Tobago finally has a scratching object courtesy of Clean Sweep. She's seemed to figure out what it's for. Hopefully it will deter her from clawing the new sofa.
Sent from my Galaxy
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Amber's latest event
Amber was one of seven horror authors on a panel answering questions such as why they chose that particular genre.
Sent from my Galaxy
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
According To Plan (YA fiction)
Mal, protagonist of Christen Randall's According To Plan, is going through life feeling like they're too much. Being gay, nonbinary, overweight, and neurodivergent (diagnosed wi ADHD and possible autism) they don't feel like they fit in anywhere: not in school, where keeping up is a constant struggle and they don't have the bandwidth for friends...
...and certainly not at home. Their father is hardly ever there because of job demands. Their mother is always on their case to be more like little sister, Maddie. She tells Mal she wants them to have options...
...but in reality she only endorses one option--a traditional college and career route that doesn't take into account who Mal really is. To cope with her mother's constant nagging Mal adheres to The Plan...
...only to have it trashed the first day of her senior year. Collage, the school's student literary magazine, has been canceled due to lack of funding. It was Mal's only extracurricular and the one place where they felt like they fit in.
Maddie, who is not only Mal's sister, but the person who they feel closest to, tries to find another club Mal can join. Nothing else is a close to good fit. It's a mandate from their mother.
"You just need something, Mal. It doesn't even have to be something you love, just something you have. Colleges just look to see that you're doing something, to see where you're in the pack."
When another Collage staff member wants to continue it in the form of an unofficial zine Mal sees all kinds of red flags. It sounds downright risky, possibly even against all the rules. And colorful, loud, impulsive Emerson is not exactly their choice of collaborator...
But Mal's in and about to go way out of their comfort zone.
This gay romance is a great read, especially for people who feel both not enough and too much because of intersecting identities.
On a purrrsonal note, Eugene and I went to Governors for breakfast which was, as always, fabulous. Then a few minutes after we got home he announced he was going to camp. Fortunately I had packed just in case, something I do every weekend in the summer. It was very cold 🥶 out. Every time I stopped at a yard sale I froze. One woman gave me a winter hat and warm shawl that will go perfectly with my warmest winter coat. After lunch I took a wilderness walk so I wouldn't break my 237 day perfect exercise streak. Otherwise we stayed in the camp with a fire in the wood stove. I got in some mighty fine reading. We left for home and sweet Tobago (who was overjoyed to see us) the next morning.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and the kind woman who gave me the hat and the scarf.
Jules Hathaway
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Tuesday, June 2, 2026
My succulent
I potted it and took it home almost a month ago. Miracle of miracles, it is still alive and even seems to be thriving. Tobago hasn't devoured it. And I'm not watering it too much or too little.
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