I practice gratitude, and it helps me get through the worst of it, but I would really like to catch a break for once and have no drama disrupting my life.
Very short blog. Time to get back to editing and wishing life were better.
Autumn in the Forest
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
"Catching a Break"
This year has not started out well, to say the least. For several seasons, I have been hit with trauma after trauma, tragedy after tragedy, and this month has started out exactly the same. Sigh...
I practice gratitude, and it helps me get through the worst of it, but I would really like to catch a break for once and have no drama disrupting my life.
Very short blog. Time to get back to editing and wishing life were better.
I practice gratitude, and it helps me get through the worst of it, but I would really like to catch a break for once and have no drama disrupting my life.
Very short blog. Time to get back to editing and wishing life were better.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
A New Season
As we burrow down for the winter months, it is time to begin a new season in our lives. Winter is a period of healing sleep for many, but it is also a time of renewal and preparation for what is to come. A time to strengthen one's resolve and make plans, or perhaps a time to try something new.
Whether this autumn was a season of madness or a season of pain, a season of plenty or a season of change, a season of woe or a season of emptiness, it is time to let go and prepare for a new dawn.
On behalf of Evershade, we would like to wish you and yours a season of prosperity as we--a community of souls--embark on a new journey together in the upcoming year.
Whether this autumn was a season of madness or a season of pain, a season of plenty or a season of change, a season of woe or a season of emptiness, it is time to let go and prepare for a new dawn.
On behalf of Evershade, we would like to wish you and yours a season of prosperity as we--a community of souls--embark on a new journey together in the upcoming year.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
"A Time of Rest"
Black walnut harvest is over. The Vaults are bursting with grass seeds, crackers, buttery cheeses, acorn pots of soup ingredients, dried apples and blackberries, round loaves of fruit 'n nut bread, and woody, spicy pieces of black walnuts. The few Walnut Keepers who remain awake during the winter will have plenty to eat as the snow falls and the wind blows.
Sturdy doors of hidden burrows close for the season. Inside, those who hibernate nestle into their cozy beds, their pantries full for when they wake thin and hungry in the spring. Those who plan to nap and wake throughout the season tidy their burrows and check their stores, making their final trips to the Vaults for the few items they've forgotten. If they are lucky, Maple hasn't extinguished the bakery fires, and they can get one last pot of hot water for tea.
Miss Maple bustles about her stone bakery, barking orders to her assistants as they run the last loaves and crackers to the Vaults. Yawning souls bring their pots for tea water, and she sends them on their way with steaming apple tarts to go with their tea. The weather has turned. There will be no more warm days for months. Grunting, she extinguishes the bakery fires one by one until only thin tendrils of smoke rise into the air, snaking toward the chimney and vanishing into the heart of Evershade.
Winter is here.
Sturdy doors of hidden burrows close for the season. Inside, those who hibernate nestle into their cozy beds, their pantries full for when they wake thin and hungry in the spring. Those who plan to nap and wake throughout the season tidy their burrows and check their stores, making their final trips to the Vaults for the few items they've forgotten. If they are lucky, Maple hasn't extinguished the bakery fires, and they can get one last pot of hot water for tea.
Miss Maple bustles about her stone bakery, barking orders to her assistants as they run the last loaves and crackers to the Vaults. Yawning souls bring their pots for tea water, and she sends them on their way with steaming apple tarts to go with their tea. The weather has turned. There will be no more warm days for months. Grunting, she extinguishes the bakery fires one by one until only thin tendrils of smoke rise into the air, snaking toward the chimney and vanishing into the heart of Evershade.
Winter is here.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Winter Hopes
As we move out of autumn, I find myself in a region of the country that has been dry for several winters, despite promises of snow. This winter, I am hoping for that to change.
Not only is snow one of my favorite things, but I am about to begin work on my fourth novel, "Season of Fire and Ice," and it would be GREAT to have some actual inspiration. Yes, that's right. I'm hoping for snow. I hope to be buried in three feet of the fluffy stuff all winter long. I want to call down the heavens to unleash their fury on the Ozarks, pounding us with blizzard after blizzard, three inches of solid ice on the roads all winter long...
I am not a lucky person, so there is no chance this would ever happen, but if you have a heart at all, you might wish for one good winter storm to inspire this author while she's writing her book.
Not only is snow one of my favorite things, but I am about to begin work on my fourth novel, "Season of Fire and Ice," and it would be GREAT to have some actual inspiration. Yes, that's right. I'm hoping for snow. I hope to be buried in three feet of the fluffy stuff all winter long. I want to call down the heavens to unleash their fury on the Ozarks, pounding us with blizzard after blizzard, three inches of solid ice on the roads all winter long...
I am not a lucky person, so there is no chance this would ever happen, but if you have a heart at all, you might wish for one good winter storm to inspire this author while she's writing her book.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Fruit 'n Nut Bread
Maple, Evershade's ornery head baker mouse, is famous for shaking her wooden spoon at anyone who riles her. But perhaps more famous than her cantankerous nature is her most prized baked item--her fruit 'n nut bread. This recipe calls for whatever fruit is in season, or dried fruit if necessary, and is baked with robust black walnut pieces in every loaf. If the Vaults are not running low on honey, this flavorful bread is served with whipped honey butter, a heavenly spread that melts in your mouth.
This time of year, Maple is baking apple fruit 'n nut bread, a favorite for many Keepers. Good smells of every sort waft from her bakery, just as they do in most of our homes this Thanksgiving.
As you close your eyes and savor the delicious aromas, please send a few good thoughts into the world for those who might spend this year alone or without the ones they love most. You are among the fortunate if you have a fine meal and loving and/or colorful family members to make memories with. Perhaps this is the year you share your meal with the neighbor whose wife passed, or the young college student far from home.
However you spend your holiday, I hope it is a pleasant time for you and yours.
Happy Harvest!
This time of year, Maple is baking apple fruit 'n nut bread, a favorite for many Keepers. Good smells of every sort waft from her bakery, just as they do in most of our homes this Thanksgiving.
As you close your eyes and savor the delicious aromas, please send a few good thoughts into the world for those who might spend this year alone or without the ones they love most. You are among the fortunate if you have a fine meal and loving and/or colorful family members to make memories with. Perhaps this is the year you share your meal with the neighbor whose wife passed, or the young college student far from home.
However you spend your holiday, I hope it is a pleasant time for you and yours.
Happy Harvest!
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
"Season of Storms"
Black walnut season is over in the Ozarks, and I have just finished writing my third novel, "Season of Storms," the third book in the Evershade series.
I have had a tumultuous couple of years personally, but I have drawn on some of those experiences and inserted them--or the lessons I've learned--into my writing. A few of the storms in this book were based on actual storms we experienced in 2017, and if I have my way, we'll get a ton of snow this winter so that I can be inspired for my fourth novel, "Season of Fire and Ice."
Whatever your circumstances are, try pulling on them to rocket you into a better situation, a higher plane of existence. Allow the difficulties--the storms--to strengthen you rather than tear you down.
As the year draws to a close, I sincerely hope that both of you who actually read my blog find new ways to handle the challenges in your life and use them to propel you forward into happier, more fulfilling lives. Find your path...and enjoy the journey.
I have had a tumultuous couple of years personally, but I have drawn on some of those experiences and inserted them--or the lessons I've learned--into my writing. A few of the storms in this book were based on actual storms we experienced in 2017, and if I have my way, we'll get a ton of snow this winter so that I can be inspired for my fourth novel, "Season of Fire and Ice."
Whatever your circumstances are, try pulling on them to rocket you into a better situation, a higher plane of existence. Allow the difficulties--the storms--to strengthen you rather than tear you down.
As the year draws to a close, I sincerely hope that both of you who actually read my blog find new ways to handle the challenges in your life and use them to propel you forward into happier, more fulfilling lives. Find your path...and enjoy the journey.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Ozark Creative Writers Conference
Okay, I said I'm taking a break from blogging during October, and I am, but I'm going to do a little bragging on myself tonight--I won first place in five writing contests this evening and placed second and third in two others. Many of these stories and poems were written when I was ill, so it's particularly awesome that I did so well. At least to me it is. ;)
#ocw2017
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