I like the number 13. I’ve never experienced any bad luck as a result of it. I’ve spent my life contemplating its maligned character and contriving ways to support it.
You see, way back in the year 1959, on a chilly January evening, my mother gave birth to me. On the 13th.
And of course members of my cohort began teasing me as soon as they were able to comprehend that I had been born on a day that was considered unlucky.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Are you into resolutions? Starting something new with the new year?
For me, although it’s not new, it’s fiction writing. So it’s more of a return to something. After my last novel came out in September, 2022 (“Ten Days in May”), I took a long break from writing. Well over a year, in fact. Through the books (and the years), I’ve taken longer breaks between manuscripts. I marvel at how I used to write a book a year while working a full-time job. Now I’m mostly retired and I’m writing a book every couple of years. Go figure!
So if you’re diving back into writing after a long break (because hey, life gets in the way more often than we would like), I’ve got some tips that have helped ease the transition for me.
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This is my last blog for 2023. It is hard to believe the year is almost over.
In less than three weeks, we will jump feet first into a new year. It’s impossible to not be sad that you didn’t accomplish everything you were hoping for on your to-do list or goal-oriented calendar. At the same time, excitement is rumbling in your tummy for a new year to start. January always presents a clean slate that allows you to create a new list of endless possibilities.
To make the new goal list, it is always fun to use the week off from work—between Christmas and New Year’s Eve—to realize just how much you have accomplished over the last twelve months. Sometimes, reflecting on our experiences, whether they were fabulous success stories, terrible embarrassing moments, or memorable explosive train wrecks you never want to mention again… they all led to baby steps in your progress to conquer the “big thing” you have been daydreaming about for years.
What is that “big thing” I’m talking about?
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This week my blog takes me to looking at the shape our world is in.
Perception is everything.
Wars, poverty, pollution, stress, disinformation, mental illness, greed, corruption, isolation, bigotry, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, the 6th wave of mass extinctions.
It’s a mess. Read more
Last I left you, dear reader, I had submitted my first fifty pages, query and synopsis for critique, to a NYTimes bestselling author and I was awaiting her notes. In the meantime, my husband had knee replacement surgery and I lost what was to be my bountiful writing time. But hey, life happens…
And it happened to the author / editor I was waiting for. She was busy promoting her latest book and then fell ill, but remained in touch so I always knew what was happening. While I waited, I played around with ideas for my new novel, re-read writing books, bought more writing books. And a surprise book showed up. At first, I thought maybe I lost track of my purchases, but then remembered the author saying she wanted to send me this book.
It has been a couple of months since my last days of paid work but my working norm of being frantic to get things done has has just begun to ease up. I was eager to get at some big housekeeping jobs that had never reached priority status before retirement. As gratifying as it was to make progress on these chores, I realized I was tackling the jobs like I had a deadline. Having now steam-cleaned most surfaces in the house, emptied drawers and closets and purged a couple of truckloads of trash to the dump and donations to the usual organizations, it is time to shift gears.
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A few weeks back, I got a text,
“Coopers hurt. Can you check him out when you get home?”
Cooper had a deep and dangerous puncture, high up inside his back leg. It tracked into his groin and was only a breath away from puncturing his abdomen. It could have been life threatening. Considering our walking track and their playground is our zig-zagging forested trails through our maple sugar bush, I surmised Cooper must have snagged a branch in the wrong spot, at the wrong moment. Read more
Several decades ago, before I even had a steady boyfriend, I had this weird habit of flipping through bridal magazines, dreaming about the perfect wedding, the over-the-top Royal Princess taffeta ballgown, the jovial bridal party, and spending the most romantic honeymoon hiking through the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania.
That never happened for me.
I mean, I did have a wedding–in fact, I had TWO beautiful weddings to two different people, with incredible velvet and satin dresses, and cool-but-not-that-funny bridal parties, but I never experienced the thrill of hiking through the Poconos Mountains… until this past weekend. A part of my old daydream finally did come true, slightly skewed from the original fantasy.
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