Friend of the Day

 
I've decided the most interesting thing today was meeting Ramona for coffee. OK, I had pie too.



We chatted and just had fun spending a little time together. That's called friendship, right?

In other news: I wrote the Dedication and Acknowledgements for DMS Mistletoe, did a few follow-up details, and discussed possible audiobook options for the Dubois Files books. Did grocery shopping (always a hateful task in my mind) Other than that, I goofed off. At least it felt that way after so many days of not letting myself take a break.

	See Dinner with Ramona
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Dead Horse Marsh Mistletoe

 
Have I totally confused you? Did you think the name of the upcoming book was Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe. It is.

But the name is a parody of the real place called Dead Horse Marsh. I've been working to get the pieces together to make the fake mistletoe ball that has a role in the book. Needed leatherleaf. OK, it didn't come exactly from Dead Horse Marsh, but nearby.



Needed gray dogwood berries. Nope. The birds have eaten them all. I should have been collecting them in late summer. So I had to go to a number of stores to find fake berries that would work, and then I had to paint them white.



Wanted nice velvet gold ribbon. Nope. Found red velvet ribbon, either too wide or not wide enough. If I had found the right width I could have changed its color on the computer. Used cheap wimpy ribbon. Guess it will have to do, but it's the right color.



Discovered when I began making it that I needed about twice as much plant material as the directions said, but since it's only for the book cover, I got by with covering half the ball.

What do you think? I need to remove the background so it can be used on the book. That will be later tonight or tomorrow.


In other news: It's all other news. Except for a walk to the post office to mail books, I spent the entire day editing. Got through the MS once, and now it can simmer for a day or so. I had one plucky person volunteer to edit this close to Christmas. I sure wasn't going to ask anyone. It's my own fault I'm so late, so I'll deal with it. But barring major accidents or illness or another computer crash, at least the e-book of Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe will be available for Christmas!

	See Previous Cover Mock-up
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Squirrel, Sharks, Sun

 
The current squirrel spends a lot of time running across the roof. S/he spends a small amount of time checking to see if I've changed my mind about feeding him or her (no). The deck is also a great place from which to survey the kingdom.



Omer brought me a little gift. These gummy sharks taste horrid, but hey, I love 'em because they are sharks. And blue.



And just because it's always a novelty here to see the sun in winter (and this year even more so than usual), I bring you Monday's sunset, followed by this morning's sunrise. They look like the exact same sky! Weird.





In other news: It's pretty much all other news. I took a walk out back, but most of the day was spent writing. I finished Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe and started editing it! And I had a meeting this evening. Now I'm going to get back at that.

	See One Unique Shark
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Concert at St. Joseph's

 
I went to one of my favorite concerts of the year, except I was only a spectator this time, not a participant.

This is at St. Joseph's Church, outside of Hart. I took a long shot view of the interior this time.



If you've noticed that I haven't posted about handbells this year, it's because there was one of those weird communication snafus and I didn't get notices that there was actually going to be handbells, so I scheduled things like hikes and book-selling trips.

But there is a handbell choir, and they played at this concert.



There is a new director now, Carleen Shin.



Anyway, I really miss playing with them. But as it turns out they need someone for March and April, and I will be home those months, so I'll be in!

But, the handbells is only part of the music. The West Shore Choir also sings there, so I heard those songs again. No pictures, because they sing from the balcony. This is the group I went to hear early in the month. The acoustics in this church are wonderful, so I like to get to this performance.

In other news: I wrote 4 chapters with just one to go. I made verbal notes for that final chapter on the way to the concert, so all I have to do is type it out. Woo hoo!

	See St. Joseph's 2016 See First Christmas Concert
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A Wonderful Weekend

 
I got home too late last night to blog. Went to bed and was asleep in under five minutes. But it's all good.

Sunday at Rivertown Crossings was much slower than Saturday, but I still did reasonably well, and since I'd made my expenses on Saturday there was no stress.

I'm sorry to say that I forgot to take a picture of Jean Davis, with whom I shared the space on Sunday. She has science fiction books and some dystopian stuff, so it nicely fills the age gap between my children's books and other mysteries. We work together well and plan to share a booth at an event in 2019. But maybe not at a mall again.

However, I did get to see Fred and Margie, at whose house I slept. They had an unexpected trip out of town after they told me to come, and weren't sure they'd get to say hello at all. As it was, our time was very short, but at least we did get to visit a little bit.



I saw a lot more of their dogs. Zed is the big white and brown one, and Sage is black. Zed wasn't sure he wanted me coming in the house when his mom and dad were away, but we finally made friends and they slept with me part of the time. A hundred pounds of dog holding down the covers is something I haven't had to deal with for a while!



And I met an online writing friend named Alice that I've known for close maybe 15 years, but we'd never met in person. It was so nice to actually get acquainted!

One really, REALLY nice piece of the day was that my friend, Robert, stopped by. I don't think I'd seen him for six years (although we may have snuck in a cup of coffee on the fly about four years ago. We couldn't remember for sure. Anyway, he came back to help me pack up, and then we went to get a bite to eat. We visited until the restaurant closed. Actually about a half hour past when they closed, but they didn't kick us out. It was great to catch up.



The drive home was just long enough for me to unwind, but not so long that I got sleepy before I got here. But, as I said, I fell in bed immediately.

In other news today: I've been writing like crazy. I got past the place that was a problem. Worked that out in my head on the long drives. I've written over 4000 words today. The denouement has been playing in my head like a movie for over a month, so all I have to do is get it recorded. Still hoping for Christmas for Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe. We'll see!

I also went to meet someone who wanted to buy a set of the children's books and take pictures of me signing them. More book sales is good!

	See Chasing Big Trees with Robert
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