Well, this is unlooked for – and almost missed. 

I just learned that Independent Book Review included The Maenad’s God in its list of best books of 2022.  For a late-in-the-year release from a quiet little indie press (mine), I’m just . . . blown away. Complete list here.

And  . . . I also learned that it won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award back in November (hence the celebratory photo with the gold sticker).

Eh . . . cool.

So . . . the image.  I know it’s standard to post comfy-read images of newly-released books laid near inviting mugs of coffee – so I started to create one for fun. But I added a traditional Quebec Christmas Eve tourtière.  (OK – maybe not so traditional, as I made this one with chicken – not beef and pork).  Anyway, it’s sitting with the coffee and pretending to be a traditional New England apple pie.

Really it is. Pretending. Look close and you’ll almost see it.  Because what cries “comfort food” more convincingly than apple pie? 

Besides, in a book where fantasy and reality have a hard time telling themselves apart, the imaginary union of Canadian and New England cuisine felt metaphorically perfect.

You are reading a post from Matter Notes, Karen Michalson’s blog on creativity as spirituality and the war on the humanities. Her most recent novel, The Maenad’s God, is available on Amazon.