The Year That Was

One year ago today, I launched this blog. I want to say a special thank you to my followers and my sometime viewers. My wish is that somewhere along this journey I’ve made you laugh or made you cry. I hope you’re encouraged to love more and to fearlessly pursue your dream, no matter how frustrated or discouraged you can sometimes get when things don’t pop right into place on command.

There have been days and weeks when the words flew out of my head and onto the computer screen almost automatically…. On those days, my characters were talking to me constantly and frequenting my dreams. They helped me almost finish three stories and outline three more. Hundreds of pages and thousands of words waiting for another review to see if they are submission-worthy.

Then there are the days when all my characters decide to go on vacation at the same time. I like to think they’re somewhere fun like touring Europe twenty years ago or going horseback riding for the very first time. I don’t know where they are, I only know they aren’t here helping me write! When they go on vacation, I turn to my other creative outlets until they return.

Then new buildings spring up on the railroad in the basement; a movie theater showing Casablanca and the Wizard of Oz, the family lumber business, Bunny Bread’s original home, or the International Shoe Company. The first town at the bottom of the stairs is filling in nicely.

The riot of color from the tubs of fiber cheers me up as I have spun miles, not just yards, of beautiful yarn of wool, alpaca, silk and bamboo. Right now I’m working with musk ox fiber. I even made six sweaters, vests and shawls from my homespun this year, not for me, but for people I love.

My knitting needles and crochet hooks just keep working making socks, shawls, lapghans, scarves and soft, cuddly baby things. I even learned to needle felt to create three gnomes and two penguins.

The train just pulled in and some of my characters are ready to tell me about their adventures so the words and pages will start mounting up again – hopefully they will produce something not only Submission-worthy, but publication ready!!!! Enjoy!