The End of a Weird Year

Well, the year is finally at an end, and we’re ready to start celebrating Christmas. I think. I have mixed feelings about this. Sure, there’s the obvious, the thousands of illnesses and deaths being tops, but throw in an utterly fucked-up Presidential election and the overall absence of autumnal fun and holiday cheer, and Christ – just let’s get to Day 365 already. Knowing our luck, the Greenwich clock will freeze at 23:59 and 59 seconds, and we’ll be stuck in 2020 forever. Let’s pray. If you pray to anyone, that is – I’m certain half the populace doesn’t believe in a Higher Power except XBOX and Avengers movies, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

I’m finding that I’m not as excited for Christmas this year, I know that’s the norm for everyone. I used to put up 6 (6!!) trees, all themed to the room they were in, and had white lights everywhere. My Precious Moments Nativity set takes several hours; I make a very elaborate display out of paper-towel-wrapped boxes and cotton batting (for the clouds), and have several pine candles and greenery and white lights over all of it. (Yes, I know it wasn’t snowing during Christ’s birth, but it’s snowing here, so get over it, purists.) This year, though…I didn’t bother. I don’t have the heart for it. I put out my little cat-themed Nativity set in the corner. No pine and cotton batting. Done in 10 minutes.  Two trees, one with permanent lights. I was done decorating in two days and this time I just shrugged and said it was good enough. No outside lights; they keep burning out anyhow. No spotlights. No greenery; just a wreath over the picture window and some pine on the porch lights. I’m getting old, I’m definitely tired and creaking with arthritis pain, and the black cloud of COVID-related mournfulness is sometimes hard to swat away. Thank God for Jameson in my tea, and the cheerfulness of repeated showings of Moana on Disney Plus.

Podrick the cat is now blocking my monitor, watching the words go across the screen, so I am relying on my typing sense to continue. He’s fascinated by the moving cursor. This is where I regret that my computer has a touch screen. Any typos in this writeup are definitely his fault, not mine.

Some good things DID happen. All of my Christmas packages arrived (thanks to my ordering way early, but also huge thanks to Amazon!) and are all wrapped. My father got through another surgery unscathed. Though holiday depression is running rampant, my family is still in decent health. Rya and I finally finished Book 6, “Dragon’s Gauntlet.” It’s way shorter than the other 5 books, but so many things intervened – Rya’s grandmother’s health, my father’s health, Rya’s planned move to Florida, COVID, etc. – that we were lucky to get it out at all. But we found a great stopping point, so I finalized the whole thing while Rya got her family moved. I don’t want to even look at it for the next month; I’m so sick of reading it over and over and OVER…and I’ve still found a couple of typos, but hey, them’s the breaks. It’s done. And now Book 7 looms. Rya is going to have to send me what she’s been working on while I’ve been scrutinizing every sentence structure, chapter format, and cover art placement in DG. That’ll be fun long distance, but we can do it. Half of DG was completed via Skype and text messages. We’re in the Age of Electronic Information, after all!

I also bit the bullet and donated nearly half of my decorations to Goodwill. The nice man at Goodwill came over smiling, a big blue cart in tow. I smiled back and said, “I’m gonna need about 4 of those.” The smile kinda became frozen/incredulous as my husband and I filled up all four bins with Santas and elves and teddy bears and lights and wreaths and outdoor stuff of all kinds. Even the other people donating stopped to stare at the number of items. I really didn’t realize how much I’d bought and hoarded over the years.

There comes a point in everyone’s life when you wonder just why you’re holding on to all of this shit, and the need to simplify suddenly intensifies. I took two weeks off in October and just CLEANED. Two minivans parked outside – one for the dump, one for donations – were packed to the gills. I never gave anything a second thought this time; if it wasn’t being used, it went. And ya know what? I don’t even miss it. It was time.

Anyhow, it’d been a while since I posted something on this blog. I know it’s not very jolly, but then again, neither is this year. Let’s hope better things happen in 2021, and I hope to fuck I didn’t just jinx it for everyone. 

Cheers, all...Becca

 

Book VI, "Dragon's Gauntlet," is HERE!

 Finally, after family illnesses, selling and buying houses, packing up and moving 900 miles away, and the shit-show that is COVID-19, Rya and I are pleased to announce that "Dragon's Gauntlet" is FINALLY up for sale on Amazon (Kindle & trade paperback) and Smashwords (the nice people who make other ebooks like Apple and Kobo possible).  Head on over to our "Purchase Our Books" link and pick your preferred retailer! And don't forget to leave a review! Make our year!

Thank God this one was accepted quickly or I might have lost my mind once and for all...now Rya can get her butt on to Florida in one piece.  We hope you enjoy it.

Happy reading, everyone!
'Becca

Fictional Character Connections

So we’re all stuck inside during this virus pandemic and people are losing their flipping minds. “I’m bored!” “I want to go out!” “I can’t stand being cooped up like this!” Meanwhile, I’m sitting here enjoying the hell out of the solitude. I’m not like these people. I'm different.

I’m a bookworm and an introvert by nature. I don’t go out every Friday night to bars and clubs with groups of chatting, laughing homo sapiens because I’ve never fit in to those circles. My Friday nights are spent in an armchair with a cup of steaming hot tea, a cat on my lap, and a book in my hands.

Books are my best friends. As a bullied kid in primary school, I would grab a snack and a book and immerse myself in Wonderland, Narnia, Middle Earth, etc. – and I’d be thrilled to meet up with all of the characters in those stories, where Samwise Gamgee, Lucy Pevensie, Melanie Wilkes, and the Cheshire Cat were equally happy to see me. In high school, while my classmates met each other for social lunches and assembled at the cafeteria tables with their tight little cliques, I’d sit on the floor by myself outside my next classroom with a sandwich and a book – usually one I’d read over and over again. I’d always be a bit startled when the bell rang because I’d be so deeply engaged.

Now that I’m an adult – old enough to be a grandmother, in fact – I don’t see why this should change. And it hasn’t. 

Well, to quote Newt Scamander, maybe just a smidge.

As an author myself, I now can whip up my own characters and worlds. I clap on my headphones, turn up the music soundtracks, and let my mind wander. I create new friends. I bring in some of the old ones to say hi. Sometimes I place my cronies from Narnia, Wonderland, Middle Earth, Camelot, and the Wizarding World into whole new situations, and happily post my creations on fanfiction sites to share with others like me. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a scene in my head and quickly jot it down on my iPad. My imagination has no limits, and unlike real people, it welcomes me with open arms. I’ll never have to worry about saying something wrong, I’ll never have to endure awkward moments. I’m free.

That’s wrong, standard people say. That’s weird. See that girl over there? She never talks to anybody. She’s a snob. She’s always got her nose buried in a book, dreaming of unicorns and dragons and fantasy crap. She’ll never amount to anything. That kinda sounds like the song “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast, and we all know how that turned out! 

Screw that judgy guy in the background!

Never curb someone’s creativity. Never tell them to keep their feet on the ground. Their feet are exactly where they need to be. To my fellow book-reading introverts, hands up to Kindles and Nooks and leather-bound tomes with sweet-smelling pages. Be a Belle.

Happy reading,

'Becca

You Don't Have To Hate Social Distancing!

You're stuck at home anyhow...grab some whiskey or tea (or both!) and dive in! You can download Book 1 for FREE on Smashwords.com!  Click on the "Purchase Our Books" button above and click on the Smashwords link, and dive into a whole new Camelot!