Hi Reader!

Here are my favourite chapters of 2020:

In January, I set my ‘famous enough’ goal in a grounding essay, Good Thing I’m Not Famous.

I wrote A Stack of CD’s, about my longing for the simplicity of analog media. It’s one of those essays that I felt like I had written before, but never had. It’s such a core topic to me, that I still think of often, that it was simply a matter of getting my thoughts down.

Looking back, it was strange to publish my Keep Moving Forward essay in March. Written about my January trip to Disney World, it was about the joy of being in a crowd…

I also published my ebook A Heroine’s Guide to Packing, right around the time that travel was shutting down… but my next project was more timely!

I had been working on bringing back my Letters From Jane Austen reading experience. Part book club, part heroine’s journaling, my letters guide readers through Jane Austen’s six novels. Thank you to my new pen pals, who have been reading with me!

As lockdown began, I wrote We Hold the World Together, about time zones, being an introvert, and how I love to stay home while others go out.

I wrote In Every Step about how life is a journey and a destination with help from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Steven Tyler, and many walks in the hills.

My favourite essay of the year, Only the Best Cake, is about why I left Instagram.

For Fringe of Colour, I responded to Sophie Gresswell’s film with Unpacking the Loaded Question of ‘Where are you from?’ and my own poem with the same title.

When I am reminded of the title Not What I’m Not, I am struck at my core, because this essay was so important and so challenging to write. It’s about creating the world I want to live in, rather than be defined by what I don’t do.

Also in this essay is a bit of background on my podcast with my sister Junie, What’s Your Favorite Part?. In 2020, we finished our coverage of Season One of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. We also covered The Princess Diaries, Emily in Paris, began a series on The Baby-Sitters Club, and more!

I also debuted my new series of Literary Cottage Logs, which will continue in 2021 as Steve, Snug, and I search for a cottage in the woods to make our next new home. It began with Literary Cottage Log 1: This Is the Dream, progressed to the Lochs, and – oh yeah, Literary Cottage Log 3 was sent out to Print Edition Patrons recently, but it won’t be published til the end of January 😉

There are also audiobook versions of all of my essays on Patreon at the Dear Reader ($3) tier, for easy binge-able listening!

Last but not least…

On New Year’s Eve, I also recorded this bonus audio for all of you – which can be visited any time of year! In it I share four simple, 1-minute Calls to Adventure to help set up your year:

I made some exciting refreshes to Patreon this year:

• The Read by Xandra audiobook is now available for $3 (previously $12!),
• Everyday Wonderland ($7) now has a secret radio show, and
• I have a new top tier called Keys to the Castle ($25) that includes EVERYTHING I create, including The Print Edition and Letters From Jane Austen.

I’ve also activated Annual Membership, so you have the option to pay monthly or annually. I’m running a special through January: this month only, get 2 months free when you sign up for annual membership!

And more to come…

Behind the scenes, I started and finished Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, which Grace and I are discussing this year on The Art Life. We have just begun our weekly coverage, going through the book week by week in 2021. (Photo above is from Grace’s Instagram).

Here’s our short trailer on the series:

Thank you, Patrons and Readers, for coming along with me on my heroine’s journey this year🙂

Until the Next Volume of Chapters,