Happy New Year

Holiday Break

Christmas came and went. Tomorrow morning we have company coming for New Years. I love having guests come to stay. Since I'm not on a deadline at the moment, I plan on enjoying the New Year's festivities and then working on a play production I'll be directing in February. Modifications must be written to fit a time frame and there are requested additions to write.

This will be my first play to direct, and I'm looking forward to it. I'll have a few butterflies, but I'm sure things will go OK once we get started.

Still Writing

I've been in a funk lately. There, I said it.

Life has been a frenzy and my plate is overflowing. I still find time to write here and there between everything else that is going on. Hopefully things will slow down after New Year's, but that's not usually how my life pattern goes. Life is an adventure.

Writer's Space

As writers, we spend a fair amount of time in our own minds, lost in thought while the world whizzes by.

I've been a decorator my whole life and I'm always dreaming of the perfect writing space. Most of the time I sit on the bed propped up with pillows and write on a laptop, but I long for a space of my own. Many of you probably write on the traveling laptop, and there are a lot of good stories coming out of mobile spaces.

This office appeals to me because it has good light, is neatly arranged and can accomodate books, computer, printer, files, and anything else you need to have on hand. If you're a woman writer, it would be great to have near the kitchen and laundry room - where most of us spend our time. It's a good thing we can multi-task. It feels good to throw in a load of laundry and forget it while you write a few paragraphs. For many of us that is the only way we can get our chores done and still find time to write.

I hope you have the perfect space to write.

Anastasia

I confess that the only writing I've done in the past week is a children's book I wrote to go along with a doll I made for a little girl who likes fairies.

Anastasia

My name is Anastasia. I'm a wood nymph. I live in the thick woods near the Black Sea.

The nights get very cold here so my mother wove a blanket of wild boar hair, and filled my mattress with rabbit fur so I stay warm all winter.

In the spring when it rains, a Buttercup is my umbrella.

Every morning when I go outside to play, the butterflies are waiting. They are my friends. We play tag and hide-and-seek in the forest.

My favorite color is green. It reminds me of emeralds and the deep woods of home.

When I get thirsty, I drink dew drops and flower nectar.

I play outside all day. When the sun begins to set, I hurry home for supper.

Tonight Mama made mushrooms and honey raisin cake. After a day of playing outside, I'm starving! I eat two helpings of mushrooms and a big piece of cake before I'm full.

Now it's time for bed. Good Night.

***

I hope she has as much fun with the doll as I had making her. She is embelleshed to the hilt with beads, leaves, gauzy fabric, and jewels. The butterfly was supposed to be made from something called Angelica. It's apparently fibers that stick together when ironed.

I couldn't find it locally, so I put on my thinking cap and ended up using the plastic mesh that came on the Thanksgiving turkey. This justifies the craft drawer filled with all sorts of shiny packaging, candy foil, bits from cards, ribbons, etc. They always find a place in some sort of craft project.

I Did Not Forget

It's been a while since I posted.

I'm working on three different books now, though sporadically, it seems. Two of them are collaborations and it's fun, though sometimes our schedules are at odds with each other, so it takes longer to do than if I were working alone.

I was asked to direct a play at the governor's mansion. This is in the early stages and probably won't get off the ground until after Christmas, but it's nice to look forward to something new to do. I've never done anything like that, but then I've never written a play until recently and it has been fun and I've met many people I wouldn't have met if I didn't write it.

I, I, I. I just reread what I wrote and there are too many of them, but how can I tell you what's going on without using that word?

I marvel at people who seem to have it all together. Their houses are neat and clean, they have amazing careers, and always seem calm and collected. I am running in circles half the time. The house gets messed up way too often and I feel like I need three clones to do it all.

Such is my life, but I'm grateful for all of it. Without a little excitement, pressure, and stress, it would probably be boring.