Hello, friend! Hope you’ve had a great week!
Things are going well here - although I have a sore ear for some reason. After confirming with the doc that my ear wasn’t full of spiders, I now have some gnarly drops - yasss! They do make me tip slightly to the left, on account of I don’t know how ears work and want to keep the drops in. On the bright side, it’s given me a new perspective on the world, and a really strong neck.
Fishbird Catch of the Week
We post twice a week on Fishbird Central. This week’s catch included:
Father of Fiction: Papa Poe!
In the lead up to Father’s Day, we thought we’d channel the Father of Horror and Detective Fiction - Edgar Allan Poe - and take a look at the last 10 winners of ‘Best Novel’ in the Edgar Awards! Pop these 10 award winning books on your TBR, or wrap them up as a cool gift for a Father in your life!
Check out the post here - Father of Fiction: Papa Poe!
25 Sketchbook Ideas!
If you’re anything like me, a fresh new sketchbook fills you with both anticipation and a lot of anxiety! What are we going to fill it with? Does it need a theme or a purpose? What am I going to draw?! Never fear! In this post we suggest 25 sketchbook prompts to help you release the creative kraken and commit to making art.
Check out the post here - 25 Sketchbook Ideas!
How many books can a book lover order if a book lover really loves books?!
This week, I went a bit crazy with ordering books online - thanks to some sweet cash I received for being married for a long time. The cash was from my husband, btw - not some weird Government thing.
But Jen, don’t you already own lots of books? Why yes I do, dear friend - and shut your beautiful mouth. Even though I often get overwhelmed with the number of books I have on my physical TBR shelf, and even though I’ve put more books on hold at the library - I have no regrets or intention of stopping buying books, on account of I’m not an animal. Math.
This round, I stocked up on some cosy mysteries and added another Hard Case Crime novel to my collection:
‘Murder She Wrote: Gin & Daggers’ by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain : A routine business trip for Jessica becomes murderous, when she discovers Marjorie stabbed to death in her own bedroom.
‘Paw & Order’ by Chris Abernathy : What’s better than a K-9 cop? A feline detective! Detective Whiskers is out to prove himself, and keep his human from being framed for murder, or worse.
‘Bless Her Dead Little Heart’ by Miranda James : Caught up in a deadly tangle of duplicitous suspects and deep-fried motives, it will take all of these sisters’ Southern charm to catch a decidedly ill-mannered killer.
‘Nightshade for Warning’ by Bailey Cattrell : Before everything goes to seed, Ellie must rely on her powers - observational and otherwise - to pick out the real killer from an ever-expanding bouquet of culprits.
‘Call Me a Cab’ by Donald E. Westlake : A suspense story, about a New York City taxi driver hired to drive a beautiful woman all the way across America, from Manhattan to Los Angeles, where the biggest decision of her life is waiting to be made.
I also picked up a new pocket sized sketchbook, to nudge me in the direction of art making. This little pocket rocket inspired the 25 Sketchbook Ideas post I did this week! The sticker is from the Ten Hundred ‘Artists in Wonderland’ collection.
Quick Fire Wrap Up
Currently Reading: ‘She is a Haunting’ by Trang Thanh Tran - This story is about a house that is hungry. A home, after all, is only as powerful as those who breathe new life into its bones. And this one is determined never to be abandoned again.
Currently Watching: A magpie play in the chip bark outside my window. And also, a lot of YouTube.
Currently Wondering: If there really are spiders in my ear, and the drops are just giving them superpowers.
Wishes for the Week
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, friend!
Do something creative this week! Make a new recipe, break out your art supplies, or finally knit that overcoat you’ve been wanting to fashion. Let the world see a little more of you.
Stay cool, punks.
‘Not many people know this, but Spider Man was born from the earlobe of an ordinary citizen who just didn’t know how to apply drops correctly.’ - Stan Lee (probably)
Jen x