In case you missed it, check out this perfectly spooky chat with The Witchy Stitcher and get a load of her gorgeous craft book on gothic cross stitch. Even if you’re not a crafter, this book will grab you.
Fall Romance Book Blast
Get your fall romance on next week with another free Romance Book Blast! I’ll have my series on sale and Book Two, Drago Incendium, will be the volume featured in the free Blast. The 950 books are live, so go make your list and have a blast!
New Release!
From The Dreamer’s Bookshop and the Authors Collective. Enjoy a collection of spooky stories in Obscure and shine a light on your darker side.
Get Crafty with Me
As I prepare for my second hip replacement in November (the first one went very well, FYI), I’m keeping busy with all things arts and crafty. My motto is “create something every day.” Way back in the beginning, I wrote that in my About Me blog, so it must be true. In any case, I’ve been demonstrating it lately. Oh, and relax! By no means am I asking you to get as carried away as me. Sheesh!
One thing I find helpful in making progress on all my WIPS and new starts is the plethora of cross stitch challenges hosted by social media groups and the Flosstube channels that share them. A plethora is a bit much to juggle, so I just pick a few. The event I’m currently enjoying along with the show is the Great British Cross Stitch Baking Show challenge. Make of it what you will…
I invite you to enjoy the sheer volume of my busy hands and have a wonderful spooky season!
Finishes and Stitch Alongs
These updates cover September and October
Crazy Boatload of New Starts
The Great British Cross Stitch Baking Show Challenge!
More WIPS!
And I Can’t Stop at Cross Stitch
Had fun getting together with friends for some alcohol painting last Saturday. I’m trying to get back to filling up my mixed media art journal, so I joined an online class (have enjoyed several of these in the past) with Willowing Arts that starts in January, but the 30 plus artists offered some taster classes in October. That means, I had fun getting messy with watercolor and acrylics! And I really miss diamond painting, so I got this little gem from Amazon and had fun with it for an entire morning. It’s much better looking in person.
Happy Crafting! Writing! Reading! And all the things…
What is it about the month of May that feels like disappearing into “Alice in Wonderland?” Creators of all sorts seem to let loose, snug in the bosom of springtime, and I’m one of them… starting all the new things. I suppose that’s because spring is about life-affirming renewal, transitions, exploration… and the difficulties that sometimes come with accepting change.
This spring post is mostly about my cross-stitching journey, where I share the photographic evidence of my craziness. Ironically, my stitchy bug has me working on the eerie and gothic–the mysterious darker side of life while the world blooms bright around me. That might be explained a bit at the end of this post.
I’ve started 10, yes 10! new cross stitch projects this month–32 this year–thanks to being a confirmed serial starter and multi-crafter, and not just a few stitch-along groups I’ve joined (one of which is comprised of The Witchy Stitcher fans getting their witchy madness on in May), and all the Flosstube I watch, and all the new and old Instagram stitchy friends who enable me daily…
However, I am also sharing a few other spring revival happenings, like “Revival,” literally the title of a new anthology from the Dreamer’s Bookshop Author Collective, which includes a short and poignant story I wrote last November, featuring a bit of a personal theme. You can find it at the top of my Anthologies page, another revitalization this month.
In fact, after experimenting with a very lovely web page at Author Websites by BookBub over the last year, I’ve returned to WordPress. This is where my people are and this is where I’ll stay. Feel free to explore the spiffed-up pages at bydllewellyn.com and let me know what you think.
So, for the serious stuff. You might wonder why an author is sharing so much about cross stitch these last few months. It’s simple. This culturally rich craft and its community are helping me survive. I’m in the middle of losing someone very important to me. It’s a transition I want to fight, to deny. But I need to be strong and be there. It’s hard to explain, but stitching such an eclectic variety of projects from so many creative designers soothes, bolsters, and revitalizes–giving me that strength.
As for writing, my pod people are at rest for now, letting me get all obsessive over another craft. There are noises of jealousy for my attention, a few whispers to remind me their stories are waiting. But for now, stitching lets me wake up each day on a positive note. Sharing it with you is part of that. Thank you!
Coming in June…
A Q&A with my friend and fellow author, Isa Ottoni. She’s visited my Spotlight a couple of times, and it has been wonderful following her journey. Her debut novel, Path of the Crescent Moon, is on presale!
Next weekend (the last weekend in May) is a return to the Virginia City Writing Retreat with my friend Dee. Stay tuned for highlights.
Hip replacement surgery is in my future, starting June 1 with the left hip, then on to the right a few months later. I’ll let you know what life is like with bionic parts.
I’m working hard at finding awesomeness in each day because while there are sad and challenging things going on in my personal life, there are awesome things too. And it all centers around creativity. I encourage you to create every day and embrace the awesomeness.
Check out April’s fantastic Spotlight interview packed full of insight and advice for indie authors.
Meet Paranormal / Urban Romance author Naomi Valkyrie. Naomi packed this Spotlight with a wealth of insight and experience as an indie author. Reap the benefits as I have.
Get your romance on with the Romance Book BlastFREE e-book event April 28. Here are few selections in the Paranormal Romance section.
This event and many crafty ones are filling my calendar. Here are a few just for fun:
Lola Crow’s 2026 Mystery Stitch Along, Museum After Midnight
Just Cross Stitch Magazine’s 2026 Stitch Along, “Tapestry of Twelve.”
Willowing Art’s Free Mastering Mixed Media 2026 Online Workshops
Witchy Sticher May Madness – Instagram group, stitching designs by The Witchy Stitcher. I’m hoping to start a new one from Meg’s wonderful book or my digital library, and work on my two in progress…
April Stitching Progress including some of the events listed above
I truly hope your April was awesome, and happy upcoming Maynia… as we call the fifth month in the stitching world.
The nice steady slow beat where I can breathe and experience satisfaction in my handiwork. I hate to call it escape. Maybe “living” captures the time spent moving colorful silks and cotton through fabric with a needle.
I’m hoping some of my enjoyment will flow into the universe, and you’ll catch the vibe. (See the start of this series, and some of my beautiful stitching this past couple of weeks, in my previous post, and feel free to share your creative outlets.)
Not one fictional word written in two weeks… Wait, what?! But it’s true, and I’m doing okay. Hmmm… My pod people are quiet in my head. Maybe they needed a vacation, too.
So, instead of books and writing, I’m sharing my craft projects, old, and yes! New! I’ve caught the bug again after watching “Flosstube” videos with all the wonderful designs being shown off. I have tons of stash to dive into, but naturally I’m missing certain colors, which leads to retail therapy… Yes! Another benefit of embracing this surprising whiplash turn in my daily life. Somehow, writing doesn’t spark the same need to buy as other crafts do… but that’s a blog for another day.
Retail Therapy
A tiny sample of favorite shops: 123Stitch.com for DMC and Weeks Dye Works floss, Etsy (so much cross stitching!) for patterns and specialty floss, and other items like these gorgeous project bags. My favorite goth pattern designer is The Witchy Stitcher for the eerie and quirky. My favorite fabrics come from BeStitchMe.com
The most exciting part of this birthday month adventure has been kitting up for new starts. Check out these designs I purchased after watching too many enablers on FlossTube. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.) I’ve made significant starts in “Greenhouse of Oddities,” “Cats and Cocoa,” and “I Like Cross Stitch.” I even started an old pattern from my stash, “Single Step” by Stichrovia.
Single Step by Stitchrovia (had in my stash and wanted to start forever)Summer Gothic Sampler by The House of CamA Graveyard Wander by The Witchy StitcherA Stitcher Haunts Here by The Witchy SticherBooks are Magic by Counting PuddlesWinter Flower Bird by Nathnolu (got all four seasons)
My progress… on the first three above.
Cats and Cocoa also on 16 ct Aida, Sugar Cookie (don’t remeber the dyer)Greenhouse of Oddities, and the gorgeous fabric by BeStitchMe, 16 ct Aida, PeanutGreenhouse of Oddities (stitching in SAL sections, starting top center)On 16 Ct Aida from Hand-dyed by Rolanda
Today, the last day in February to round out my record craze, I’m starting “I Like Cross Stitch” and this Stitch Along (SAL), “Tapestry of Twelve,” from the Spring Just Cross Stitch Magazine by multiple designers. You can borrow the magazine issues from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. The top left corner is part one of four. I bought the called-for Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss. Gorgeous!
Rescuing Old Stitchworks Languishing in a Box
I recycled hallway picture frames, and now I get to enjoy these.
Stitcher’s House by Stone Street StitchworksFrankenstein for The Stitching Bookclub (SBC) Walkin’ on Sunshine by Luhu Stitches
I’ve touched over a dozen old WIPs (works in progress) in February, including restarting three – all those old problems that made me hide them away and forget about them. I totally got inspired to patiently frog out stitches or toss out the disliked fabric or fabric I measured incorrectly, and show them some love. The first of my three restarts was in my previous post, but I’ll add it here as well.
Old (sad face) Garden Stroll by Carolyn Manning (design free with Sulky Thread Pack)Garden Stroll – New startOld (absolutely no room for the entire design. Oops! Fresh Picked Evergreens by Petal Pusher (came with specialty floss)New (started in the corner this time)And… I finished the free pattern that came with it!A tiny finish! Isn’t she pretty?
And this beloved project, Keiko Sato Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives, started in November 2020, is also on fabric a bit too small, but I love the color with the stamped leaves, and decided to make it work. So, I stitched all night on the berry out to the black border, and part of the crane to see how close I would be to the edge of the fabric. Less than an inch! But I’ll make it.
Keiko Sato Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives
Another Finish!
Check out this gorgeous reproduction sampler, stitched in 1857 by Jane Marshall, a 10-year-old Australian girl. I pulled out the band I was working on (her name) because the color just wasn’t working, and then I couldn’t stop stitching. The silk floss came from my stash, featuring a gorgeous variegated silk called Fairy Quilt Crossing. The pattern was free from Hands Across the Sea Samplers in support of the Aussie fires in January 2020. Many designers contributed patterns, and I stitched three, two I finished in 2020.
It’s getting harder to see all the events on this planet that make life overwhelming at best and genuinely depressing at worst. We’ve been re-watching Reacher. Lee Child’s stories effectively depict (in their dramatic and violent way) the human condition and the terrible things people who abandon their humanity can do to others.
They give us an exciting, larger-than-life hero who courageously seeks justice, often inspiring those he meets along the way to stand up to oppressors. Yet, they remind us that it’s okay not to fix every problem, but to do what we can for the ones close to home.
My sister and I both got diagnosed with cancer this year. We started chemo a day apart, and we lost our hair at the same rate. We experience bad days and good days in different ways, and we share our journeys weekly. I mention this because, while we share a lot, we are two very different people, and so are our choices about dealing with the world as we fight our personal battle.
It’s interesting how, when you’re caught up in survival, you begin to contemplate the meaning of life and your place in it, even as your attention narrows to your own physical struggle. I guess it’s natural for some to focus on what they can control and let the things beyond their control blur into the background.
For me, I can disappear into my writing, rewrite the world in speculative fiction. I can listen to my Cake radio station on Pandora (my adored hometown band) while I exercise, or watch the rare good entertainment like Reacher with my hubby while I knit. I’m very grateful for that.
Others do the opposite. Their personal struggle becomes less significant as they take a stand against the unsolvable and march with other brave people.
Despite my efforts at mindfulness and inner peace, events like the terrible mass shooting at a casino a couple of days ago bring chaos crashing back, and I grieve for the world, feeling helpless alongside my neighbors.
That’s when I look up. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. Northern Nevada skies are always inspiring and soothing to the soul, reminding me how tiny and insignificant events on this planet are in the grand scheme of things. Gazing up, away from the chaos on the ground, lets me just be.
No worries as the sinking sun paints the sky until the stars come out. The answers are up there, and someday I’ll understand.
Have you ever shared intimacy with a fly? One of those surreal encounters where you were in communion with an entity five hundred times smaller than yourself who seemed to look you in the eye? A tiny being who showed interest in what was on your mind, maybe even hoping you wanted to know what was on his.
My fly might have been attracted to me because I’d been sitting all day in one spot blending into my surroundings, typing away on my keyboard. This big ole beauty hung out with me the whole time, landing on my desk, walking over my pens and notebook, sort of mellow, like he had nothing better to do. It’s that time of year when flies go from frenetic to mellow and back to frenetic in their final hours. This fly picked me for his last hoorah.
About every hour, he would lift off and zoom around my head for at least fifteen minutes straight, even bonking me once or twice. I must have ignored him too long. I would forget about him, only to be distracted from writing when I caught his movement out of the corner of my eye. He buzzed occasionally to remind me he was there as he meandered behind my pencil cup, across my glass of water, and along my phone.
He bounced off my forehead for the last time about an hour ago. I didn’t mean it, but my reflexes had me swatting at him and we collided. I haven’t seen him since, and now I’m sad.
I am aware that we have a whole month to go until fall starts. But it’s my favorite time of year, so I get a little excited about this time in August, especially as the heat finally got knocked down yesterday by some lovely (albeit blustery windy) rainy weather.
That meant it was a day for binge-watching Hitchcock movies featuring Grace Kelly (thank you TCM) and working on an old Diamond Painting WIP that keeps calling me from my craft table. Three years and nearly 65% finished! Ouch.
Yes, that’s what happened to my avid crafting after I discovered the joy of writing fiction. But I manage to have days like this on occasion when I bring out my dozens of cross stitch, knitting, and crochet WIPS and enjoy Audible or TCM while I craft away. Those days increase in the fall because well, the days get cozier for couch potatoes like me.
Still, my pod people (aka my story characters who I like to say were seeded in my brain by aliens because what else explains their takeover) are with me. Some kicking back and relaxing like I am, some hatching their next scenes or new chapters, and many clamoring for a finish. If the truth be told, these days of mindful crafting unleash my pod people like nothing else can. I just need to keep reminding myself to take these breaks from writing their stories.
Our brains are a remarkable thing.
What’s your favorite time of year or way to relax?
