Dear readers and listeners,

February is here, and I’m still in the in-between.

I’m continuing the job hunt, slowly, steadily, while also reformatting my English books so they can be stocked in French bookstores. It’s meticulous work, but it feels like building something that might last and lead to more opportunities here.

And in better news: I found a real vintage piano for an absurdly good price, and it now lives in my home. It desperately needs tuning, but even in its imperfect state, it feels grounding. There’s something about real wood, real keys, real resonance that digital instruments simply can’t replicate.

🎧 The audiobook of Between the Living and the Dead is out.
If you’d like a free listening code, just reply. I still have some available.

🎹 I released a 30-minute neoclassical melancholic music video on YouTube after the success of the initial 1 hour video I created.

🎤 What Happened is now officially on Spotify.
It’s also been played on a few small French and Canadian radio stations, which still feels surreal. I even made a tap dance video to go with it, because why not?

🎙️ I tested out two different studios this month: completely different atmospheres, completely different creative energies. It’s fascinating how much a room and the engineer changes the way you record.

✍️ I’m very close to finishing my new poetry chapbook.
And I’ve started outlining the next story in the Quiet Dreamers series, which feels like stepping back into a familiar but evolving world. In case you’d like to step into that world before the next installment takes shape, revisit the first story in the series.

Even in a season that feels uncertain, things are moving. Quietly. Imperfectly. But moving.

Thank you for being here. Whether you read every word or simply open these newsletters now and then. It matters more than you know.

I’m trying something simple this month.

If you’re reading this, hit reply and send me one word that describes your February.

That’s it.

I’ll read every single one.

Until next time,
Sophie

“Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos… to celebrate a world that lies spread out around us like a bewildering and stupendous dream.” ― John Cheever