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Researching the Mail

  One of my favourite parts of any new Read by Candlelight book is the research. No matter what  the subject, I know I’m going to learn something new and unexpected. Case in point, the other day I was researching Victorian sleeping aids and ended up discovering that Queen Victoria used medicinal cannabis to treat her menstrual cramps. How cool is that? Writing The Dead Letter Office was a particular challenge, because while there are a ton of resources online focused on the Victorian period, for some reason, the Post Office got passed by. There is a museum dedicated to the Post in the UK, but alas, at the time I was doing my research, they were closed due to...

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Tips for dealing with imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is the belief that you don’t have the skills/experience/ability necessary to do your job, that others are more qualified, and that you are either going to fail or be exposed as a fraud. You don’t trust your instincts when it comes to your work, and you’re more likely to see any success as a fluke rather than the byproduct of your hard work.

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