I haven't written a post to share on Tuesday since November. Life, meaning the holidays, other writing and reading took me away, and then it seemed as if every Tuesday I still had no good idea to write. I just wrote my 1600th post a few days ago. Then, I realized that many (maybe most) of those posts were slices of my life, parts of my days I wanted to be sure I didn't forget.
I haven't been idle. I'm writing more on the side, working on poetry for myself, posting haiku on Facebook and Twitter and working on a picture book story that's important to me. It takes time to focus and think and create. Sometimes I am thrilled with a new word or phrase; sometimes I want to stomp away, frustrated that I know I am "telling" but feel helpless in the "showing".
I have been reading, loving other authors' words and illustrators' art. It informs my own writing to see the beauty of the books I read. And I review most, wanting to do my best to reflect back to those creators what I love about their work.
I have family to spend time with, much time with the granddaughters, and savoring the visit from my out-of-state son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. I feel blessed that one family is near and the other comes to visit often. We all had a terrific holiday together, over too soon!
A piece of my cake that has become larger is my work at the used bookstore. I am still the volunteer coordinator (the store, a non-profit, runs entirely on volunteers) but through need because of illness of one of the managers, I am now on the management team and on the board. I feel obligated to do more. I do love the store, the people with whom I work, the customers, too, but it is taking more time.
And I miss all of you, discovering what you are writing, the how and when and where of your words. So here I am beginning the year with a "slice of cake", chocolate for me with creamy icing, perhaps a scoop of ice cream on the side. Happy 2018 to all. May it be a year of good things despite the worries in the news!