Plot Points #65 💌

S(no)wpocalypse, groceries in 1990, returning to Rome, and a giveaway

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Shameless plug, courtesy of our local Barnes & Noble

Happy Friday, friends! ❄️

It’s supposed to snow here today and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Atlantans are still a bit scarred by the Snowpocalypse of 2014, so I pray that what falls this afternoon will turn the landscape into a fluffy, white wonderland rather than frozen streets of destruction. (Southerners are not equipped to handle ice. We only understand hot, miserable humidity.) You guys up north have my sympathies. My brain can’t even compute how you handle winter every year.

This week was a busy one prepping for the release of The Bluestockings. I’m waiting with bated breath for my proof copy to arrive. The feeling of holding your book for the first time is unmatched! Also, can we talk about how expensive it is to self-publish? Setting up your book for purchase online is free, but professional reviews, ads, proof copies, not to mention the cost of book design, layout, editing, etc. is just ouch. This is the only downside to self-publishing, IMO. Traditional publishers foot the bill for all of that (it does come out of the author’s sales, but there is no up front cost to us), so unless one has a large budget, self-publishing is quite limiting in that regard.

To help get The Bluestockings in front of new readers, I’m hosting a giveaway of three free copies! For every re-stack here on Notes or comment on this post 👇🏻, you’ll be entered to win a digital copy of The Bluestockings before it releases on January 21st. The only catch is that you agree to post a review on Goodreads, please and thank you 📚. (Amazon, unfortunately, only allows reviews for products purchased directly through their site, so unless you pre-order a copy there you won’t be able to review it.)

I’ll announce the three lucky winners in next week’s Plot Points!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone. Thanks for spending some of your time with me today.

P.S. The Bluestockings is available for pre-order on both Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (Paperback) if you’d like to reserve your own copy now ❤️.

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Word of the Week ✍🏻

Foxing: (n.) the yellow-brown tinge seen in the pages of old books.

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Point #1: Time’s up for TikTok. (I hope.)

The Supreme Court is making a major ruling on TikTok’s presence here in the U.S. today. After reading this piece from

After Babel

on the large-scale damage the app is inflicting on minors, I, for one, hope they get the hell out.

Point #2: I promise to read the books on my shelf this year.

I love a good “What I Read in 2024” post (I’ve been working on my own for a while, but it’s still not finished 🙃), and this one from

Brittany's Notebook

was quite reflective of my own bookish tastes. I also love how gentle her reading goals are for the new year. A number challenge is lovely, but after finishing 100 books in 2024, I’m ready to slow down and finally get to the classics gathering dust in my office.

Point #3: Kevin McAllister had it easy.

This is both hilarious and painful, especially as people stock up for the snow. Watch until the end for an extra giggle.

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Reading in The Nook 📚

I read two distinctly different nonfiction books this week—one called Return to Rome by Francis Beckwith about a cradle Catholic-turned-prominent-evangelical who left Protestantism after thirty years and returned to the Catholic Church. His story was fascinating, especially because he was once the president of the Evangelical Theological Society, so his exegesis was much easier for me to follow than that of lifelong Catholics. His explanation of the Church’s view of justification marked the first time I ever truly understood what Catholics believe, and it touched me deeply.

The other book I read was Our Anglican Heritage by John Howe and Sam Pascoe, which lays out the foundation for how Anglicanism is a legitimate expression of Christ’s original Church. Most people assume the Church of England was simply a result of Henry VIII’s selfish ambition, but it goes back much further than that. I’m really enjoying these deep dives into the shared faith of Catholics and Protestants, but I confess I’m also having a bit of an existential crisis about it. One minute, I’m in tears about the beauty of infused righteousness and the next I’m telling my husband transubstantiation makes zero sense in light of Christ’s humanity.

It’s a good thing I enjoy existential crises 🤗.

What are you reading right now?

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“Everything that is real was imagined first.”

—The Velveteen Rabbit—

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