Nan’s Notebook
East Coast USA
Use a news reader app?
Get new posts from Nan!
Just copy and paste this address into your reader service:
https://www.4seasonshelf.com/blog?format=rss
Novel cover reveal
Nan is surprised to find she hasn't mentioned her novel much on her blog, though she's been working on it almost a decade. Ready or not, it's coming out soon, and we need to get caught up here. Let's start with the cover reveal for “The Clerk and the Ink Drinker in the Outer Lands Mission” by N. G. Swett. November 2025
“The Clerk and the Ink Drinker in the Outer Lands Mission” by N.G. Swett
It surprises me to find that I haven't said much here on this blog about my biggest, longest running project: my novel! I've been working quietly on it for nearly a decade. It's coming out now, ready or not.
Let's begin with the cover reveal! That's what authors do, right?! See front and back covers below, followed by a short cover reveal video.
Thank you to friends and family who helped with the cover design, it made a HUGE difference.
Where is the Outer Lands Archipelago on the U.S. east coast? Is it a real place?
A map and brief field notes by Nan Patience
Hey there, just a few quick field notes on this place. Do you know about the Outer Lands?
A lot of people don’t know about this archipelago, but you may know more about it than you think!
The islands of the Outer Lands Archipelago is located on the American northeastern coast. The long line of islands came into being 30,000 years ago when the Labrador Glacier halted at the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
The archipelago includes many beautiful and storied islands, such as Long Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, and many more along this ancient coastal region. What most people don’t know is that there’s this fantastic name for them, the “Outer Lands.” If you didn’t know, now you know.
The islands all have four seasons and similar natural histories.
Remoteness has left them untouched by time compared to the mainland. This can be quaint but also quite interesting…
Their primordial wisdoms mix with local and global currents and find their way into most of my recent projects. I’ll have to wait and see if readers and art lovers can feel it. Can you see it on this website yet at all? I’m obsessed!
It’s where I live, and it’s HQ for 4seasonshelf.
P.S. I made this map on Canva by adding graphic elements to Google satellite imagery and with guidance from natural history book, Outer Lands, by naturalist and writer Dorothy Sterling as well as the “Outer Lands” Wikipedia article among other sources. See Wikipedia entry for Outer Lands.