My Basement Office in Winter
I have discovered one drawback to having my office in the basement of our new home. Make that, “on the lower level,” in the vernacular of modern real estate. Heaven forbid that a house be saddled with such a dreary component as a basement. Particularly when it is a walkout basement. The drawback to my […]
Thoughts on Entering the Third Decade of the Third Millennium
It boggled my mind when I realized last week ago that this is the third decade of the third millennium CE. I know some people will quibble that the third decade doesn’t really begin until 2021. Twenty years ago, we debated whether the third millennium started in 2000 or 2001. But for me, the new […]
Five Years Without a Sky Above Me
My father died five years ago yesterday, on January 5, 2015. His death was sudden—I’d spoken to him the day before, and I’d had emails from him that morning. My brother talked to him that evening as our dad decided to go to the hospital because of some abdominal pain. Dad arrested in the hospital […]
My Performance Review for 2019 and Writing Goals for 2020
Happy New Year! A year ago, on January 2, 2019, I posted my performance review for 2018 and listed goals for 2019. So how did I do this past year? My 2019 goals were To publish my fourth historical novel. My Hope Secured was published in late October, so I succeeded in this goal, despite […]
Another Trip to the Nelson-Atkins: California Gold Rush Daguerreotypes
I’ve written before about viewing exhibits at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. I was there again shortly before Christmas, this time to see a temporary exhibit of daguerreotypes taken of miners and locations associated with the California Gold Rush. Since this was the subject of my novel, Now I’m Found, I considered […]
MERRY CHRISTMAS! . . . Excerpts From My Latest Novel
My latest novel, My Hope Secured, featured scenes of two family Christmases. One Christmas celebration depicted Hannah Bramwell at her brother’s home in Oregon City. The other showed Zeke Pershing at his father’s farmhouse outside of town. Neither character enjoyed their holiday festivities. Here is a description of Hannah’s Christmas: Christmas dinner in the Bramwell […]
O Christmas Tree (Redux)
This year’s Christmas tree is up and decorated. As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I like live trees. Actually, I’d be willing to switch to artificial, but he is not. Though he did allow that with the hardwood floors in our new home, we’ll have to be more careful not to spill water than […]
Changing Patterns of Christmas Shopping
Every year Christmas sneaks up on me. It shouldn’t, I know. It’s always on December 25. But I hate to shop, and so I avoid the stores until I have no choice. I start to moan about it before Halloween, but usually don’t get serious until close to Thanksgiving. Only one year in my life […]
My Christmas in California
I only spent one Christmas at my maternal grandparents’ home in Pacific Grove, California. That was in 1965 when I was nine. I seem to recall many Christmases with these grandparents in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where they lived before they moved to Pacific Grove in about 1962. But in fact, I probably only spent a […]
Decorating for Christmas in Our New Home
I’ve started decorating for Christmas, which is the only season for which I do much decorating. By some people’s standards, I do next to no decorating, even for Christmas. This year, for the first time in my life, I have the advantage of having all my Christmas decorations in the same closet. In the past, […]