Just so you know, I finished Jolene by Mercedes Lackey. Now for those of you who knew me before the Pandemic Lockdown. This would not be a big deal, I was reading 1-2 books per week.

However, just before lockdown I had a soul crushing year and was one week into a new job when lockdown occurred. I had great lockdown plans, I was going to finish writing my book. I was going to read everything in my TBR pile. I was going to stitch and finish all my WIPs and start all the previously kitted projects on my shelf.

And then it hit. A paralyzing stress reaction where all I wanted to do was deny that I was stressed. My kids actually insisted I go find a switch (ended up with a Switch Lite and Animal Crossing).

And so I numbed my busy mind with building a 5 star island. Come August, I held a virtual get together with some local stitchers and agreed to stitch a model for a very busy designer. That woke me up a little and I started stitching again. I’ve now managed to stitch at least a little every single day since Sept 22, 2020.

But reading and writing have not returned. I have 2 maybe 3 of the Louise Penny Detective Gamache novels ready to read. I have a stack of business books on my Kindle and Google Play account ready to go as soon as my reading desire returns. I’m hoping that the reading bug is off playing with my writing bug.

See, I’ve put together a boatload of slide decks but no actual writing is required for that. It’s just a matter of finding the right pictures. Blogging has not been happening and YouTube filming is still halted.

So, you see, finishing a book is a big deal right now. It’s a step back to normal for me. True during lockdown I listened to several books but only Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky which convinced me that I will never give another penny to the March of Dimes again.

So let me tell you about Jolene – It’s an entry in the Elemental Masters series by Lackey. The publisher would have you believe it’s the first on American soil but they weren’t the publisher on Fire Rose which preceded the current list of Elemental masters.

Jolene is an adaptation of The Queen of Copper Mountain. And yes, there is a part where the Dolly Parton song is paraphrased. The setting is in the hollers of coal and copper mining areas just after the civil war.

I am motivated now to go read the Annie Oakley Elemental master book which I have missed reading in the series. Or, I could go restart the Phantom Tollbooth that I started and didn’t finish when lockdown first started.