whole time since then and now I've been dying to for it to come out so that I could recommend it to anyone who will listen to me. I just love this book so much. https://www.amazon.com/OBaaT-Novel-Alice-Vachss-ebook/dp/B0DM3FB18C

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My friend Amal started me on this a few years ago and I've been paying attention to it ever since as a portent for what the new year might bring.

So on my morning walk with Joey I kept an eye out for my first bird of the new year but the wet snow was coming down thickly enough that they must have all been hunkered down in their shelters because I didn’t see one. But by the time our afternoon walk came around the snow had become much lighter and not far from the house I came across a little flock American robins.

Some of the robin folklore says that a robin is a sign from a deceased loved one, and that they are watching over you. It can mean you need to re-think the relationship you have with yourself, an indication that you must reconnect with the self because all that you seek already lies within you. A robin also tells you to make yourself useful to society. Help the downtrodden and the helpless. In my Weirdin, it stands for hope and resurrection.

So those all seem like decent portents for my first bird of the year for this year. I especially liked how it could be a message from herself, checking in on me.

Is this something any of you do? And if so, what were your birds?

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My friend Amal started me on this a few years ago and I've been paying attention to it ever since as a portent for what the new year might bring.

So on my morning walk with Joey I kept an eye out for my first bird of the new year but the wet snow was coming down thickly enough that they must have all been hunkered down in their shelters because I didn’t see one. But by the time our afternoon walk came around the snow had become much lighter and not far from the house I came across a little flock American robins.

Some of the robin folklore says that a robin is a sign from a deceased loved one, and that they are watching over you. It can mean you need to re-think the relationship you have with yourself, an indication that you must reconnect with the self because all that you seek already lies within you. A robin also tells you to make yourself useful to society. Help the downtrodden and the helpless. In my Weirdin, it stands for hope and resurrection.

So those all seem like decent portents for my first bird of the year for this year. I especially liked how it could be a message from herself, checking in on me.

Is this something any of you do? And if so, what were your birds?

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There’s going to be a lot of negativity coming at us in this new year and many of us are going to want to simply turn away and ignore it. I understand the impulse. We’re already so exhausted from the past few years. But as citizens of the world it’s our responsibility to remain engaged and stand firm for what we believe in. It will be hard. Sometimes it will feel impossible. But our future, the future of our children and of the world, is at stake. We have to speak up and do whatever is in our ability to make things better. But that doesn’t mean we must constantly fight all the wrongs, all the time. We need to carve out time to recharge as well. To embrace our friends and family. To make art, grow gardens, do all the things that bring us solace and joy. So for this coming year I wish you the strength to stay strong and on course. I wish you health and what happiness you can find. And mostly I wish for you to love and be loved.

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It's been a tough year for so many of us on so many fronts. I do hope this holiday season brings you all some solace, some peace, and some joy. From Joey in his festive scarf and me, love and light to you, my friends.❤❤❤

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I feel a bit like a grade school kid saying come see the art from my art class. But there are some terrific artists in this group who are well worth supporting. They're also lovely people so if you come you'll see some great art and have some good conversations.

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Preorders for the second run of Weirdin are now available here. www.weirdinofficial.com/

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https://ottawacitizen.remembering.ca/obituary/maryann-harris-1089945358

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Looks like the audiobook of Moonheart is on sale for a few weeks at $2.99 at Chirp. https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/moonheart-by-charles-de-lint?promotion_id=123548

If the link's not showing just Google "Chirp" and "Moonheart"

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New Year’s Eve tends to be a time to reflect on the year just past but I’m taking you back a decade or so instead. MaryAnn’s brother Paddy was visiting her a couple of evenings ago and in amidst the music he was playing for her he included this old song written by Fred Eaglesmith. She smiled as it played and he said he could see her fingers moving as though she was playing her mandolin. With us on the song are pals Kenny Heinz (sadly passed on now) and Greg T. Brown on fiddle. “I Wanna Buy Your Truck” is about yearning for a change in one’s life and for many of us that’s something we think about at this time of year. For my part, I look forward to a time when MaryAnn can switch from air mandolin back to actually playing her instrument again—with all the other physical improvements that would entail.

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Release day!

Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls is now live.

ebooks: https://books2read.com/u/3RzyWG

paper: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1989741061

Non-Amazon Mobi: https://payhip.com/b/D9YqO