holidays – Mystery Deb

Summer Fun and Then Surgery

We’re back from our vacation in Parksville, BC, and I’m happy to say that everyone had a great time. The weather wasn’t overly hot, and the walks on the beach were spectacular. Soothing for the soul. Although I’m not one for lying in the sun, walking along the beach in the mornings or evenings has always been one of my favourite holiday activities.

Ellie and Abby had some trouble adjusting to a new sleep environment, but managed to adapt after the third night. As you can see from the photos, they loved their beach time, too. By the way, their 3rd and 5th birthdays are in a few days. 🙂

We discovered the community park, in the area where the sandcastle competition was held and the entries were still on display. We also revisited the wildlife reserve, which was a favourite place of everyone’s last year.

I’m now settled back into my routine, except for my first cataract surgery last Saturday. People say that it’s a piece of cake. Hmmm. I’ll admit it was quick. The procedure was only about fifteen minutes. The bright light in my eye and heavy plastic covering the upper half of my face wasn’t particularly comfortable. Nor was the blurriness and achiness that followed. The eye patch I wear at bedtime to keep from rubbing my eyes is fun, sort of, and then there are the endless rounds of drops.

I’m seeing details on my face now that startle me. Holy cow, where did those bags under my eyes come from? Because only one eye has a news lens, I still need my glasses, and my vision feels lopsided. With or without glasses, nothing’s quite in focus right now.

For this reason, I’m not spending as much time reading all the lovely blogs and newsletters (especially the longer ones) because of this blurriness, but I will catch up by the end of August. The second surgery is on August 12^th, but my vision should be much better about a week after that.

Before surgery, I outlined the third book in my trilogy. Since outlines are merely guidelines for me, other twists and developments are likely to pop up. It always happens, but that’s the fun part of creating. You start writing and are surprised by a character’s action, or comment that can lead to a minor plot twist or an intriguing angle I hadn’t anticipated while outlining.

Working on one family’s story over a six month period has been an interesting experience. The cool thing about working on the third book is that I know the main characters and settings, and what needs to happen. Now I just need to finish writing the darn thing. I’ll get down to it once my eyesight is fully functional again. Until then, I’ll plod along a little each day. When I was working day jobs and raising kids, that’s how most of my writing life unfolded. But I learned that you can accomplish a lot in short bursts of time. All it takes it discipline and a little bit of planning.

I’m not sure when my next blog will be, but until then, I wish you a lovely rest of summer and your own sweet place for strolling and reflection.

Holiday Greetings

The shopping and wrapping are done in our household. The tree is decorated, new exterior lights are brightening the yard, and I’m excited to be celebrating this first Christmas in our new home. The weather will be mild this Christmas, which is more than welcome.

Today is the winter solstice, the longest day of the year. Throughout millennia this important day has been recognized and celebrated. The solstice celebrates the renewal of light as the days will start to grow longer. With that light comes new beginnings and hope, and we could all use more of that, so Happy Winter Solstice!

(Pixabay photo courtesy of Linda Roisum)

Wherever you are and however you celebrate, I wish you all a happy and peaceful season. And for those of you who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas!

(Pixabay photo courtesy of Jill Wellington)

Back to My Regular Routine

Happy Groundhog Day and Kung Hei Fat Choy (the Cantonese version, I’m told), or Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) to those who celebrate. The new year officially started yesterday, but celebrations go on for several days. It is now the year of the tiger, which symbolizes strength and courage, among other things.

Normally, we would be going out for a large family dinner, but in these Covid times, small family gatherings are safer, especially for eighteen-month-old Ellie. How is your 2022 going so far? Has it been productive and smooth-going, or a bumpy long haul?

Before Covid, my husband I were lucky enough to spend a few days in Mexico in January 2018 and January 2019. It was a welcome break, although we had no plans to go ever year. Good decision, too, as it turned out. But I do enjoy breaks in late January. By the third week of the month, most of us feel that winter’s become a grind we could live without. My husband, hardly a world traveler, has actually been checking the daily temperature in Puerto Vallarta, which I don’t think helps his longing for warmer weather.

I had a break from my usual routine this past week, as my daughter was on a week’s holiday, so babysitting services weren’t needed. I used the time to finish tasks that had been on hold for several weeks, and to catch up on rest and reading. This week, I’m back babysitting, amazed by the way Ellie’s language and motor skills are progressing, and how she’s now crawling up on the furniture and running at, what for her, is top speed. Yikes!

I’m grateful for the great feedback I received from my beta readers on the Casey novella. Of course, changes are needed, and I’m rethinking the title, but it shouldn’t take too long to make the changes.

Meanwhile, I’ve joined the largest BookFunnel group promotion yet, with over 80 authors offering samples, excerpts, or full books of suspense and thriller mysteries. You can find the link HERE.

So Long, 2021

I imagine many people have good reason to see this year end, and for things to improve in 2022. I totally get it. Here in British Columbia we’ve suffered a grueling year. Mother nature provided harsh reminders that she’s hurting and we’d better smarten up to avoid more death and destruction. As I write this, Vancouver was -12 degrees Celsius overnight. In our area, this is rare but not as unsettling as the forest fires and heat dome last the summer, and the major flooding that wiped out entire farms and killed many animals in the fall.

Worldwide, there were immense challenges, much of which saddens and angers me, especially at the horrible way people treat one another and the planet. But I also saw plenty of grassroots heroes showcased on TV, helping friends, neighbors, and community through crises. There are still many good things happening. There is still hope. It also makes me really appreciate the blessings our family enjoyed this holiday season.

Although we had snowy conditions for part of the hour+ drive to our daughter’s home, Christmas was delightful. Ellie wasn’t quite sure what was going on with all the gifts, but she certainly took to her new Elmo and other toys.

Despite the weather and ominous COVID challenges, I took some positives from this year. I worked diligently on editing the urban fantasy and made good progress, thanks to my wonderful critique group. I’m finally going back to finalizing the Casey Holland mystery novella for beta readers, which I’ll be seeking over the coming weeks.

I also returned to craft fairs and facilitating this fall, and enjoyed our first family vacation with Ellie. When it comes down to it, for me it’s all about family and doing things that fulfill me. My first full year of retirement has been busy and rewarding, but as always, I can’t wait to ring in the year new and see what the next chapter brings. Happy New Year to All!

Holiday Prep and Blessings

Somehow, I managed to get all ready for Christmas five days early. Mind you, it took some planning and help from my son and hubby who shared cooking and housework duties while I did my thing. But the big day’s almost here and I’m so happy to be celebrating Christmas with little Ellie this year.

This time last year, our province was in a major lock down that prevented families from getting together. Ellie was four months old, so I figured she wouldn’t miss us, but this year she’s an energetic, curious sixteen months, who loves Christmas lights and purple bows. She also gets excited when her grandparents, uncle and great aunt walk arrive together. I’ll share a couple of photos next week.

Year-end thoughts will also be in next week’s blog, but right now I’m focused on family and gratitude for the blessings I’ve been able to enjoy. I never stop appreciating how lucky we are to live in this part of the world, and that our family’s staying healthy. I wish the same for you and yours.

Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Holidays, and a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

How I Spent My Break

If you’re looking for free mystery and suspense novels, I have one more BookFunnel promotion I’m taking part in this summer. This one ends on August 1^st and there are nearly seventy authors participating. My Casey Holland mysteries, Deadly Accusations (#2) and Beneath the Bleak New Moon (#3) are also free, but only through BookFunnel’s newsletter campaign till Aug. 1. You can find the whole roster of books HERE.

I’m not sure that writers truly ever stop writing, even while on holiday, but I sort of managed it. I didn’t look at my urban fantasy for eight days, which became kind of difficult after four or five days. The thing is, when your mind is relaxed and all is quiet, ideas pop up.

This is how I found myself working on characters and an outline for the paranormal mystery I’ve mentioned in the past. It was great fun exploring ‘what-if’ concepts and creating characters. It was even more fun coming up with ideas for monsters. I’m trying to stay away from old familiars like vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, at least with this book. Creating monsters is a whole new challenge in my writing life, but I’ve read a couple of good books on the topic.

Speaking of reading, I read a terrific how-to book called Mastering Your Mystery by Cheryl Bradshaw. She goes through the basics of writing a crime novel, but takes it further in the second half of the book by offering helpful advice on marketing, publishing, and promotion. I especially liked that she went the extra mile to provide a list of awards and competitions to submit to, and a list of sites to help promote your work. Although I’ve read my share of how-to books, I always find that reading these books sparks ideas for current projects.

Last, but definitely not least, I spent a great deal of time with little Ellie, who’ll soon be one year old. Last week, she learned to crawl up a couple of steps and had her first ‘swim’ in the lake with her mom and dad. I’m always amazed by the astonishing changes during a child’s first year of life, and can’t wait to see what the next year will bring.

She’s hold a favorite new toy, a bowling pin.

A Different Kind of Christmas

Well, it’s almost Christmas, and I hope you’re all doing as well as you possibly can. Christmas at our house will certainly be different this year. My daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter will be celebrating with us via Zoom. My son, who lives with us, will hook up my laptop to our big screen TV so they’ll be as close to us as possible. If luck, we might be able to get my brother-in-law in Ottawa to Zoom in with us as well.

I’m still cooking a turkey and enjoying some wine, and gift unwrapping. I still feel excitement and joy by the holiday season and am heartened to see people doing so many generous things to make the holidays a little better for others.

Today, I’m sharing some photos that represent some of my December. First up are three of my favorite tree ornaments. The chandelier and First Nations design are gifts from my sister who usually brings me a new ornament every year. The pink flamingo was purchased from the gift shop at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where we took my mom for her 75^th birthday just over a decade ago. This will be our second Christmas without Mom, and I still miss her very much.

But we’re also overjoyed to spend our first Christmas with Ellie. This photo was taken on Dec. 10^th, after she’d been to the doctor for her checkup and vaccines. She’s now 4-1/2 months old.

It snowed in our area on the first official day of winter, which is kind of cool. When you’re retired and don’t have to drive to work every day, you appreciate snow a little more.