Ellen and I met up to enjoy a lunch and talk shop. There are many fun projects we work together and so much to discuss for the coming new year. One of the topics was this blog. RoadBroads has had a journey of its own since its inception. Now, it may be time for it to take a new path once again.
This blog began with a trip Ellen and Melanie took to Boulder, Colorado for June Retreat. This was pre-pandemic and every year Max Regan of Hollowdeck Press hosted two 10-day sessions to get your project growing. Ellen and Melanie decided to drive up from Houston. The drive birthed the idea of a blog for traveling women — RoadBroads.
During those first years, Ellen and Melanie wrote about an array of trips they took, some by car, others in various modes of transportation. They hosted guest bloggers, like me, to talk about their own trips. I remember writing up Rental Car Hell from my trip to Italy for the blog.
Then COVID struck. Ellen and Melanie decided that the focus of the blog should shift. They began writing about a creative woman’s life journey. When Melanie stepped away from the blog, Ellen brought me and Rachel on board. This created an interesting dynamic of the life of three female creatives at very different stages of life’s journey.
Now, as Rachel has stepped back, and life begins to shift once more, Ellen and I discussed the future of this blog and what we want it to be moving forward. One consideration we discussed is our desire to grow the blog’s audience. In researching blogging, we found that the strongest blogs have a narrow topic focus.
Both Ellen and I are speculative fiction authors with unique worlds that our characters live in. Ellen has her grim reapers. I have Thyrein’s Galactic Wall. We have both had short stories set in these worlds published as a result of contest wins and anthology submissions. While Ellen is still working on her first full novel in her world, I have two novels out for mine.
In view of this, we have decided that in 2025 this blog will focus on our worlds. Each post will discuss some element of our respective story universes. We might write about the setting of a particular scene or short story, or we might share tidbits of character’s backstory that can’t go into the book proper. In the midst of this, we will discuss our writing process as well as share insight into what makes our creative juices flow and why we work in these genres.
Of course, there will be blogs on creative life in general, such as when we do readings or enter contests, as well as conferences and retreats we attend. In fact, I’m writing this post from Galveston, Texas, where I’m on a short writing retreat with some friends now.
We hope that by sharing our writing, our worlds, and the journey of being a working author, you will enjoy and follow not only this blog, but our publications as well. And, maybe it will help us to grow the consistent audience of this blog. One thing is for sure, we enjoy collaborating and that’s not changing any time soon.
So be ready this year to learn all about Willow, the Paladium, Grim Reaper Headquarters, Dragonborn Kings, Intergalactic Alliances, Gortive Offensives, Rajin Masters, their Elmalin counterparts, and a whole host of other beings and places from the wild imaginations of Ellen Seaton and Fern Brady.
Saturday, November 18, starting at 6pm, writers from Houston Writers Guild and Women in the Visual and Literary Arts will be at Brazos Bookstore for the annual Haunted Holidays Short Story Reading. This event began as the brainchild of the amazing 
If you are a writer and would like to read a story that evening, there are still some spots available. You can register on the information page on the 
I don’t know about you, but I have been watching the news lately. There are a couple of stories I am following, but still too much of the serious stuff is not good for my mental health. So, this week I have taken the time to enjoy all of the great pictures that are coming from the Webb Telescope. More and more of them keep getting shared on the internet. I hope you have enjoyed them as well. Folks are having lots of fun with them on Facebook. This is one of my favorites. It really helps me put all of my earthly worries into perspective.
I also like this other picture. I have suggested to Fern Brady that there is a dragon in there. Think about how much fun science fiction writers can have with a dragon that flies around from one universe to another. Maybe this is the reincarnation of Puff the Magic Dragon of the song that was released by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963. I’ll just bet Puff lives on a planet called Honah Lee. Excuse me if you are not old enough to get the reference. Check out the song on Google or YouTube. I promise you will be enchanted.
Since I am not traveling, I don’t have any travel pictures to use in this blog post. But, don’t worry! Whenever I need a picture, there is always my cat, Hannah. While I am not traveling like so many others, I am getting laundry done. Hannah loves laundry day, especially when I wash and dry a load of towels. During the last couple of years doing things like laundry over a holiday weekend wouldn’t have been so noteworthy. During the pandemic, travel was much more complicated and restricted. Staying in hotels and all the variations of B
Now that July is here, I have completed the June Writing Intensive that I attended literally all month long. Many thanks to Max Regan for holding this retreat every year. I was pleased with the writing I accomplished and my story arc seems solid (at least at this moment in time). Now the trick is to keep up the momentum of my writing until next June. In addition to attending many zoom sessions and spending lots of time writing my current story, I listened to the news. My head is still reeling from everything I heard. I don’t care what your political affiliation is, this has been a wild time to be alive and alert. In the current stories I am writing, the main character is a Grim Reaper. One morning before a zoom class I walked into my office to find my friend sitting on my desk. She was expressing her displeasure with what she had heard recently. Why yes, my characters keep up with current events and express themselves as appropriate. One of the great parts about being a writer is that I can always conjure up a cast of characters to demonstrate my ideas and opinions of society. In case you’ve never seen the Grim Reaper, this is her picture.
Okay, to end on a happier note for a holiday weekend, I did get to go to see the Houston Ballet. My date and I wore masks, because we were inside at a crowded event. I am always delighted that the Houston Ballet gets the crowd it so well deserves, but I am very disappointed at the number of audience members who go without face masks. I understand that this pandemic is slowly getting better, but I still prefer to take safety precautions. Don’t take it personally if I try to avoid you if you walk around with a naked face. But the Ballet was wonderful. I have come to expect nothing less from a company with so many talented people.
Last Saturday I spent a good bit of time outside, which was surprising since the weather has turned quite warm. However, I met up with some of my WiVLA (Women in the Visual and Literary Arts) sisters in the pavilion located at Smither Park on Munger Street. This park is an ongoing living, breathing and growing art installation. WiVLA has been working on a design for a small part of the wall. We hope to design in the summer and actually create it in the fall (hopefully with cooler temperatures). All materials used in the creation of artistic pieces in this Park are made with recycled and found materials.
There are also 3‑D and life sized pieces of art to enjoy. Rumor has it if you sit down at this table, the nice couple will actually talk to you while you enjoy a refreshing beverage. While we were there enjoying the scenery, a couple of artists were working on some on-going projects. I can’t wait to see what WiVLA comes up with for their section of the wall. In the warehouse next to Smither Park, I think I saw some folks working on an Art Car for next year’s Art Car Parade. So much color and so much creativity.
I even managed to get a selfie of sorts while I studied my reflection in a large mirror. This is located in a second pavilion where music plays and if you stand in the right spot you can hear echos. How do I look? I feel quite Picassoesque. If you look closely you can actually see my feet and maybe a hand. My face is there somewhere. See if you can find it.
Happy New Year all you dear readers! With Covid still at the top of all news cycles, I actually do have some good news to begin with for my first blog of 2022. You may remember that at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, I had a piece of collage art work that was accepted for exhibition at Rice University. I was thrilled. I was delighted. When everything shut down, I was devastated, disappointed, and forlorn. There was a virtual reception of the art, but there was no public showing.
What’s the rush you ask? This premature display of hearts and flowers is all ready beginning to crop up. It’s just as if Cupid was hiding behind Santa’s sleigh holding on to his bow and arrow just waiting to jump out and start working his love magic. Good grief. By the time Valentine’s Day actually gets here, I am going to be quite sick of all the red and pink decorations. At least I haven’t seen any goofy decorations popping up in my neighborhood.
Contemplating this conundrum and planning my future meeting, I went to the Arboretum to receive some solace from nature; including trees, squirrels, and turtles. I found that solace, but also found a path where apparently the armadillos had enjoyed a dance party the night before. Obviously they hide out during the day to rest up after all of their raucous partying.
Just in case you ever wondered if I have any skeletons in my closet, you now have proof. Here is Skellington hanging out in the back of my closet (and he’s not the only one). Actually he has decided to hang out back there until all the commotion is over. Yes, normally he takes part in all of the commotion that goes on in my life, but he is going to sit this one out for the next couple of weeks.
Now, don’t worry, I am having professionals install the carpeting. They will move large furniture, but all items must be emptied out by yours truly. That means that the carpet layers will move the bookshelves, but I have to remove all of the books in the bookshelves. As you can guess, I have more than one book case.
public library. That’s right. I donated 300 books and I still have plenty to fill the shelves back up when this is all over. Do not judge me. Some people buy crack. I buy books. The kind you can hold in your hands and feel the paper. None of that wimpy eBook nonsense.
Yes, I am very excited about this holiday tradition and have been writing and rewriting what I hope will be a fun story to share. My muse has been busy assisting me on this project. You may recognize this particular character. He was also my Halloween muse and will probably continue in this helpful position as New Year’s muse and Spring muse. As I am sure you know, skeletons aren’t just for Halloween anymore. If I’m really nice to my muse, he has promised that I can wear his hat for the Spooky Christmas zoom.
my favorite hair dresser, Carol Cooley. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, she has arranges Porch Cuts, which in this case is actually a garage cut. Wherever is fine with me. I’m just glad she is able to work out this arrangement with her clients, because she has quite the dedicated following. For anyone who hasn’t seen me since the pandemic changed everyone’s life, I no longer have bangs. And my hair is going “gorgeously grey” as they say. I feel like I am coming more into my own as my hair gets long and grey. I let it blow in the wind and don’t even try to pretend it’s under control. Such freedom and fun. You can decide for yourself if it’s a good look and tell me your opinions after Spooky Christmas. I promise I won’t change a thing, but will enjoy reading your opinions.
You might think from the looks of this picture, that I went out into nature for a bit of camping. Well, you’d be wrong. Anyone who knows me, knows that I haven’t been camping for decades. At the end of the day I am either at home in my own bed or snuggling down in a hotel room. Preferably a hotel with room service and the little bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Yet, this is a picture taken on a day I spent outside at the Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary. Located way out on the west side of Houston, this was my first visit there. So far out west we were around the area of Memorial Drive and Dairy Ashford. It was decided to go there after a brief trip to the Blue Willow Book Shop. Yes, of course, I bought a few books.
Anyway, after all of my visits at the Houston Arboretum, it was nice to explore some new territory. While strolling through part of the 17 acres, I saw several pumpkins that had been placed on the ground as a snack for any animals who were hungry. I had heard there was supposed to be a shortage of pumpkins this year, but I did not see any proof of it. The orange gourds may have been more expensive, but they were definitely plentiful. And there seem to be plenty left in the stores for Thanksgiving pies.
