New Years Eve

Crows in a snowstorm, 12/28/2009...imagine my surprise to see that mob outside my window! My goodness...I think our crow friend "Baby" brought everyone he knew over for breakfast (usually it's the four family members who come around)...and I slept late...what a rowdy bunch, turning the snow upside-down looking for eats...they heard about the popcorn and peanuts...cracked corn and sunflower seeds...apples and bread...and the occasional stale corn chips...yes, my acre has become the popular yard to visit...(the stalks in the foreground are mullein, the little finches and chickadees have been eating the seeds, they're about picked clean by now.) Being home all week from work has allowed me to see what goes on during the daylight hours...

It's been a long year...lots of living done...good days and bad days...I take 'em as they come.

The biggest thing was publishing my book, Dusty Waters: A Ghost Story, and I've been happy with how it is being received by readers so far, and it's pretty cool that I've sent it as far away as Australia...I'm glad that my Fred and I decided to form Field Stone Press and do it ourselves, it just seemed to be the right thing to do. Am I kicking myself for waiting so long to do it? No. I took the time and extra effort to make it right, I didn't dive in willy-nilly. How many copies have I sold so far? Well, let's just say...I gave away quite a few. Do I know what I'm doing? Yes...and I continue to learn how to do better. The beauty of it is it's mine...it's never going to go out of print, ever. I'll keep plugging along, networking, doing whatever I gotta do to get it into hands of readers. I feel content about it, there's still the self-doubts involved (is it good enough?) I'm planning to set up a "shop" soon to sell signed copies (since there's been a recent interest from a few people), I'm exploring possibilities, asking questions and such...I'm open to suggestions.

I'm working on the next book, The Fractured Hues of White Light, getting her ready to go to print soon...I'm taking one more look through the proof that my Fred made for me, checking for any problems, wrong word disasters, crazy exclamation points, extra spaces...it's so far pretty clean. I'm feeling relaxed about the whole thing, no rush, no panic, the story will get told. It's been an experience writing these stories down...many of them started with a few lines in a notebook in 2000-2001, some maybe even sooner than that...so it's been a long process getting to where I am now, and the year 2009 has been a fulfillment of a dream...there's no big publisher, no big advance, no book tour, no hype, no fuss, but that's all right, I don't want fuss...I want my book to get into the hands of readers who want to read a book, not to be part of the frenzy around a product...a franchise...maybe I'm just old fashioned. I love the written word, I still prefer to hold a book in my hand while sipping from a cup of hot tea...or a tall glass of Guinness. It's a beautiful thing reading...it's magical...and I'm afraid too many people miss out on that magic, the gift that a book gives to a reader.

I raise my glass to the written word...

Happy New Year.
This little kitty got started early...


This little kitty will not make a good candidate for a designated driver...

Be careful out there...

Looking at things...

...and seeing...
This frost was on the hood of our son's car...

A broken branch from my favorite tree...looks like old bones...

I love the texture of it...


Then there was this spot of "lace" on the ground that looked lovely in the sunlight...but because the image turned out so washed out, I played with the contrast and made it into a warm black and white...

Christmas Kitty Cookies...

Cinnamon Striped Tabbies...

Merry Christmas!

Most Favorite Christmas Movie...

A Christmas Carol, (1951) with Alastair Sim...

It is also my most favorite ghost story...

I always find it so interesting how this story remains politically timeless...as there will always be "Scrooge-like" behavior even in the most enlightened times...I think there's certain members of Congress who need to be visited by a few spirits and to be reminded that mankind is their business.

These are my most favorite scenes...unfortunately one is colorized (I prefer the movie in the original black n' white...which scared the crap out of me when I was a very wee girl (especially the scene outside the window with the lamenting spirits and Jacob Marley), but still, it was so good it fascinated me...)


Marley's Ghost




Ignorance and Want




...but of course...the Muppets are always acceptable...enjoy...Merry Christmas...

A Rusty Heart...

I photographed this old paver sitting on our back step a few weeks back, I've meant to post it, but lost the pictures, but found them again...I tucked them in a funny place during one of my "cleaning sprees" in my laptop...any way...a rusty bit of metal that I found in the flowerbed had been sitting on it for over a year, the old bit crumbled when I poked at it, and found the picture it made...

Then this leaf caught my eye just before Thanksgiving...


A lovely bit of bronze corrosion on a concrete pedestal...I love that green!



Playing with black and white pictures...grape vines this time...


And some frosty leaves...

We're dipping into the 20's...it feels extra wintery...the snow stayed north of the NYS Thruway in the Tug Hill Plateau, so here in the southern hills the acre only received a dusting of snow and a glaze of ice that is nearly all gone...lots of wind, and the old farmhouse made its usual creaks and groans...I'm staying snug and quiet, I'm very tired. I've been editing Drinking from the Fishbowl this week, I just back tracked to chapter 1 today to add in a bit that came to mind, it's a small bit, but needed to be said for a bit that comes along later...again, just a small bit, but it's details like it that make writing such a beautiful thing, it feels good to be working again. My Fred is working on the design for The Fractured Hues of White Light, he's looking for the right fonts to show me, White Light has its own personality, so it needs its own look...it's not looking like we'll be getting it out in time for Christmas...oh, well, that's okay, marketing Dusty Waters is keeping me busy enough...I just wrapped up the giveaway of 5 copies of Dusty Waters at Goodreads.com and mailed out the books yesterday...it's always a treat to meet new readers! There are times I can't believe I'm published...

psst...I love it!

Just some stuff I think about...and look at...

I went trolling through my photos today, played around looking for inspiration...I really really really love looking at stone surfaces...especially the ones with rusty deposits in their composition...along with a few fossils stamped into their face...more ideas for paintings later...or paintings in progress (which I have a few, an update at "Bliss" to come soon!)


Lichen and stone...always a pleasure...

More stony nooks and cranies with fossils...


...and then I found these leaves with such pretty markings hung up in my lilac bush a few weeks back, and yes, this incredible pale green-blue color is there...I really don't know how that happened...I even went back outside to look at them again, had a tough time finding them in the snow...but yes, there is a blue-gray tint, tho' I think the camera "saw it" differently...camera's can exaggerate reality at times...

It did snow over night, not much, but enough to leave some icy patches here and there, the night sky is clear and bright with stars...crisp...pretty...

And I'll leave you with a portrait of my little boy cat Charlie Chowder...aka Doohicky...or just Doo for short...

Sooooo innocent while asleep...but along with that handsome face, with that pink nose (he has the prettiest green eyes, but he wouldn't open them for a picture)...

...these naughty appendages...mischief mittens! My what big paws you have, Mr. Doo! (The better to knock your stuff over with!)