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.
Well, flash forward two years and the exhibition is on again and my art work will be displayed during the Spring Semester which starts on Monday, January 10th. Be still my fluttering heart! It will be in the Peter T. Brown Gallery on the first floor of the Anderson-Clarke Building on the Rice Campus. I can’t wait until I go see it! Also, while I am there, I may actually be able to walk around the campus like I haven’t done since March 2020. I’ve missed looking at all of the art that is spread around the campus and I am proud now to be a part of that.
I was flying high on my happy emotions, but then I walked into a big store. I will not name the store, because I don’t want to bring shame to their name. However, if you wanted to shoot an arrow at the big red dot, you might be able to figure it out. What did I see? Red, red and more red. Valentine’s Day Red. On another aisle, there was the color green as in shamrocks and St. Patrick’s Day decorations. Now I know you have heard my rants about Halloween and Thanksgiving being swallowed up by Christmas. And unlike Halloween when decorations are taken down right away to make room for the jolly red fat fellow, Christmas decorations are still up in many places. Of course that’s all right because there’s not another holiday for a long, long time. What’s the rush?
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.
At some point I am going to call a meeting of all the holiday witches, skeletons, both Santa and Mrs. Claus, Cupid and a few Leprechauns to discuss this ever increasing blending of holidays. The phrase that comes to mind on this topic is “Stay In Your Lane!”
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.
I promise to keep you posted about my plans for a Holiday Coordinating meeting. I wonder if the armadillos would like to be invited?
Until next time.….
Not that any of the drivers needed urging. Blowing horns is the constant chatter of conversation among Indian drivers. Some drivers favor the short, continuous toot, others prefer the long uninterrupted blast. Together, the cacophony resembles an especially discordant orchestra warm-up session. And if there are no other vehicles on the road? Your driver will blow the horn to break the silence.
You need a car and driver for longer distances. But for efficiency, you can’t beat the tuk-tuks. They’re designed for a driver and two, maybe three, passengers, and seem to be the favored transport of sari-wrapped women and small families. 
Have I mentioned the motorcycles?
These past two years, since my divorce, I was able to convince the family to let me decorate the tree with a color palette base of silver and white with one other color for effect. And the trees have looked amazing! Last year, we went with red as the focal color, and this year’s tree we did in blue. Blue always felt more Christmas for me since winter feels like a blue color for some reason to me.
is seeing various types of Christmas tree decorations pop up on my social media feeds. I love thematic tress, probably a remnant from my years as a teacher. Trees with dessert themes are too cute, and there’s even a Darth Vader tree that I totally thought would be fun to do. I really considered doing something like that, but it requires a strategic search and purchase of thematic ornaments, so I will need to wait on that idea.
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.
It is an exhausting time not only because of the sales push, but because end of year inventory and financials must be gathered before, hopefully, we can all take a much needed two week break. That’s the goal. And each year that Inklings Publishing has been in business (eight total so far), we have closed our doors and refused to let any of our people work the last two weeks of December. Not until the first Monday after the New Year do we return to work. It’s important to me that my staff, and me, take time to rest and enjoy our families.
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.
But this day, on Thanksgiving, it is a good moment to stop and fill our minds with hope. To remember that during all of the difficult times, alongside the negative, there are always shinning moments of light. As I think about this year, I see that on the pathway through the rough time there have been amazing people who have shown love and support, moments of joy and happiness, along with a renewed sense of purpose.
One of the coolest things I’m thankful for from this year is the review my book, United Vidden, received from Dr. Who Online. The official site of the Dr. Who fandom follows me on Twitter and saw me post the cover of my book. They liked it and had one of their reviewers read it. Nathan Jones posted his glowing recommendation of my novel in July on the site’s review page. I’m still thrilled to have received the high praise.
My new podcast, The Hot Mess Express, has launched this year. It has taken off in a strong following of cool participants. My co-host, Aimee Ravichandran, and I share the behind the scenes madness of our lives. The social media platforms are filled with posts of perfection and how successful everyone is. This creates the feeling that everyone else’s life is worry free and fantastic, while our own lacks luster. Our goal is to show that you can make your life a success in spite of the hot mess around you. Aimee and I are a hot mess, yet we are making our life work.
In the end, as I look back upon all that has happened, there really is more reason for celebration than for sadness. Ellen and I, both, hope that for you, too, this is the case. On this Thanksgiving day, take time to search out for the light and fill your mind with all the good things that have happened. These will sustain us as we keep moving forward through the darkness into the next nuggets of light and success waiting for us.
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.
Daunting as the challenge feels, it does a couple things for you as a writer:
I outline what I already have on the page to find where the plot holes are that need filling. The fact that I’m starting off without an outline doesn’t worry me. What does is that I have been struggling with the section of book two that I absolutely need to finish. Worse yet, I’ve been stuck on this section for a long time. I should by now have some plan for this portion of the book, that remains basically unwritten because really the first draft just said “there’s a war, then they make peace.”