Bizzy Writing

It's actually been over five months since I've sat down and written more than ten thousand words.

I decided to set Garnet and Quella aside after reading a second, nearly complete manuscript and not being able to decide if I like the completed one or the almost completed one better. Both have a few issues I need to address.

Therefore, I went on a prowl through the files on my laptop and found a story I'd begun well over a year ag, maybe even as far back at 2017. I read the 53 pages I'd written back then, did some proofreading and editing as I went, and have been writing more of the story. As of this morning I was on page 90 (single spacing, spaces between paragraphs at present)...approaching 40,000-something words. I though it might be a novella, but it's to the point where it's writing itself and I'm just coat-tailing along for the ride.

This one is about a young woman from a dysfunctional family, loaded with anxiety and low self-esteem, but determinedly plodding ahead in life on her own, hiding a damaging incident from her middle school days. When violence erupts in her home, she lands in her older sister's now estranged boyfriend's apartment as she's quickly and heartlessly thrown out of her family's home. He's "the devil himself" according to her father, has been used by her sister to support a lifestyle she wants, but isn't interested in working for to attain on her own, and who has had his eye on Cathy's younger sister since he started dating her, and now she's finally old enough. Charlotte is all hands off, but he's not going to give up on her.

She's a realtor. There's a house on the market they both want, only she can't afford it, but he can. When the under contract sale falls through and the house comes back on the market, Charlotte finds herself showing her strictly platonic "roommate" the property, writing up his offer, discovering his prequalification from the bank is more than adequate to get him the house. Deeply disappointed, she tells him the house is his when the buyer agrees to his offer.

Meanwhile, Charlotte's quietly made preparations to leave the area, finding a job several hundred miles inland, locating a small apartment there she can afford. He's taken aback that she's so upset about the house that she's pulling up stakes and leaving. And then the rug is pulled out from under her feet when a murder-suicide occurs, but it's the catalyst that turns the tide of her life...

You'll have to read this little seaside romance later this year to find out what happens.

Spent Some Time Being a Twit-Wit Tonight

I tend to ignore the fact I have a Twitter account. I'm not saying who ruined Twitter for me but it all became pretty much a farce and I just wanted to distance myself from the bad taste certain tweets left. But, I was reminded that people Tweet daily and follow certain people, and I have followers n Twitter that have probably been wondering what cave I've crawled into. Tonight I posted some artwork and updates about books on Twitter, biting the bullet, biting my tongue and getting back into the game.

I also spent an hour listing some new art prints in my etsy store, BicycleCityArtworks. I added some birds, cats, and dogs. Currently I have 50 art prints offered and will be adding more as time allows. (I love how I can go into work and step into one medical assistant's room and view all my artwork thumbtacked to the walls. She has an entire art gallery in her small work space. I, meanwhile, have one print (currently the little black bear cub) at my desk. I change the art at my desk every couple of weeks.

I haven't given up on writing, I just needed to catch up on things and get these aspects of my life back on track. I'm also preparing for a busy weekend with the Poetry and Images awards (my Raucous Raven pen & ink drawing inspired three poems) on Saturday at 1PM at Blue Umbrella Books downtown (during a weekend full of downtown activity as Westfield, my hometown, celebrates its 350th anniversary (founded in 1669). There is a WhipCity Wordsmiths meeting at 3PM at the same location despite all the other stuff going on and the fact there will be altered traffic patterns and tremendous difficulty finding a place to park!

Meanwhile, I'm having an RA flare that's pretty bad...stiffness, joint pain, balance issues, tendon pain, and overwhelming fatigue...but, as usual, I keep going. I will not let this subdue me!

Oh! And today we had ZERO rain!!! The sun shone! The sky was blue! It was warm out- just like I remembered spring being! Hooray!

Wearing Two Hats- Author & Artist

Last September for International Art Drop Day, I slapped the dust off my artist's beret and drew two different black squirrels after an eighteen year hiatus from pen & ink drawing. Since September 2018 I've written two books, have a third that needs to be formatted and should be ready later this year for publishing, and just this past weekend started a new novel that's once again different for me as it's part mystery, part suspense, part psychological drama, and part police procedural. The title is The Scrapbook. The premise is that a woman goes missing in a small town, leaving no trace behind. Her family, including the primary narrator, a teenaged young woman about to graduate from high school, are left reeling. Ten days after her mother's unexplained disappearance, Caroline Parker buys a scrapbook and begins assembling everything she collects from among her mother's possessions such as receipts, dry cleaning tickets, movie and other event stubs, etc, family pictures she chooses from a shoebox full stored in a cabinet in the family room, scraps of paper with cryptic notes she discovers in her mother's desk, and other things she comes across as she tries to make sense of her mother's disappearance and come to grips with the thought that someone may have kidnapped her and even killed her. Or has her mother simply walked away from her life in Beaman Heights? Caroline struggles to make some sort of sense out of the sudden chaos that has erupted in her life as she tries to move forward into her adult life as a college student. Taken as a whole, her scrapbook is a collection of the detritus left behind in the wake of her mother's sudden vanishing act, but within the pages of the scrapbook, Caroline begins to see something sinister emerge that will turn her world upside down.

Well, that's the premise anyway.

Meanwhile, I have agreed to do several events as an artist beginning June 8th with the Dewey House Summer Social here in Westfield, MA, an event to raise money for the historic Dewey House. I'll also be showing my pen & ink art prints at the Veteran Classic Car show in July at the Westfield Fairgrounds. And in the autumn I'll be at the Fall Family Fun event at the American Inn in Southwick, MA.

I gave a talk after a nice luncheon at the Senior Center here in Westfield last Wednesday afternoon, having been invited to speak about my art and my books by the local book club. It was a wonderful, intimate lunch with ten lovely ladies who listened to what I had to say and then asked questions and told a few of their own stories. Each lady received a copy of Life, Death, Love, Cats & Dogs, an anthology of light romance stories in which there is a cat or dog character that plays matchmaker. Each book club member also received a pen & ink art print of a black squirrel art print titled Acorn. Acorn was the image chosen by Boy Scout Troop 109 to be placed on one of the fourteen 350th Anniversary commemorative wooden nickels geocached in various locations around the city of Westfield as Westfield celebrates another milestone anniversary this year (the city was founded in 1669). I also made 11 unique double-sided black squirrel keychains containing mini art prints. One print is a 2x3 inch version of Acorn. The other print is a limited edition black squirrel silhouette placing the last two letters in the city's name on a map of downtown Westfield. I have the 11th keychain on my bag.

This weekend, on the 18th, the month long Poetry and Images Contest held in April winds up with the announcement of the winners at each of six locations. A piece of art was displayed at each downtown location and aspiring poets were encouraged to go and view the art and ten write and submit their poem inspired by the artwork. I had Raucous Raven displayed at Blue Umbrella Books. Three poems were written and submitted. A winner has been chosen.

Also on the 18th, after the Poetry and Images event, the WhipCity Wordsmiths will meet at Blue Umbrella Books. In June of 2019 the Wordsmiths will celebrate their second anniversary as Westfield's author/writer social & support group. The group now has 55 members with attendance varying from 8 to 30 members at any given meeting, and members staying in touch via a private WhipCity Wordsmiths facebook group page.

Articulture2019 came and went on May 3rd and 4th with some inclement weather affecting attendance, but overall it was a really nice event with 13 of 14 authors in attendance, many of them WhipCity Wordsmiths, including Bram Stoker Award winning horror author Tom Deady, award winning YA and adult fiction author Melissa Volker, award winning historical author and fiction author Katherine Anderson, historical and fiction author Gerald W. McFarland, historic children's author Ayden Rogalski (who is himself just 10-years old and has four books published and another about to be published), children's authors Rhonda Boulette and R.W. Thompson, mystery author Glen Ebisch, fiction author Judith Foard-Giucastro, thriller/suspense author Claudia Turner, and me, plus detective/crime author Edward Farrell, and local historian and author Bruce Cortis. Wordsmith Jacqueline Sears was unable to attend the event and was missed this year.

It's a little exhausting at times, but I am enjoying wear two hats-my artist's beret (although not in public!) and my little, black, flat cap that I've worn for several years now as an author. I like keeping busy!

Articulture Has Come and Gone

This past weekend was Westfield's (my home town) big cultural arts event. This was the first year I attended as both an author and an artist. I am also a board member, so was actually at the church, this year's venue, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It was fun being there to see all the artists and authors come in to set up and prepare their displays. I'm the board member responsible for lining up the authors for the past three shows. Each year I've been striving for a good mix of genre and age group level authors...and this year was the best mix ever. Children's, YA, adult, with historical nonfiction, historical fiction, thriller, suspense, crime, mystery, horror, paranormal, fantasy, literary fiction, children's, general fiction, werewolf, witch & warlock….thirteen authors covered a wide spread of genres.

I enjoyed walking around looking at the artist's wrk. I do realistic pen & ink drawings of wildlife, birds, and domestic animals. I also do commissioned pet portraits. It was fun to see photographers, and a variety of different mediums displayed.

However, the very best art of this event happened on Saturday when a young mother brought her young son to my table. He was excited to talk to me about his own art work and his favorite author, Dave Pilkey, the author of the Captain Underpants series, which my daughter read when she was in elementary school. This cheerful, articulate boy told me he was dyslexic, just like his favorite author is. He knew all about Dave Pilkey and how he was made to sit out in the hallway because he couldn't read. It was there that he drew pictures and dreamed up what would later become Captain Underpants. Having a learning disability is not disabling if you strive to do what you love to do and find ways to work around it. Clinton was very enthusiastic about his own drawing and desire to write. I fully believe in supporting and mentoring our creative children. Fortnately for him he has a supportive mother and he made his first step into his writing future by talking to me because I can provide him access to the WhipCity Wordsmiths for writing support, advice, encouragement, and assistance.

I was a nice event. I liked that people I know from the book shop came to visit and show their support. Some friends and family members attended. And I met loads of new peple, and made some important contacts too. I sold two books. They were sort f lost in the middle of the table amid all the art offerings, but people found them.

Already planning ahead for 2020!