In partnership with
Before I tell you about our next great adventure, let me say this real quick (especially if you thought I stopped writing fiction while traveling): The Silence Architect, book 2 in The Memory Collector series is now on preorder:
Tap the image to preorder from Amazon. All other retailers: in my next email. If you have a Backstage Pass, skip the preorder because you’ll receive a copy long before everyone else.
Now, about the Artic. Drumroll, please…
We're doing a dramatic pivot and move to the Arctic. Well, just outside the Arctic Circle, but eighty missing kilometres don’t count, right? We're moving to a place in northern Sweden where the sun doesn't set for weeks in summer and barely peeks over the frozen forest in winter. Where it's -30°C (-22°F) in January, reindeer outnumber people, and bear, lynx, wolf, and wolverine have dined on Red Riding Hood ages ago.
Not this wolverine.
Is Tenerife too traumatic for us that we now yearn for the North Pole? LOL, nope. But definitely too crowded. Three neurodivergent hermit crabs in a holiday paradise full of humans and their noise? Let's just say our social batteries drained to zero.
But the real reason we're heading north has nothing to do with my personal vendetta against small talk.
Our trip across Europe was never just about recovering from burnout. We were also looking for a highschool for our daughter.
When she was diagnosed as autistic and gifted last summer on Gotland, I asked the psychologist what high schools existed for students like her. The answer: none. I'm not even paraphrasing here.
So we searched everywhere in Europe, and found the tiniest IB programme with 24 students from all over the world in Sweden, of all places, where IB programmes are free. Anywhere else in Europe, you pay between €10,000 and €25,000 per year. Who the hell has that much money? We don’t.
So that's that. We're packing up in April, then travel 6,000 kilometres with the plan to arrive in June.
Blue: 2025 tour; Pink: Planned 2026 tour
When we left Gotland October last year, we had zero plans of going back to Sweden. But this feels different. Yes, it’s going to be cold and dark half the year, but it’s surrounded by boreal forest, lakes, rivers, and the kind of vast emptiness that puts our minds at ease.
It also happens to be the landscape of my Micka & Katvar books. I'll admit that moving to where your fictional characters live is a somewhat extreme approach to background research. But I’m infamous for my “never a dull moment” lifestyle, so…
Wildlife Art
I wanted to share a progress picture of the red fox I’m currently working on. This one's a commission, so the original is already spoken for. But I've been getting enough "WHERE CAN I BUY A PRINT" messages that I'm making it official: starting next month, I'll offer museum-grade art prints through my shop. More details soon.
Red fox in watercolour, gouache, and pastel. Only the tail is finished. Everything else is just base layers so far, and still needs a lot of details.
And speaking of the fox...
Ink & Elsewhere
The fox is coming to your mailbox! March's snail mail includes a print of the finished piece, a photo from Magnus, a note from me, and, as always, free shipping.
If you’d like to see more of the progress and learn to draw, join our community:
Until next time,
This issue is sponsored by Inflow:
Simplify Your ADHD Management with Science
Finding the right way to manage ADHD can be exhausting. Inflow changes that by combining therapy-backed strategies with an easy-to-use platform.
Access bite-sized modules, live coworking sessions, and focus rooms to keep you on track. Whether you struggle with impulsivity, anxiety, or executive function, Inflow offers practical brain hacks to help you reclaim your time.
Take the free assessment to see how you can improve focus and create lasting habits in just 5 minutes a day.