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"Put the candle back!"
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What filled your glass this month, Subscriber?
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The struggle to reclaim my free time continues! May was spent deciding that my new job I started on March 25th is just not for me and figuring out how long I can go without work with my final checks while I find a better option. I gave my notice with my last day as this Friday and caused my boss to beg me to at least come in the following Thursday and Friday. Still no job lined up, but I have two more interviews pending that are pretty much waiting on me to not be working to schedule. Something will fall into place.
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Ignoring my work life for the moment, I am thrilled to share lots of exciting updates around my book. We're approaching two months since my book published and I am still riding that high. The market I attended was very successful for both sales and interactions. It was so much fun and I am already looking into other events to make appearances at. I also am pleased to announce that my book is available on larger platforms like Amazon and Barnes and Nobles AND it is currently on Bookshop Santa Cruz's shelves for people to shop for it in person! so exciting! I am still waiting on the proofs from my distributor, but they are ready for purchase if you are a non US shopper.
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The past two weeks, I have not been doing nothing major creative-wise. Instead, I have buried my nose in some romance novels. I started off with a book that had been on my to-read list for about two years after a recommendation from a friend and popped up on sale via Amazon; "I'm in love with Mothman". Somehow, that book's recs led me to a spider alien sci-fi romance series. Which is wildly and embarrassingly on-brand for me. Regardless, to say I'm obsessed is an understatement. If you're looking for some otherworldly romance to escape into, I would recommend the spider series for sure.
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If you are interested in the rest of my random gossip, you'll have to keep scrolling. But before you continue...you didn't forget to pour your own glass of boos, did you? Let's raise it to an enriching April!
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Life Occurrences & Creative Ventures— May 2026
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May felt like every weekend had something planned. From the vendor market to Mother's Day, to dressing up for a dear friend's fantasy-themed 50th birthday, to my mom's birthday celebrations, the weekends felt unyielding. But in a very fulfilling way. I am looking forward to finding a weekend to veg and have no plans in June, but we'll see when we'll actually make it happen...
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May Highlight: First Vending Event as an Author
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I felt like it was a very successful weekend between sales and interactions. I got to chat with a variety of people, from parents to fellow educators and even a speech therapist and a school councilor! From stories about their own interactions or fears of spiders to discussions about sharing my experience as an author and my plans for future book ideas and format plans.
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I had an extremely fun time and am looking forward to vending more events and working on more children's books focused around spiders.
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Meanwhile as we sip along on the Sips & Spirits Podcast....
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Episode 67 may yet be brought to life this coming weekend. I just have to sit and edit everything together, but time has been fleeting. The plan is to have the episode drop on the 30th of this month. We'll see if that actually happens!
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Mood Check
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Older Goodies for my Gossips
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I gain too much pleasure from loading these emails full of random toasts and teasers. However, I understand email newcomers may have missed out on something here or there. As such, there is a special page to explore, exclusive to my email subscribers. It is filled with all the goodies I have tucked away in emails since 2024, in addition to an email archive of past newsletters.
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Use the password: GossamerGossiper
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What I'm Weaving Behind the Cobwebs
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After all the prep I did for the Spirit Alley market, I took a little bit of a break creatively. It felt like since February I was in deadline mode so I was nice to not stress too much about completing something. I did write a couple blog posts about my experience, both vending as an author and on the process of bringing my children's book to life.
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Instead, I've been trying (and failing) to make some time to test out new illustration techniques to decide if my next book project will be digitally or traditionally illustrated. I ADORE how my illustrations came out for my book, but my next book will have a different vibe and I have to see if my preferred medium will work out. I think it will, but I just haven't gotten around to playing with it.
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As such, I spent a little more time on figuring out additional distribution of my book and fully upgrading my website to reflect more of my intentions to embrace my author/illustrator side. I also decided I needed an author Instagram account and have been having fun posting 2-3 times a week there about my book stuff. Please be sure to follow @pageweaverchelsea if you want to keep up with anything and everything regarding my books.
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