I thought it was a good idea at the time...

For the first time in 14 years I have not ordered the new Anne Bishop book. Ordering the book in late February or early March has been a ritual for half of my life. I'm 28 so you can take that literally. 

I read a lot. My eyes happily devour books. I really need to turn it into a career because I enjoy it and find it so easy. JK Rowling brought magic into my life, but it is Anne Bishop who really got me reading. Her books have given me hope when there was none. They distracted me during periods of isolation and pain. They gave me strong yet imperfect role models that encouraged my imperfect self to be strong also. The books are stored on a shelf by my bed so that they are always at hand and under the gaze of my eye first thing in the morning and last thing at night. My love for them is immense.

I discovered Anne Bishop's books when I was 13. They are not 'age appropriate' for a 13 year old but I fell in love hard and fast. Really nothing I read was very 'age appropriate' but who cares! When you find writing that takes you into another world and gives you hours of joy you need to hold onto that. Which I have. For 14 years I guaranteed that death-grip hold by pre-ordering her publications, sometimes months in advance. (Hello 'Written In Red' when I put my name down for a pre-order in NOVEMBER)

I even took to joking that Christmas happens in March because that was when her new book would be released. Well, maybe not completely joking. Normally I would be busy at Christmas, either housework, farmwork or social work (aka keeping certain relations sober and/or entertained) but March, oh, March! I would give a weekend to myself to read books. No television. No eating things that require 2 hands. Just me and the beautiful words. I got into the habit of reading the preceding books in the series before I read the new one, so sometimes that required an entire week of reading ritual. 

So why oh why am I not ordering the newest delicacy? 

I am ridiculously neurotic about matching. When I can, I buy a box set because they are a set meant to be displayed together. I madly spend beyond my means to buy matching covers when I find out they are changing the cover on a series because I must have the matching set, nothing different will do. This drove me to second hand book stores and collecting out of print stand-alone novels because they don't set off my matchy-matchy alarms. I find visual peace in conforming unity. It triggers a sense of uplifting well-being as I gaze across series of homogeneous spines. 

Anne Bishop used to release new books as paperbacks, but she has gained popularity, upgrading to large format (seven years) then hard-covers for the past five years. This was a new series. A whole different beast. So it all fit well enough by having a shape all it's own. This year again she released in hard-cover, which is great really. Kudos. Anne Bishop you really deserve the hard-cover prestige. However, this years release is a continuation of The Black Jewels which has only been released in paperback 11x18cm format. This new book won't fit. No matchy-matchy with all the other nine Black Jewels books. I writhe in pain.  

COVID-19 has sort of taken the decision out of my hands. I will be self-isolating. I will wait for the paperback release. I will wait for the paperback release because another important part of the ritual is the pilgrimage to the loyal bookstore that always has Anne Bishop on the shelf. In the meantime I think I'll check out their website to see what other series I can finish off
:)