Calling all Kindred Spirits! 💙 Anne of a Different Island
I have a new book. Also cookies.
It’s release day!
When I was eight, my father brought a copy of Anne of Green Gables home from the library’s used-book sale. I’d been sick for a week, some kind of flu that left me confined to the house, antsy and bored. My easygoing father was useless in the sickroom, my mother said. (Uselessness, in her eyes, was a sin, like greed or envy or forgetting to take off your shoes in the house.) He’d stood there awkwardly in the door of my small room, his big carpenter’s hand wrapped around a battered green paperback with a red-haired girl on the cover, and I’d been overwhelmed with love.
He was not a reader, my dad. But somehow he’d understood (or been told by my English teacher, Mrs. Powell) that I needed Anne Shirley in my life. She became my fictional best friend, my inspiration, reassurance that a strange girl with a big imagination and a bigger mouth could find her place in the world.
—Anne of a Different Island
I was that girl, too. The one with the big imagination and the bigger mouth. So naturally I connected with Anne and (eventually!) wrote this book.
Anne of a Different Island is all about connection—about finding your kindred spirits in the world. Whether you grew up reading the original Anne books or are just looking for a cozy escape, I hope you’ll see something of yourself in this story, that you’ll find something that feels like coming home.
🌸💙🌸
I’m so excited to see you and share Anne’s story with you! Italian Guy has been test baking for the past week, inspired by Mackinac Island’s famous fudge.
Here’s his perfected recipe:
Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Makes 36 Cookies
Dry Ingredients:
2 C All Purpose Flour
1tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
¾ C Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
2 T Instant Espresso Powder
¼ tsp Ground Cardamom
Wet Ingredients:
1 C Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) Softened
1 C Granulated Sugar
1 C Dark Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Add-Ins:
1 ½ C Choc Chips
½ C Toffee Bits
½ C White Chocolate Chips (optional-use only REAL White Chocolate Chips)
Flaky Sea Salt for topping (Maldon)
Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use silicone mats.
• Mix together Dry Ingredients in a bowl. (Mix well, as cocoa powder can clump.)
• Cream Butter in a stand mixer. Add both Sugars. Continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add Eggs and Vanilla, beating until incorporated.
• Add Dry Ingredients slowly to Wet Ingredients. Beat slowly until just incorporated. Do not overmix, as this will lead to tough cookies.
• Fold in Mix-Ins.
• Scoop rounded tablespoons of cookie dough. (40g) Roll into balls and place on prepared cookie sheets- 2” apart.
• LIGHTLY press cookie dough balls in place with the palm of your hand. Just enough so they don’t roll around. Sprinkle with Sea Salt.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8 min. They might look “wet” but they will “set” out of the oven. Overbake the cookies and they lose their fudgy texture.
• Let cookies cool for 5 min, then transfer to a cooling rack.
💙🌸💙
If you’re in NC, come celebrate with us at
(Yes, there will be cookies.)
Chicago friends, I’ll be at
(with samosas and mimosas and the wonderful Sonali Dev!)
🌸💙🌸
I can’t wait!
Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.
—L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
xox
I'm so excited for you! I can't wait to read it. Unfortunately, my local indie called to say the warehouse was having a delay in receiving copies from the publisher. But what can you do? It will be in my hands soon enough. Congrats again on your publication day!