It’s been a while since I did a “general updates” post with what I’ve been up to lately, so without further ado, here it is!

What I’m reading …

I’ve been reading such fun books as of late! My current total of books read this year is 22, so I’m happy to be right on track with my reading goal for 2022. Recent top favorites include Where The Heart Is by Janet Lambert, Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell, Golden Sovereign by Dorothy Lyons, and Ginnie and the Mystery Doll by Catherine Woolley.

What I’m planning to read …

I also have a set of new books coming in the mail, including two Janet Lambert novels I haven’t read yet. I’m very excited!

What I’m writing …

I have projects in varying stages right now! I’m deep in an edit round for one project, am planning and beginning to draft a couple of others, and have ideas for plenty more! I’ve been experimenting lately, having written my first picture book last summer and now my first TV screenplay this past weekend. 🙂

Most delightful of all, my upcoming middle grade novel, The Star That Always Stays, releases on July 12, 2022, and the preparations for it—final edits and marketing—have been so exciting! I was also invited to speak on a panel called “Another Time, Another Place” at School Library Journal’s upcoming Middle Grade Magic virtual event, which will be on March 10th!

What else I’ve been enjoying…

I’ve been doing some scrapbooking and drawing lately! I really enjoyed watching the 2022 Winter Cup on Saturday, the first major U.S. gymnastics meet of the year. Cheers to Konnor McClain, who took home the gold in the senior women’s all-around! My flower seeds have arrived, from several different seed companies, and it was a delight to watch them show up in the mailbox. I’m looking forward to planting all of my usual standbys, such as cosmos, zinnias, calendulas, and bachelor’s buttons, and I’m also trying out other flowers I haven’t planted before, including pink dandelions and lisianthus. I planted nasturtiums for the first time last year after reading about them in Jane of Lantern Hill and LOVED them!

What have you been doing to spruce up your winter days? Leave a comment! 

At the close of this first month of the new year, here’s a quick update on my current books (and other things)!

What I’m reading …

I read eleven books in January to kick off 2021! Among my (new) favorites: The Anne of Green Gables Devotional by Rachel Dodge, a heartfelt read full of inspiring verses with charming illustrations; Karina Yan Glaser’s The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found, the fourth volume in the Vanderbeekers series and perhaps the most poignant yet; Best Friends by Mary Bard (1950s fun about a French girl moving to the US); Francie on the Run, the second book in Hilda van Stockum’s Bantry Bay trilogy. Rereads included Kate DiCamillo’s 20th-anniversary edition of Because of Winn-Dixie (with slightly altered text), and Jane of Lantern Hill (L.M. Montgomery), which I am having the fun of discussing with friends in a book group right now.

What I’m planning to read …

Some brand-new books just arrived in the mail, and here’s why I can’t wait to read them:

Emily’s Runaway Imagination (1961): I’m working on filling in my Beverly Cleary library, having stuck mainly to the Ramona books and her “First Love” series. I just read Mitch and Amy (1967) and liked it quite a bit, so I’m eager to read this one, a rare historical story from Cleary set in the 1920s.

The Four Graces (1946): A Little Women retelling-of-sorts set in WWII in an English village and written by D.E. Stevenson? What could be better? 🙂

Carney’s House Party (1949): I just bought this lovely two-pack that includes both Carney and Winona, two Deep Valley novels by Maud Hart Lovelace. I just read Winona’s Pony Cart for the first time last year and greatly enjoyed it, and now I’m looking forward to rereading Carney’s House Party.

L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories, 1907-1908: Montgomery’s short stories often have such wonderful characters and situations that I end up wishing she’d lengthened them into more novels!

Two Little Women (1915): I read the second book in this trilogy in 2009 and the third in 2010, and I have finally bought myself a copy of the first book! Carolyn Wells’ writing is so breezy and fun.

Not pictured but also on my list: Jennifer Dances (1954): A 1910s-era story by Eunice Young Smith about a girl who moves to Chicago to live with aunt and takes up ballet. It sounds so sweet!

What I’m writing …

I am nearly finished with my current middle grade novel – only about 7k left to write – and then I’m going to be focusing on a revision of a middle grade manuscript I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2018! I am so excited about it, and I’m gathering research materials and searching for inspiration!

What else I’ve been enjoying…

Scrapbooking, looking through old family photos, feeding sugar cubes to sweet ponies, listening to Annette Funicello songs and Strauss’ Annen Polka, doing writing sprints with friends, gathering quotes for an interview piece for Inside Gymnastics, watching Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and other delightful things. I’ve also been planning this summer’s garden, buying seeds and calculating how many flower beds I’ll need. I am hoping for an early spring so that I can get a head start on my seeds, particularly the Madame Butterfly snapdragons. For the first time, I’ll be planting glorious orange nasturtiums (a flower found in Jane of Lantern Hill, as mentioned above), and I’m crossing my fingers that – unlike last year – my pink poppies will actually come to fruition!

What have you been doing to brighten the long January days? Let me know in the comments! 🙂 

This week, I thought I might give an update on some of my current writing projects and reading lists!

An aesthetic I created for my middle grade novel

In September, I finished drafting a delicious middle grade novel set in 1949 England. I wrote the beginning of the book two years ago, added a little more one year ago, and then couldn’t think of where to take the story. But finally this summer I had the perfect inspiration for the book–I simply withdrew a plotline from one of my unfinished projects, paired it with the characters and setting that I’d dreamed up for this novel, and everything fell into place!

I’m currently brainstorming and outlining a lovely Christmas-themed novel that’s been simmering in my mind since last winter. I’ve promised myself not to start writing it until mid-October, but I almost don’t think I can wait that long. 😉 (This novel will be my NaNoWriMo project, too!) In the meantime, though, I might be working on a fun novelette, but I’ll have plenty to keep me busy until I can start my Christmas novel. The World Championships of gymnastics will be held in Stuttgart for the next two weeks, and I’m *so* looking forward to seeing how the competition unfolds. (Fingers crossed that the Japanese women qualify a full team to Tokyo 2020!)

So far this year I have read 91 books.This far surpasses my goal of 75 books for 2019, which I set last December. (True, I don’t think I’ve yet read any of the long classics I had planned to add to my list this year, although I’m rectifying this right now by reading a very long and revered classic with a reading group. See my current reads below!)

More fun from the past few weeks: 

– I’m entering two stories in a very exciting writing contest this fall. I can’t wait to see what happens!

– Last year I planted snapdragons that were a perfect “sunset” shade, a mix of pink and orange. (My absolute favorites!) Then last month this same color of snapdragon popped up amidst my strawberries. I didn’t plant it there – they weren’t even in that flower bed last year! – but it was such a fun surprise.

– Over the past two months, I’ve been digitizing a box of amazing family photos, which has kept me happily busy. 🙂

– I’m re-reading some of my favorite Judy Bolton mysteries,and it’s delightful to return to these books at this time of year. Autumn is perfect for Judys!

– I also recently put together the picture on the left, a mix of cut silhouettes and paint on watercolor paper…a future book character, perhaps? 😉

Recently Read: The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser, Grace Coolidge: An Autobiography, The Invisible Chimes by Margaret Sutton

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Strange Likeness by Kate Duvall and Beverly Hatfield, At Home in North Branch by Arleta Richardson

I read some lovely books this month! I totaled nine books read in May (seven new books and two rereads). One of my favorites from this month was Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes, which just released at the end of April. I found it incredibly hard to put the book down; it was set in Maine (one of my favorite literary locales!), and the story was spellbinding with a beautifully uplifting message and memorable characters. Another favorite was When Patty Went to College by Jean Webster, first published in 1901. This author is better-known for one of her later books, Daddy-Long-Legs, but I found this book even more humorous and entertaining. It’s more like a string of short stories than a novel, and while this format can be dull in some volumes, this one kept up a good pace.

L.M. Montgomery’s The Golden Road was another delightful book from May, full of the delicious descriptions and characterizations that I love about Montgomery’s novels. While the first half of this one is funny and episodic, the second half is heartwarming and compelling. Another book I enjoyed immensely was Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson, which is set in 1919 San Francisco and features a 17-year-old girl who longs to be a reporter. I also re-read The Midnight Visitor by Margaret Sutton, one of my favorite Judy Bolton mysteries, and Katie John by Mary Calhoun, a favorite from age 10 or so that I still love reading. I also read some fun vintage mysteries!

I’ve started another reread of Jane of Lantern Hill, my all-time favorite novel. It’s always a treat to slip back into this wonderful world, and summer seems like the perfect time to revisit Jane and her father and their marvelous summer home on Prince Edward Island. Last December I reread Anne of Windy Poplars and was struck by the similarities of one of its subplots to the incidents of Jane. The subplot of Little Elizabeth seemed remarkably akin to Jane’s story, and since Windy Poplars was published in 1936, just year prior to Jane, I wondered if L.M. Montgomery was inspired to expand it into a full-length novel. Then I read one of Montgomery’s short stories from 1934, entitled Tomorrow Comes, and realized that it is actually the original story—Windy Poplars and Jane are both derivative versions! In fact, verbatim passages from both books appear in the original short story. All three tales are simply enchanting, so if you haven’t read them yet, do so right away! (But Jane is the best, so if you’re only going to read one, choose this one!)

This month I finished writing two major projects from this spring, a novella called The Joy Cottage and the third novel in my historical series, Every Beautiful Gift. Having finished these two, I’m hoping to work on some short stories—I have so many ideas floating through my head, I can’t wait to explore some of them!

I just finished the first draft of my latest #workinprogress! It’s a romance comedy/drama novella set at a lake cottage in 1946, and it’s been an absolute breeze to write ❤️📖😍 pic.twitter.com/uaKHvyTddL

— Anna Rose Johnson (@GymnasticsRosie) May 15, 2019

The garden is so beautiful right now! Everything is just beginning—all the young blooms are here or getting ready to arrive. I am so excited about my creamy-white marigolds, and they are going to be *so many* strawberries soon! The forget-me-nots are always a lovely treat as well this time of year. I’m especially pleased that my blue-grape hyacinths have come up for the second year in a row—I initially planted the bulbs in the fall of 2017. (As you might recall, these flowers appear the Pat books by L.M. Montgomery; they grow at Silver Bush!)

But at last they were throwing open the windows to let in the spring and Pat learned all over again how lovely young cherry trees were, waving whitely in green twilights, and the scent of apple blossoms in moonlight, and the colonies of blue grape-hyacinths under the dining-room windows. – Mistress Pat

As the snow begins to melt and the days grow warmer (a relief after one of the snowiest winters in history), I’m deep into the drafting of the third novel in my historical series. The process is infinitely enjoyable!

I’ve been planning out this book, conducting research, making lists, and gathering inspirational images for several months now. But the best part is actually beginning the writing process, and immersing myself in the wonderful world of 1915-16, when my novel is set.

And oh, the fun things I’ve done for this one! Requesting imperative research PDFs from libraries. Delving into the newspapers of the place and era. Studying photographs. Paging through catalogs of gorgeous fashions. (Well, virtually paging through them—they’re all online!) 😉

But one of my favorite aspects of research has been watching films set in the 1910s. Obviously, this isn’t *quite* the same as doing the solid research I listed above, but it’s delightful to acquire a visual feel for the era of my novel. Over the past few months, I’ve watched Summer Magic, Pollyanna, The Music Man, On Moonlight Bay, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, The Happiest Millionaire—sweet stories that evoke the vintage simplicity I hope to insert in my books.

What I’ve found is that research is a never-ending process—you’re always discovering something new and fascinating to add another layer of depth or a unique element to your narrative.

Additionally, I’ve started working on a contemporary novel that features the renovation of an abandoned mansion. I love old houses and try to include them in my stories whenever I can. 🙂

I’m also very excited for spring! I cannot wait to start working in my flower garden again. After witnessing the success of my pink tulips last summer, I planted orange tulip bulbs last fall, and I’m eager to see them sprout up!

Recently Read: After Many Years by L.M. Montgomery, More All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich, The Wishing Well by Mildred A. Wirt

Currently Reading: Love to Everyone by Hilary McKay, Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes

November is here, in all of its drizzly, cloudy glory. I have bulbs to plant soon—beautiful multicolored tulips that will (hopefully) sprout up the in the warm spring months ahead. In book-writing news, I’m currently drafting the second book in my “Norvia” middle grade series, thanks to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I originally drafted the first Norvia book for NaNo in November 2014, so working on the sequel feels like a wonderful flashback for me.

Some of my research for the sequel:

I’m also still working on my Christmas novella, which I hope to share with you all in mid-December—very exciting! 🙂 Stay tuned for more details!

For me, the last two weeks have been all about the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships. I provided tons of fun coverage for Inside Gymnastics Magazine, including an interview with Great Britain’s Becky Downie. It was so exciting to watch all of these incredible athletes at the highest level of the sport. My all-time favorite routine of Worlds? Probably Nina Derwael’s breathtaking, gold medal-winning uneven bars routine. Derwael, whom I interviewed about a year ago, is currently Belgium’s top gymnast and the world’s best bars worker. I can’t wait to watch her compete in 2019!

In reading news, I hit my 2018 Goodreads Challenge last week! I’ve read 100 books so far this year, and I’m hoping to read several more before the year is out. I recently reread some of the books in the Patty Fairfield series by Carolyn Wells (published from 1902-1919), and that was simply delightful. They’re such light, humorous reads!

I was recently given these three gorgeous vintage copies:

Interestingly, all three volumes were previously owned by the same young lady, whose name was written in beautiful cursive in the front of each book. Being a genealogist (and insatiably curious!), I did a little searching on family history sites and uncovered some fascinating info about this fellow booklover, whose life seemed to mirror Patty’s remarkably! Not only was she also an only child and a fashionable debutante in a bustling city, but she looked almost exactly like the illustrations of Patty on these covers! 🙂 I wonder if someone gave her these books because of her amazing similarity to Patty. In any event, I love knowing a bit more about the former owner of my books!

I just finished reading The Mystery on Judy Lane, the brand-new book in the Judy Bolton series. The author, Beverly Hatfield, has gifted Judy fans with a wonderful companion volume to this awesome series. I loved reading this sweet Christmassy mystery, set between books #13 and #14.

I also recently found these vintage copies of two other books in the Judy series. The Mark on the Mirror is one of my very favorites!

Now I’m rereading Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery, and even though I’ve read it before, I’m having a hard time putting it down! 🙂 Also—stay tuned for my upcoming blog post on the Pat of Silver Bush series, which I consider to be perhaps Montgomery’s sweetest and coziest series of books.

Happy Reading!

I couldn’t quite decide what to write about this week, so I decided that I’d touch on everything I’m excited about in today’s post! 🙂

First of all—after a long, long wait—my sunflowers and zinnias have arrived! I planted them from seed on May 27th, and after several months of anticipation, they finally blossomed this week. The sunflowers (at the top of this post), which I photographed today, are from the ProCut series.

My darling salmon-colored zinnias are from the Benary’s Giant series:

A sure sign that fall is coming—my white hydrangeas are turning a delightful rosy pink!

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing the one-and-only Eythora Thorsdottir, an immensely talented gymnast from the Netherlands. I’ve been a huge fan of Eythora since 2013, when I first saw her compete at the European Youth Olympic Festival—she has some of the most elegant routines in the world right now. 🙂 I’m hopeful that she recovers from a recent injury in time to compete at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar this October!

I also recently interviewed members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team for the next issue of Inside Gymnastics, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of their silver medal. I grew up watching and re-watching their amazing performances in Beijing, so it was definitely a thrill to speak with them for this piece! 🙂 The next issue will appear on newsstands later in September.

This summer, my grandma introduced me to watercolor pencils—they are absolutely splendid to work with! Here’s a quick drawing I did the other day—perhaps a future book character! 🙂

In bookish news, I just finished reading Beany Malone by Lenora Mattingly Weber—such a fun novel! Published in 1948, this book is the second in the Malone family series (I read the first earlier this year). A lovely story about a warmhearted family living in Denver right after World War II!

Beany Malone (Beany Malone Series Book 2) Reading Beany for the hundredth time… hooked in the first few pages – yet again. Gusty October, hullabaloo in the Malone house, Beany whipping up 7 minute frosting…. Lenora Mattingly Weber https://t.co/zjKWeOdroY via @amazon #books pic.twitter.com/Tdks7pdgxx

— Image Cascade Books (@ImageCascade) August 29, 2018

I also heard yesterday that there will be a new book in the Judy Bolton series! The original author of the series, Margaret Sutton, passed away in 2001, but Beverly Hatfield coauthored the official 39th volume in the series in 2012. Now, Beverly has written a mystery that is supposed to take place between books #13 and #14. It will reportedly be available later this fall! <3

I’ve written almost 8,000 words of my work-in-progress novella, “The Mistress of Half Moon Hall.” Very eager to keep working on it!

And just for fun, here’s a snapshot of one of my recently-rearranged bookshelves:

Such wonderful books here! 🙂 What have you been reading lately?

While reading the May/June 2018 issue of Victoria (one of my very favorite magazines), I came across an article showcasing the artwork of Bridget Collins, who creates beautiful pictures using flowers and grasses arranged on paper. Inspired by these lovely designs, I decided to give it a try, using the flowers from my own garden.

I didn’t have a specific scene in mind for my picture, so I gathered a handful of petals and flowers in a color scheme of pink, yellow, and white. When I spread them out on a large sheet of poster board, a large peony petal caught my eye: it looked like a long, old-fashioned skirt—something out of the Edwardian era, perhaps. I found a few extra petals to widen the skirt, and worked from there to create an image of a young woman walking through her garden.

It’s easy to put together a simple design like this one; no tools involved except a piece of paper (for your backdrop) and scissors (if you want to snip a petal to make it smaller). For this project, I used mainly marigolds, peonies, roses, and Gerbera daisies.

If you have an artistic bent—and access to flowers—I encourage you to give this unique idea a try!

Summertime is for butterflies!

I’ve always been fascinated with the butterflies that visit our farm, especially the showstopper of summer, the yellow swallowtail butterfly:

I recently read Gene Stratton-Porter’s classic novel A Girl of the Limberlost. Published in 1909, the story features Elnora Comstock, a young naturalist who navigates life and love while searching for valuable insects in the Limberlost swamp of eastern Indiana.

I loved the descriptions of the dragonflies, moths, and butterflies and in this book. We’re lucky to see lots of these here in the summer, including the beautiful monarch butterflies.

If you’re interested in attracting butterflies, try planting bee balm, snapdragons, or lilacs—swallowtails in particular seem to love these flowers (and so do bees and moths)!

What are your favorite types of insects? Feel free to leave a comment!