January 2025
New...
Happy New Year! I’m 52 now, but I still get excited over the possibilities of a new calendar year. It’s rife with adventure, and potential, and it sparkles with timeless magic to turn the page on 365 fresh days that no one has ever seen before (and that we’ll never see again). Something about it feels serene and beautiful, even when we’ve done this over and over and over again already in our lives.
I chose new for my word this month, because for Jason and I, we are returning to a state in our married lives that we haven’t been in for almost 22 years: we have no children living in our home. An empty nest takes some getting used to, and I’ve certainly cried a few tears, but I can glimpse a future where my kids aren’t smack in the centre of our plans and goals and dreams. This feels sort of exciting along with being strange.
What’s happening for you this January? What word would you use to describe this first month of a new year?
One-Word Feeling Check-In
How are you feeling right now, in one word? I’m feeling optimistic. We had a fun holiday season, and I had some moments where I cried with no warning when thinking about William moving out for university, but now that we’ve actually moved him into his dorm I’m feeling stronger.
I loved hearing Rob Bell on his podcast talking about how our grief takes the time it takes. It’s not helpful to say “I should be feeling less sad now.” It takes the time it takes. So I’m going to allow my feelings to arise, and then subside, and try not to put timetables on them. But right now, at the very beginning of a brand new year, I’m feeling (mostly) hopeful and optimistic.
Please drop a note with your own one-word feeling check in!
Library Classes
I’m busy scheduling a number of intro writing and nurture classes this spring at local libraries, plus one of my favourite activities ever: Literary Salons! In the salon, we practice the art of intentional conversation. We get into small groups, create a safe space for sharing, and then we draw open-ended questions from bags and converse with one another about our feelings and experiences. It’s pure joy! I hope you’ll come join us.
So far, I’ve scheduled a Literary Salon at White Rock Library on Friday, March 28 from 10 – 11:30 am, and Nurture Starts with You at Aldergrove Library on Saturday, April 5 from 2 – 3 pm. For the full schedule of classes and salons at libraries this spring, please see my Libraries page.
Ruby Finch Pictures!
I decided to add a section in here for a dream I’ve had since I was 16 years of age. (It’s my longest held dream.) I saw Field of Dreams in the movie theatre in my hometown with my dad, and when the movie was over I went to the bathroom, locked the door on the stall, and wept like my heart was cracking in two.
All of the feelings that I had trouble acknowledging in my teenage life poured out of me that day. I decided I wanted to write movies and make them, so that I could give other people the kind of emotional catharsis that I had been given.
36 years have gone by from that day to now, and I still long to form a production company and make films and TV shows. So I’ve decided that this is the year to prioritise this dream. I’m going to start by adapting my YA novel Jamesy Harper’s Big Break into a screenplay, and then give myself the challenge of writing Post Civ as a TV series.
I’m not entirely sure yet of the specific steps I’ll need to take to form a production company and try to turn this dream into real life, but after running my company Ruby Finch Books for 18 months I feel ready for this new challenge. Here’s to pursuing our biggest dreams at any age or time in our life!
Book Corner
I wanted to read The Perfect Couple by Elin Hildebrand after watching the soapy Netflix adaptation, and the book was just as fun as the TV series. Plus the book has a different ending from the show which surprised me!
I loved It’s One of Us by J.T. Ellison because the inciting incident was so compelling. The police come to the door to tell a man that his son has committed a murder, but he doesn’t have any kids. Solving this mystery through flipping POVs made this book really hard to put down.
And I was happy to discover The Scottish Isle Mystery series by Lucy Connelly, which begins with An American in Scotland. Connelly had me at “murder in the Highlands” and I’ve just started the second book in the series and I’m loving it so far.
Intuitive Courage Podcast
For episode 8, I focused on The Negative Space, which is a concept I first wrote about in one of my MFA nonfiction classes in the spring of 2023. I tried writing a memoir on this topic in 2024, but I still felt too close to some of the things I was trying to explore in the book, so I shelved it for now and turned to my murder mystery novel instead.
But I remain fascinated by the visual art concept of negative space. Every piece of art has a positive space, which is the image we focus on, and this image is only possible because it is surrounded by negative space (also referred to as white space or air space). I’m so interested in how negative space works in our lives and our relationships, and also in our longings (i.e. what we wanted in life that we didn’t achieve or acquire, and how this negative space made our current lives possible).
Please have a listen on January 21st and let’s talk about how negative space affects us and how it’s so often overlooked but just as important as positive space.
Nurture Starts with You Class
When I decided to cancel the nurture retreat, I thought I would try an online class called Nurture Starts with You to see if there’s any interest in learning how to make our own self-care a higher priority. This will be an online class in March, using the learning platform Canvas, and it will run for 5 days and cost $75. Details are at my website under Classes. Please reach out at julianne@rubyfinchbooks.com for more info or if you’d like to join us!
I’m also continuing to teach The Writing Well classes monthly via zoom through Alexandra Writers’ Centre (they are inspiring, beautiful, and soul-fulfilling each time!) and I’m working one on one with writers for story nurture in the form of supportive, encouraging, cheerleading notes on early work so the writer can shape future drafts with more confidence. If any of this interests you, please reach out and let’s chat!
Write Your Novel or Memoir
We’ve just begun the Start section of my newest online writing class, and it’s everything I ever dreamed and more. Writers supporting one another, learning together about craft, process, creative practices, workshopping and doing one-word feeling check-ins each week? Yes please! It’s been such an inspiring experience.
If you’ve always wanted to write a novel or a memoir, or you’d like to work on a manuscript in community with others, please join us for the next session beginning October 19, 2025! For more info and testimonials, please see my Classes page.
TV Recs
We still have BritBox this month, so we’ve been watching loads of quality British mysteries, police procedurals, and heartwarming comedies.
For police shows, we adored A Confession, Sherwood, The Pembrokeshire Murders, and Des. For comedies, check out Mum and The Change. I’m really going to miss BritBox when our two-month special is over, but it’s been great fun for now!
The Best Cats in the Universe: Ted & Pippin
I realised when looking through my photos that I’m only taking pictures of Pip right now, because he’s so little and adorable, and clearly I need to give more photo attention to Ted. That’s a project for next month!
I’m so happy we’ve added Pippin into our home. He’s brought us so much joy in the last two months. He’s growing so fast, and playing so hard, and eating like he has a hollow leg. He’s been sleeping on the end of our bed, which no cat we’ve ever had has done, and it’s so lovely to have him with us (well, our sleep has been interrupted a whole lot more, but it’s short-term we hope and still very sweet).
Pip and Ted play really well together. I look forward to the day when they curl up with one another to sleep, but that hasn’t happened yet. Pippin is curious, and cuddly, and he looks at us with these old-soul eyes. I’m utterly smitten with him. Our whole house is his playground, and it makes me so happy to hear his loud purring whenever I come near him. What a delight he’s been.
Libraries forever,
Julianne and Ruby Finch Books