Back On My Shiz

Welcome, new subscribers and also: frogs!

(Not ‘welcome to frogs’ as readers, but if there are any frogs currently subscribed, then of course, enjoy this post.)

I’ve spent the best part of 2026 in Heated Rivalry psychosis (if you follow me on Threads, @SusannaAWriter, you’ll be familiar) but I couldn’t let the annual celebration of our amphibian friends go unremarked.

In A Duke at the Door, Miss Tabitha Barrington finds herself to locus of much interest amongst the single Shapeshifting gents of Lowell Hall and its environs.

Having not found love at her advanced age (35!)(This is Regency era geriatricism!) she’s baffled by the attention, and two hopeful suitors are in competition for her hand. Mr Giles is a goat Shifter and Mr Padmore, a frog.

I kept confusing myself as to whether Padmore was toad or a frog, which was silly since I made him up, and it was up to me in the end, after all. I would get myself all confused and then wonder what the difference was anyway, so I gave Tabitha the line to explain that “all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads”… and now I can’t remember why that is the case, UGH hang on—

I didn’t even have to finish typing into the search bar, I am sure I looked this up a billion times. IN SHORT: frogs are aquatic, while toads have adapted for land-living and have a thicker skin.

I’m not convinced this is a good enough explanation, so maybe consult worldfrogday.org for more info.

As always, see here for The Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde!