IWSG: December 2024

 

Welcome to the last IWSG post of 2024. Thank you to our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the IWSG admins. They do a great job and provide a service to all members. I hope they know we appreciate them. So share your woes and wins to the all the IWSG Members on this list.

This month's optional question:

Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?

Kind of. I write series and there has to be a hook to carry the reader to the next book. Often that mean a character in danger at the end of a book, so it is a cliffhanger, but I also make sure each book has some kind of satisfying payoff. If that makes sense.

As a reader, I don't mind if an author leaves a book on a cliffhanger if they don't take years to write the next book. (Looking at you, George RR Martin, and you, Patrick Rothfuss) 

I'm very grateful as the year draws to a close, for all my writing friends. You've been so supportive and helpful to me.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays and hope you get it to spend it with those you love. We will have our big family celebration on the 24th and a quieter day on the 25th with all the kids stopping by for leftovers. I love Christmas. Unlike Thanksgiving, which is a lot of work for me since I always host, Christmas is just fun and comfort of family. Hope you have the same.

This past year, I managed to re-publish my two completed fantasy series, The Morbunda Saga, and The Futhark Chronicles. The small presses that had previously published them both closed and returned my rights to me. I also have started the next fantasy series. I hope to complete the first rough draft of Book 1 by the end of December. It's still called Book 1 because I haven't some up with a title yet.

Besides writing and getting ready for Christmas, in my spare time I'm working on the 2025 Pennwriters' Annual Conference. It's happening in May in Pittsburgh, PA. I hope any IWSGers who live near there will consider attending. Last year's conference was one of my all-time favorites because I was able to meet L. Diane Wolfe as she took pitches and led workshops. Our attendees loved her. She is so upbeat and knowledgeable about the publishing world. I hope I can meet more of my blogging friends this year. I'll share links to the conference information in January's post.

My live reading went really well last month. Though I was nervous about it, once the time came, I was comfortable and the audience was great. I even sold some books afterward.

Beyond finishing the first draft of a new novel I'm working on, I hope to attend at least one book signing event each month next year. I have two already on the schedule. That's the end of my plans (goals) for next year.

What about you? Cliffhangers or no? Plans for next year? Did you meet this year's goals. Happy and joyous season to you all.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

Today I'm posting over at the IWSG site if you'd like to stop in and visit. This post will close out my blogging for the year but I'll be around on Twitter and Facebook now and then.

2016 was a rough year for a lot of people. Within our family, we had ups and downs but through it all, we stuck together and supported each other. I trust that we'll be of one heart going into 2017. We're rich in all the right ways.

"Contentment lodges oftener in cottages than palaces." Thomas Fuller

We had a bit of snow and ice at the end of last week but I'm trying to have a better outlook on winter this year. We'll see how long that lasts.

"Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart." Victor Hugo

I'll use my first post after Christmas to talk about this year's writing progress and my plans for the next year. Some good news and some not so much.

I do want to thank all my faithful readers of this blog and especially those who leave comments. You make me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. To all of you, I wish the very merriest of holidays with the warmth of family and friends around you. I pray for your good health and happiness. If I could gift it to the world, I would share with one and all, my contentment and joy as a mother, wife, sister and friend. Bless you all.

Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice to you all. The shortest day of the year has arrived for me, but depending on your time zone the Winter Solstice might be on the 22nd. The longest night could be worse. If you live in the northern polar regions, you'll be getting 24 hours of night for the Winter Solstice. You all know I'm a sunshine, warm weather loving kind of gal so I'll be glad to see the days getting longer. We've had endless days of clouds and gloomy weather here though the temperatures have been mild until the last few days. And warm is coming back around for Christmas. So no white Christmas this year.

I have a hundred more things to get done before Christmas though we did finally get the tree up on Sunday night. It looks lovely. The gifts for Christmas Eve with the family are already nestled beneath the boughs. Still lots to do before that day gets here.

Some men, if they have twice as much to do, will do it twice as well.
The Old Farmer's Almanac, 1902

Christmas Day will be a full moon. I don't know what that means but it should mean something. Hopefully, it doesn't mean anything crazy will happen today unless the craziness is that peace on Earth breaks out.

A little too late is much too late.  German Proverb

I won't be posting on Wednesday but I'll be back next Monday. Please stop by IWSG today for my last post of the year on that site.

And some useless trivia from the Old Farmer's Almanac: A Saint Bernard can make its way through snow as deep as 15 feet.

And in case the season brings out the Scrooge in you:  Santa Claus has the right idea...visit people only once per year.  Victor Borge

I wish you all the very best and Merriest Christmas. Hope you all are safe and loved this holiday.

Halcyon Days

The term Halcyon Days emerged in ancient times when a grieving wife named Halcyon threw herself into the sea after discovering her husband, Ceyx, drowned body. The gods took pity on the couple and turned them into halcyons, kingfishers, and gave them the power to calm the stormy seas for 14 days around the time of the winter solstice. It's really windy here today, so maybe we're too far from the sea to benefit.

But the next week will be my blogging Halcyon Days as I take a break from many of my online activities. I won't be blogging again until the 26th though I'll drop in on Twitter and Facebook during that time.

My daughter should be flying in from Morocco tomorrow. You all know how long her semester overseas has seemed to me. She's anxious to be home in America again too. By next Sunday, all the chicks will be close to the home nest again. Then maybe my Christmas spirit will kick into gear.

From the Old Farmer's Almanac today:
A Saint Bernard can make its way through snow as deep as 15 feet.

"To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle." Walt Whitman

I hope your holidays are as Walt Whitman saw life. I pray for peace in the world, in our country and in our home. So far I have one of those. I pray for comfort for those in many parts of the world where violence and disease has brought so much pain and loss. I pray in the new year, I'll be a better person in all the roles I play.

Merry Christmas to all of you. You are appreciated here.

Fifty States of Pray

Mark Koopmans is one of those people. Those people who are generous, kind, creative and so very thoughtful. In a moment of brilliance he came up with the blog hop called Fifty States of Pray. This adventure calls for a short post thanking, wishing, remembering anything you might have want to give a prayer and thought to during this wondrous time of year. Mark is hoping we have bloggers joining in from all fifty states and many, many countries besides the good ole US of A. Thanks Mark for organizing this idea. Visit his blog for the others on the list. And because it's the holiday and family time, take your time and spread the visits out over the next few days.

Though it seems like a cliché, I pray for world peace. Think what it would mean if no one had to spend money on wars. All those funds could go to health care and education. All that research done on weapons could be spend in the medical fields, working for cures. All those people fighting in foreign lands could be home with their loved ones. World peace would solve every problem mankind faces or at least give us a better chance at conquering them.

And a special thought today for my very close friends who lost their twenty year old son to cancer a few months ago. I can't imagine what this holiday will be like for them, but I wish them some moments of peace and comfort in the love of their family and friends.

Merry Christmas to all my blogging and reader friends. I hope the holiday brings you peace and joy in your heart. No comments are necessary. I know you're there.