Another Saturday...

Night Shade and Grass

Colts foot

A tangle

Cilantro

Colts Foot

Briar patch

Colts Foot leaves

Morning Glory vines

Night shade, I really loved the purple leaves!

As you can see I toured the acre with my little camera and my faithful dog, Max...took lots of photos...It's been a long week, lots happening, and I'm grateful for a day to putter, to sit, to soak in a tub of hot water with a good book and a beer, to walk my dog in daylight...to stand near the bird feeder after filling it and watching the birds fly in and out, blue jays, chickadees, cardinals, finches (and mustn't forget the chipmunks!), each taking a tasty treat...the little junco's have come back from their summer nesting places to spend the winter with us...

I'm setting up another giveaway of my novel The Fractured Hues of White Light at Goodreads, it should be going live in about 24 hours, I'll try to tuck a widget or something here so you can find your way to it...I did an entry at my Goodreads Q&A... based on some of the reactions I've received so far from readers, I felt compelled to make note of this...it goes like this:

This book is like a cat. It was clear to me while I was writing the book about Samantha Ryder’s story that this one has a distinct personality — she’s from the same litter, but her own cat, independent to the letter. She's not going to fit into anyone's lap easily... she might have soft and fuzzy places, but she has claws and teeth. Yes, she's a cat. I knew the novel isn’t going to be suited to everybody’s taste (some people love cats, some hate cats), she isn't mainstream fiction, she's literary fiction... she isn't romance, but she's a love story...she's a story about a young woman with autism, but she's not a textbook case about a young woman with autism. She's a book about life and family, who we love, why we love them, how we love them... it's about the emotional inner-scape of the human experience, and how even the "normal" people are just as incapable of expressing their feelings as the young woman afflicted with autism. Every reader approaches a book with their biases and expectations based on their personal experience — what they like and don’t like, what they’re comfortable with, and what makes them squirm. The Fractured Hues of White Light is one of those squirmy books because it’s psychological. As a writer, I have understood that books are a subjective business, and at times very polarizing — readers either passionately love a book or they passionately hate it — the reactions are as black and white as the type on the page. Something one might feel is ‘overworked’ might resonate perfectly fine with someone else, depending on what they’re used to reading. Some readers have issues with harsh language and adult situations, while some accept the reality of the character's lives within the story. The novel has an autistic/OCD sensibility that although was intended while I went through the process of writing her, she has also surprised me for effectively causing ‘trouble’ as I’ve received interesting points of view from readers and writers, which I welcome willingly as part of doing business as an author. I believe I did the right thing writing the book this way...I trust the reader to interpret what I’ve done as they see fit...it is what it is, it's just a story. Samantha Ryder, the little picture that isn’t hung quite right...off kilter just enough to ruin the image of a pretty young woman. If she were picture perfect, it would not only be too easy to write, but she would be wrong — there would be no story to tell.

I don't know if any of that makes sense to you, but it makes sense to me...and so that's my story...I'm stickin' to it.

Max having a good sniff, learning the stories of the acre...