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W.L.’s Year In Books

W.L.’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at W.L.’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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W.L.’s Friends (30)

Herman Simons

106 books | 301 friends

Crystal books_inthewild

2,738 books | 109 friends

Christine

3,249 books | 78 friends

Black M.D.

69 books | 2,733 friends

Genevieve Chinaza.N

144 books | 3 friends

Jennifer Kleinsteuber

425 books | 2,492 friends

Nandhiji Nandhiji

7 books | 3,368 friends

E.Michael Helms

767 books | 695 friends

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W.L. Hawkin

Goodreads Author

Born

in Toronto, Canada

March 10

Website

https://bluehavenpress.com

Twitter

ladyhawke1003

Genre

Mystery, Suspense, Romance

Influences

https://www.goodreads.com/kelleyarmst...
Diana Gabaldon
https://www.good ...more

Member Since

October 2016

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ladyhawke1003

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W. L. Hawkin writes myth, magic, and mayhem designed to inspire and entertain. Described as “intoxicating, lush, magically-edgy, page-turners,” her Hollystone Mysteries series features a coven of witches who solve murders using their wits and ritual magic with a little help from the gods. Wendy is also a published blogger, book reviewer, Indie publisher, and poet, with a background in Indigenous Studies and English literature. She loves myth and magic, so when she’s not writing, she’s studying Druidry, shamanism, and mediumship. Although she is an introvert, in each book, her characters go on a journey where she has traveled herself.

She defies genre by writing character-driven fast-paced mysteries and thrillers that involve fantastical cha ...more

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Ask the Author

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Popular Answered Questions

What books are on your summer reading list this year?

W.L. Hawkin This summer I am researching archaeological finds in Ireland. I'll start at the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin and move from there. Books wi…moreThis summer I am researching archaeological finds in Ireland. I'll start at the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin and move from there. Books will arise.

To get in the mood I'm planning to read:
The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart who writes the Nora Gavin mysteries. "This time it’s a ninth-century man’s body in the bog, but what is he doing in the trunk of a car, and why is the body of Benedict Kavanagh, a pop philosopher missing for months, residing beneath the bog man? T Both murders, we learn, are tied to an ancient manuscript whose power to incite passion seems to be very much alive."

Apart from that, I don't really plan my reading. I choose what I'm in the mood for, what appears and intrigues, or something related to my studies.
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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

W.L. Hawkin My life reads like a mystery; unfortunately, sharing the intriguing bits could get me sued by living breathing characters. It's too close to now.

But t…moreMy life reads like a mystery; unfortunately, sharing the intriguing bits could get me sued by living breathing characters. It's too close to now.

But there is another mystery in my life; one I'm most intrigued by, and which is on my list to write. It concerns one of my grandfathers: a man named Thomas.

He is the man I imagine. The one I stalk; or who perhaps stalks me. I wonder...does Thomas want me to unravel his tale? Seek evidence in centuries old documents? Does he demand justice for his murder? For that was always what the family called it: a murder.

As all good murder mysteries do, this one begins with a body: Thomas VanSickler was murdered at age thirty-seven while at a dance on the western Michigan frontier.

He and his wife Lezze moved south from Canada three years before. They’d been involved in the Red River Rebellion in 1869; the year Louis Riel was chosen as leader of the Resistance. Lezze was Tuscarora and one of her brothers had already fled; a wanted man.

In 1870, Thomas is listed as a labourer, but by 1872 he is farming. He has $500 in real estate, and $275 in personal cash. In a letter to his brother dated September 8, 1872 (likely the last letter he ever wrote) he says he has planted cabbages, corn, and potatoes, and has seven acres of buckwheat, almost ripe. He bought a three-year-old heifer who gives a very good mess of milk, and paid $17 for a horse. Things are looking up for Thomas in Freemont, Michigan.

He writes: "you might sea the boys. i got four now. We had one come day before yesday, friday morning half past nine o’clock. He was nine pounds and a half. He is smart and missus is smart too." He was called Obadiah after his grandfather and uncle.

Within days, Thomas is dead.

I wonder now... just how smart is the missus?

Thomas is a jealous man with a bad temper. And a man, no doubt, who likes his whiskey. That night, while the two of them are out at some social event, a neighbour named Simon Mark flirts with Lezze. When Thomas notices, a fist fight erupts, and in the end, he is dead: a battered body on a sawdust floor.

Nothing too unusual here. Men drink, fights break out, bottles crack, knives flash, and heads break…

But…Lezze marries his killer within eighteen months. And when she dies in childbirth (three years and three pregnancies later) Simon Mark walks that fourth son to the nearest railway station, sticks a label on his chest, and puts him on a train bound for Canada. Obadiah is just seven years old.

It is Obadiah who told the story of his father’s murder to his grand-daughters, who told it to me. For seven years, he lived with the man who murdered his father. How would that affect a boy? And, what happened to the other four children? At the time of his murder, Alice was thirteen, James ten, John six, and William three. Had he already sent them back to their grandmother in Canada? And why did they always say that Thomas was murdered: a term that implies pre-meditation and motive.

Was Lezze involved with Simon Mark? Knowing of Thomas’s temper, why would she risk any association with another man in public?

Was Thomas drunk enough to rage, but too drunk to fight? Or was it all a tragic misunderstanding? An accident? Or self-defence.

Was Simon Mark in love with Lezze, or did he just do the right thing by taking in the grieving widow and a brood of boys that would surely someday revenge their father's death.

Did Lezze want to marry her husband's killer? Or was she forced? Or...did the two of them conspire to rid the world of Thomas and gain Lezze her freedom?

What do you think? Does the Tale of Thomas have the makings of a historical mystery? Would you like to know what happened that September night out on the Michigan frontier? (less)

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Combine Editions
W.L. Hawkin’s books

Average rating: 4.52 · 117 ratings · 77 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	To Charm a Killer (A Hollystone Mystery #1) 4.21 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lure: Jesse & Hawk 4.89 avg rating — 18 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Sleep with Stones (A Hollystone Mystery #2) 4.50 avg rating — 18 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Kill a King (A Hollystone Mystery #4) 4.59 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Render a Raven (Hollystone Mysteries Book 3) 4.50 avg rating — 10 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Writing with your Muse: A Guide to Creative Inspiration 4.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Dance with Destiny (Hollystone Mysteries Book 5) 4.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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W.L. Hawkin's Blog

Owen Laukkanen’s take on the SiWC

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Owen Laukkanen. I was one of the lucky writers who managed to sneak into a “blue pencil” session with him (he had a cancellation) and we had a brilliant conversation and a few laughs. But, Owen also told me what worked and where I could prolong the tension to create more suspense in the first chapter of my new novel. It was a first draft of a scene I’d written two days before so I

Series by W.L. Hawkin

A Hollystone Mystery (4 books)
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W.L. Hawkin (Goodreads Author)

4.39 avg rating — 83 ratings

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W.L. Hawkin rated a book it was ok Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know by Angus Fletcher (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I read this book for work as part of our Professional Development book club. It’s listed under Cognitive Psychology on Amazon, if that helps to put it in perspective. Let’s say it’s a pitch for new ways of using the human brain peppered with rhetoric ...more
Dec 08, 2025 10:38AM · 6 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin liked J.P. McLean's review of The Witch Killer (The Man in Black Book 1): "Casts a Haunting Spell The Witch Killer casts a haunting spell as the first novel in The Man in Black series — a shadowed world where Wicca weaves through every heartbeat and death lurks around every corner. With a coven bound by secrets, a diverse an" Read more of this review »
Jun 21, 2025 01:22PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Witch Killer by Harper Carr. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Witch Killer by Harper Carr <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin wants to read The Witch Killer (The Man in Black Book 1) by Harper Carr	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 30, 2025 07:19PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Witch Killer by Harper Carr. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Witch Killer by Harper Carr <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin rated a book really liked it Truly the Devil's Work (The Circus Salmagundi Mysteries #1) by Kim Bannerman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Impressive! Bannerman's voice is strong, her phrasing colorful, her sense of how to write a mystery strong. I've never been a fan of the circus. My mother said once, she was surprised by a gorilla when she was pregnant. True tale. But in Bannerman's ...more
Jan 30, 2025 06:59PM · like · see review
W.L. Hawkin and 1 other person liked Crystal books_inthewild's review of Truly the Devil's Work (The Circus Salmagundi Mysteries #1): "Wow! If this was ever the nudge you needed to try that indie author, that ‘new to you’ genre, or dive into a book regardless of the cover or title or synopsis- and just give it a shot- THIS is it! I LOVED THIS BOOK! The main character is totally deli" Read more of this review »
Jan 30, 2025 06:58PM · see review
W.L. Hawkin liked Scribble's Worth Book Reviews's review of To Dance with Destiny (Hollystone Mysteries Book 5): " What do you expect to read after “once upon a time” ? Keep that in mind, because it won’t be what you’ll get from To Dance with Destiny by W. L. Hawking. The good news? The surprise will be delightful, witty, funny, and what follows can only be desc" Read more of this review »
Jan 29, 2025 08:15PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of To Dance with Destiny by W.L. Hawkin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — To Dance with Destiny by W.L. Hawkin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin rated a book it was amazing Bad Cree by Jessica Johns	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
How and why does a Cree become a “bad” Cree. Johns explains in this, her debut novel, but be forewarned. You’ll need to sit back and hold on because this story will catch you like a crow’s claw to the gut and drag you through the elements. Bad Cree is ...more
Jan 10, 2025 08:36PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bad Cree by Jessica Johns. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bad Cree by Jessica Johns <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin rated a book it was amazing Carillon's Caliber: Book 3 of Men of the Shadows by Sionnach Wintergreen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Thomas Carillon and Marshall Hadrian Burton take epic risks in this book. Gay lovers sharing a home at a time when homosexuality is a crime. 1890. "Sodomy carried a five to fifteen year imprisonment." We can have nothing but compassion for these two ...more
Jan 10, 2025 07:36PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Carillon's Caliber by Sionnach Wintergreen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Carillon's Caliber by Sionnach Wintergreen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin rated a book liked it The Last Word by Elly Griffiths (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I am a huge Elly Griffiths fan. I've read all of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries over the years and enjoyed them immensely. I feel like I know the characters and the archaeology is a bonus as Griffiths does such extensive research into the past. That's w ...more
Jan 02, 2025 09:00PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Last Word by Elly Griffiths. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Last Word by Elly Griffiths <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
W.L. Hawkin marked as didn-t-make-it-through Lore by Alexandra Bracken (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 02, 2024 11:32AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Lore by Alexandra Bracken. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Lore by Alexandra Bracken <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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W.L.’s Quotes

“it was the kind of moon
that I would want to
send back to my ancestors
and gift to my descendants

so they know that I too,
have been bruised...by beauty.”
― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence