As some of you know, I’ll be in Toronto, Canada this week to help celebrate Harlequin Books 75^th anniversary.

Harlequin Heartwarming publishes my Montana Carters miniseries and the next book, A Rancher’s Return, is out in October.

As a current Harlequin author, I’ve been invited to a special anniversary event.

In addition to meetings with my editorial and other teams, there’s a formal evening party at a Toronto hotel.

In my author life, I spend most days in a T-shirt, leggings and comfy slippers so this party is a welcome chance to dress up.

I have a new dress and borrowed a gorgeous 1930s shawl from a friend to ward off chilly breezes or arctic air conditioning.

But what about shoes?  

Shall I wear my stilettos with their gold-tipped spikes, on the far left in the photo?

Or should I choose the kitten heels with the little bow and leopard interior print (in the middle) that have been to cocktail parties from London to Hong Kong and back again?

Or perhaps go for my ‘jewellery in a shoe’ sparkly block heels (at the top)? While easier to walk in, they’re more suited to trousers than my dress with its flippy mid-calf skirt.

The dilemma is real and, as I write this blog post (several days before you read it), I’m still undecided.

From those who stopped wearing heels at age thirty, to women of eighty and beyond who still don their favourite sky-high footwear, now more than ever there are lots of acceptable choices.

And there’s also a middle ground. I may wear flats to walk to and from the event and put on my stilettos for the party only.

Meanwhile, as I teeter around my living room (having not worn heels since before the pandemic I need practice walking in them), part of me wonders if I should leave the heels to my fictional heroines and stick to bejeweled slippers in real life.

What do you think? In my next blog post, I’ll share some event photos so you can see my outfit for yourself.

Important book news

In case you missed it in my September reader newsletter or on social media, Soul Mate Publishing, which released two of my Jen Gilroy small-town contemporary romances, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls and A Wish in Irish Falls, sadly closes its doors on September 30, 2024.

What does this publisher’s closure mean for readers?

If you’ve purchased The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls or A Wish in Irish Falls for Kindle and haven’t downloaded them, be sure to do so by the end of this month.

After September 30, 2024, they’ll no longer be sold in Ebook or print, although the audio edition of The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls (from Blackstone Publishing) is unaffected and will still be available from all major audio retailers.

Additionally, if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member, you only have a few more days to read The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls and A Wish in Irish Falls in KU.