Good News on the Writing Front

I will release Reclaiming the Balance on January 1, 2025 as I had hoped. My sensitivity reader came through and I fixed all issues (mostly proofreading!) The book is now in the hands of KDP (Amazon’s self-publishing arm) and ready to release.

Reclaiming the Balance is in the Hidden in Plain Sight series, book 3. Janice Wilkens escapes from an abusive, non-human Archetype boyfriend. She takes refuge at Barn Swallows’ Dance, a haven for those who don’t fit ordinary reality. Amarel Stein, an androgynous half-human Nephilim, challenges her about her own Nephilim son. They plot to rescue her son from the boyfriend’s clutches and fight prejudice against the Nephilim at Barn Swallows’ Dance. Their success depends on their working together and giving up their preconceived notions of reality.

I don’t know if it’s clear from the description, but it’s contemporary romantasy, closed-door (not spicy), and very much a story for this time.

First Impression

Daily writing prompt

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

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What first impression do I want to give people? At professional conferences, I want to give the impression of gravitas, like the learned person I am. Most times, though, I like to give the impression of a softer person who is enthusiastic about life.

This is the first impression I prefer, because this is who I am. I don’t enjoy pretending to be someone I’m not. I highly value authenticity (as a Quaker, it’s one of our values). I also want to disarm people of their natural hostility toward someone with a higher level of education and status.

The truth, though, is that I’m more complex than this first impression. I am not always enthusiastic about life. At times I can be sarcastic. I am often stubborn. Yet, I don’t bring these out as first impressions. I make a choice to be one particular me.

My First Computer

Daily writing prompt

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

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This question is altogether too easy for anyone who has bought a laptop or a smartphone in their lives. Other than a house or a car, these are likely to be the most major expenses, at least in the US.

I was relatively late to computer ownership, having gotten my first computer as I was finishing graduate school. As a grad student in the late 80s — early 90s, it was not assumed we would have our own computers. There were computer labs all over campus, and I availed myself of those when typing up my dissertation. Knowing that computer labs would not be part of my future as a professional, I bought my first computer, a Macintosh IIvx. In 1993 the computer cost me $2500, which is almost $5k in today’s dollars. I bought it with part of the proceeds from getting hit by a car, otherwise graduate student me would not have been able to afford it.

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31318

Technology has gotten more powerful and less expensive. I could buy a Mac Mini today for $500, and this little puck of a computer is much more powerful than the IIvx I bought in 1993. The only reason I haven’t bought it is because the form factor isn’t convenient, and I already have a powerful laptop that cost me $1300.

Even today, my computers are the most expensive purchases I make outside of a car or house, even though they have gone down in price. But their utility makes them worth the price.

Holding in the Light

After the election, life goes on.

In the words of ee cummings, “The single secret will still be man.” I have faith in those people who see the need for all of us to sit at the table. It is my responsibility as a human being to help support those who need it to the best of my ability. This has not changed, but maybe I see the need more acutely because people around me are scared and hurting.

I have gone back to a practice I lost along the way when I became complacent, and that is holding people in the Light. It is a Quaker practice, and I am a Quaker (an agnostic, but that’s possible in the Religious Society of Friends). I am holding my country in the light, those who oppose what I stand for as well as those I stand with. (I stand with those who are marginalized). Because holding someone in the Light does not mean they will prosper, it means the hope that they will see the Light.

I don’t know if I believe in God, but I believe that my holding in the Light creates changes in me so I can see where to work for good. I don’t know if I believe it will move other people. Yet I do it, not knowing what else to do.

The Election

I’m speechless. America will not be great again.

Election Day

I just voted. Now to pray … and I’m not even religious.

Language Arts

Daily writing prompt

What was your favorite subject in school?

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It should be of no surprise that my favorite class in school was what we called ‘English’, or more properly, ‘language arts’. This was a catch-all phrase that included classes in grammar, literature, and writing. As a child, I loved writing and reading, and I even loved grammar, although that came naturally to me.

I have to admit I didn’t often pay attention in class during reading. In younger grades, we would take turns reading out loud. The class didn’t read fast enough for me, and I would read ahead. When it was my turn to read, the teacher would have to direct me back to whatever page we were reading. Most of my teachers didn’t yell at me for not paying attention because they knew I was reading ahead.

I discovered that I loved to write in third grade, when my teacher taught a unit on poetry. In third grade, then, I was writing poetry forms that were way over my head — simple rhymes were easy, but she had us writing haiku, limericks, and once even tried a diamante form. And I went along with it and wrote these to the best of my ability. A third grader’s diamante leaves a little to be desired. And the limerick:

A lion lived in a zoo
with a tiger, a bear, and a gnu.
“I can scare three or more,”
said the lion with a roar.
And the gnu said, “Shame shame on you!”

Don’t ask me how I remember a poem I wrote in third grade. I don’t remember the longer Groundhog Day poem that my teacher posted on the front door of the classroom, mercifully.

Language arts was the class I looked forward to every day. It’s not surprising given my love of words even today.

Recommending Cats

Daily writing prompt

What is good about having a pet?

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I have three cats at the current moment, and have had many cats over the years, so I feel like I can answer this authoritatively. The best thing about having cats is the companionship. They are furry, friendly little creatures who want to share your life with you. Sometimes. Right now they’re making themselves scarce, only to get particularly chummy when I’m in the middle of a project.

They also provide lots of humor. Chuckie, our big orange cat, entertains with his total cluelessness. Chloe (the black cat in this picture) is just weird. For example, she goes crazy when Richard sneezes, chattering and running about as if she needs reassurance that he has not released demons into the world.

The best thing about a cat, though, is that you can’t take them for granted. They’re there when they want to be, not necessarily when you want them to be. They’re autonomous creatures with their own agendas. So, when they want to spend time with you, you know they’re there because they want to be. Or because they want food. Or because you’re busy with something else — they’re perverse little creatures.

I’d definitely recommend a cat.

I Need Energy More Than Time

Daily writing prompt

Do you need time?

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Do I need time? I’ll be honest — I don’t think I need more time. I would be really efficient with my time I had if I had more energy.

Right now, I’ve gotten up a half-hour ago. I just got done with breakfast and I am sitting at my computer writing. But am I awake? No, I feel like I could drowse off to sleep any minute. I have fallen asleep sitting at my computer.

Too many times I feel like my ‘get up and go’ has got up and went. If I had more energy, I would surf the internet less and do more. I would spend part of today going through my books for sale to prepare for the authors fair at the library in early December. I would get my daily words done with no recalcitrance. I would not have the overwhelming desire to go back to bed.

As I say this, I realize I don’t want that much more energy. I have bipolar disorder (type II). It’s under control, but it hasn’t always been. I had a lot of energy when in my hypomanic states. I got no more done because I couldn’t focus, but I started a lot of projects. So maybe I don’t want more energy. Or at least not much more.

First Snow — A Lost Holiday

Daily writing prompt

Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.

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I’ve already invented a holiday, although I don’t really celebrate it any more, because as I’ve gotten older, it’s become harder to get anyone to buy into it. Also, some years I don’t get to celebrate it at all, or not until late, for reasons you will see in a bit.

My holiday is called First Snow. And it’s exactly what it sounds like — it celebrates the first substantial snow of the season. That’s defined as enough snowfall that the grass is mostly obscured and it will still be there in the morning. Flurries aren’t enough if they don’t cover the ground.

To celebrate it, one must have snow. The celebrants can do this either indoors with a bowl of snow or outdoors. When I was younger and more durable, my friends and I would sit outside in the snow.

One must also have a mug of something to drink. This has varied over the years from hot chocolate to blackberry brandy. The idea is to pass around the mug and drink toasts, and the first toast is always “To the snow”. As the toasts go on, it’s harder to find things to drink toasts to, and that’s part of the point, to get creative with the toasts. When the mug is empty, it’s refilled until the participants run out of toasts. The last swallow of each mug is emptied into the ground. The idea is not to get drunk, so generally alcoholic first snows don’t last as long.

Like I said, I don’t celebrate this anymore. As an older adult, I have grown impatient with the need to figure out whether there’s enough snow, and too shy to ask others to inconvenience themselves on a busy evening. It’s an ill-advised holiday when one is no longer a student with the semi-communal life of unmarried friends. But while it lasted, it was a bonding experience with my friends.