Time flies for the book writer…

Carlton Alfred Smith 1888 “Recalling the Past”

This past November I spent my time on the personal quest of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. This was my ninth year.

This November I was also doing research for a 3,000-word article. The research consisted of two, four hour interviews, sifting through old newspapers articles online for hours at a time and attempting to put family folklore in order.

Furthermore, on the monthly calendar were visits from family and friends and Thanksgiving.

The other part of my life consists of producing content for my blogs, the continued work of updating my websites, editing my book La Bella Luna and writing content for another book. The last two weeks of November, I let this group of ‘things to do’ slide dramatically because I was having a difficult time keeping up with my word count. I tried to give up several times. The kid got sick. I got sick. The calendar was packed for the month…but then my word count was 38,000 words. And yes, that means there was only 12,000 words left. And I’d come so far. But there were only five days left to write 12,000 words. But there were still five days left.

My friends, from 38,000 words, you can see the top of the mountain.

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Joyful…

I have all these things I want to share and write about. That’s the whole reason I have a blog to begin with. So this week, it was going to be about the old adage, the cream rising to the top. It’s almost done, and it’s insightful and fun.

But something else demanded to be spoken of. Slipped in at the seams. I have a plan to write about Joy Harjo, the first female Native American Poet Laureate of the United States for 2019-2020. I turn to her poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” every Thanksgiving.  The thing is, I’m not ready to write about her yet. I’m still getting to know her. So in an attempt to do that, I played her inaugural reading at the Library of Congress Sept. 19, 2019 while I was doing a static back stretch. (That’s where you lay on your back on the floor with your legs up on a bench or chair.)

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Hello and Happy Monday!

A few announcements you might be interested in:

1. I woke this morning to an email announcement that my short story “Mornings” has been published on line at the Literary Yard. Check it out here!
2. My new pet project (and excuse to write about coffee) is up and running. Always A Cappuccino is my place to put my pretty pictures of all my cappuccinos and talk about the art of coffee, local coffee shops, far away coffee shops and offer a few how to’s. That’s found here!! (And also at the link in the menu above that says, Always A Cappuccino.). I will endeavor to have a new post every Wednesday on that site.
3. I have an Instagram and am doing something fun every Monday. I call it Monday’s with Master Shakespeare. You see, I’ve acquired a Shakespeare cut out that comes with an insult for every day. Oh, I’ve got such plans for him! If you’re interested in following his journey, you can do that here. The link is also found above.
4. I have new blog posts planned for this site at least once a week. Subscribe to be informed when my new words ‘drop’. Invite your friends to follow me.
5. Last but not least, my writing has come to live symbiotically with Italy, coffee, and the very art of writing. You will begin to see, I hope, a lovely fluidity of those three topics revolving around my world in an effort to entertain you!

As always, thank you for your continued support!!!