Hello dear readers,

I write to you today from my favourite coffee shop, a latte at hand and a dear friend across the table. Today is writing club, our mostly-weekly meetup to write and yap and drink coffee, not necessarily in that order. Today I have a number of things I’d like to get done, including this blog post, but I also wanted to tell you about something that rarely happens in my life, which I had the joy of experiencing this weekend:

A day off.

Not a day for catching up on projects; not a day for seeing friends and family. Not a day for elaborate meals or laundry or pulling weeds in the garden. A real, true, do absolutely nothing at all kind of day.

Which is not entirely true, because I am incapable of doing nothing¹. But for me, it was a nothing day. Let me tell you what I did:

• Beginning on Saturday evening, we watched the entirety of Below², which is fantastic and you absolutely should go watch it
• Read the remainder of Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths; this is my second read through of the series, the first having happened over 2021-22. I’m enjoying it just as much this time around³
• Also kept reading The Bargaining by Carly Anne West, another re-read. I first read it when it was published and loved it, and now that I’m reading it again over ten years later, I’m realizing that this book really influenced my writing style back then. Which makes sense!
• Finally tucked in the last bits of the mulberry sweater, and stitched down the collar
• Finished a sleeve on the nocturne sweater, then figured out my sizing for the body; started knitting the body
• Played about three hours of stardew valley, which was not intended but it was a nothing day, so it’s fine
• Made an incredibly simple pot of soup and a pan of biscuits
• Re-watched Practical Magic for the first time in too many years

Strangely, this all happened guilt-free. Usually, even an hour or two spent doing nothing has me mentally flipping through my to-do list, searching for what I can fill the time with. I don’t know what this says about me. What I do know is that I really needed this day off, and so I’m glad I did it!

Today, though, I begin the first draft of a new novel, one which I hope will be complete⁴ by the end of November. We’ll see!

—Catherine

FOOTNOTES

¹ I think, if I truly did nothing all day, I might lose my marbles. I am wired to do things at all times.

² A new spookyish/mysterious show with Josh Hartnett as the lead. I cannot express how much I enjoy that he went from teen heartthrob to middle-aged man doing weird films.

³ They’re just so cozy, and the characters are so fun! I highly recommend these if you enjoy mysteries.

⁴ As in, a complete first draft, because December is for the final draft of the archive book!

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