And I am not speaking music here, I am talking about things getting shifty underfoot. Sometimes, trying to balance the quivers, quavers, and quakes of this life leaves me reeling. Let me give some examples of the waves we’ve been hitting: crests and troughs are becoming alarmingly frequent. First example: Dan finished his book; that’s an up. We have sent it off for the cover artist to do her magic, and she has—she did a fantastic job. That’s a crest. And the Amazon algorithms and robots decide to get huffy about things, and the book is stuck in transit to publication, throwing a hitch in the timeline here at Potpourri. That’s a trough. At the same time, I completed Firebird Three; it launched successfully last week, and the third book of the Social Work memoirs launched and shot up to #1 in several categories, which is lovely. Nearly 2000 copies downloaded in the first day —thank you so much, everyone! Those are definitely crests. I took one of my books out to re-edit: two friends told me about a couple of typos, and I took it down to correct them, and now KDP won’t let me put it back up because it is suddenly incorrectly formatted? Big downer, which I will need to repair.
And I finally completed the newest Christmas book; I am in the editing stage and hope to get it out the first week of December. Up we go. Our newest little munchkin felt bad this week, which is a downer. We haven’t found homes for all our puppies yet, which is another down. The harvest is in, which is an up; the drought hasn’t quit yet, down.
I received a bunch of new plants for my indoor jungle; ride on up . I am having a birthday on Monday—I am as old as the trees in the forest locally. Way up, I am still this side of the sod. We haven’t got time to celebrate it on my birthday, which is kind of a down; people keep gifting me, so maybe stretching it out is an up-and-down. One of my old friends is actively dying of cancer and complications; she has moved into a hospice home, and is not conscious all the time. I miss her laughter already, swoop down. There are no pretty fall leaves to take pictures of again. Down. I love taking photos. Three people in my creative writing group have published their first books this year; that is great. We will celebrate that as a group shortly, so something to anticipate.
And that was just this week; BUT we are to the weekend, and things ought to settle. It’s supposed to rain. We have a new special coming out, and I am hoping it settles everyone’s week and gets you thinking about the Christmas season, which I at least love. You ought to see my library—no, you ought not. I have 16 totes —one for each family member —and two more, just in case I forgot someone, sitting in the library, mostly full or half complete of gifts to wrap and give to my loved ones. I am blessed to have the ability to gift and people to gift. But on to the special for you: my first Christmas book will be on special the week of my birthday. From October 28 until November 1, it will be a free download on Amazon.
Tales for Advent and Christmas, Book 1
A Collection of Traditions, Stories, and Customs for the Christmas Season
Have you wondered about the origins of the Christmas pickle? Or how we got from the manger in a cave/stable to giant plaster nativity scenes? Did you ever try to explain to someone what Christmas might actually be about under all that hype, marketing, and expense? Then this little book of daily readings is just right for your Advent season (the 24 days leading up to Christmas). You’ll laugh a bit, shake your head at the monsters, and enjoy the family recipes and favorite carols in the appendix. Still, mostly you’ll find some peace, some downtime, a little oasis of serenity and comfort in all the rushing endemic to this season. You might find the true meaning of Christmas for yourself and your loved ones, before it’s all lost in the fancy paper, online shopping, and overextending of time and money. What do Christmas pickles, monsters, and spiders have to do with the nativity, anyway?