In With the New

As I mentioned last week, I did not start out last year with a set of goals. Now I’m not saying this is what caused the pandemic or anything, but I’m pretty sure it was at least in part the reason why it took me so long to get into the writing swing of things.

So this time, as 2020 started running down, I started thinking more and more about what I wanted from the year ahead. I made lists, and came up with five main goals, and sub-lists of ways to achieve these goals. This is what I came up with:

1. Write More

Kind of self-explanatory. I did a lot of weekly prompt stories last year, but it was a struggle and it didn’t leave anything left for other writing, which is why it took so long to finish Blood Ties. But when I did finally get going on Blood Ties, I really enjoyed myself. So much so that I went ahead with NaNo.

Once upon a different blog, I had links to two very cool writing exercise prompts. The first was One Word, which would generate a single word and give you one minute to write something based on that word. The second was Write Every Day, which would give you a sentence and five minutes to write. Alas, these wonderful writing aids are gone now, but I did a search and found a random word generator that generates as many words as you like. I’m going to set it for three, and give myself three minutes to free-write on a daily basis.

I will also (hopefully) work on Knightsong to get the first draft finished by the end of the year.

2. Edit More

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy editing. Just not my own stuff. LOL

First up is Blood Ties. I’ve already started this and it’s going well. I want to keep up the momentum and finish ASAP.

Next will be An Elemental Spirit. The draft was done for last year’s NaNoWriMo and I haven’t touched it since. It needs a lot of re-writing and I’d like to see that finished by year’s end.

In between novels is my ever-increasing collection of flash fiction that needs to be polished up.

3. Publish More

It should go without saying that I’d like to see Blood Ties released into the wild before the year is over.

I’m also planning on submitting a story or poem for publication on a weekly basis. There’s no point in writing all this stuff and not doing anything with it.

4. Learn More

I’ve collected a lot of information on writing techniques over the years, but mostly I’ve just put it all in folders on my lap top to look at “later.” Well, later never seems to come so I’m going to start going through this pile of information and maybe even take notes.

I also want to take a couple of classes. I really enjoyed the Speculative Fiction classes I took a few years ago – they were both fun and informative. Of course with the pandemic and all these classes will have to be online, but that’s fine by me.

5. Find A Balance

Woman cannot live by writing (and editing) alone, she also needs to read. And I don’t mean the reading binge I was on for the first half of last year, more like an hour or two a day.

I also need to carve out time for my crafts – it’s either that or get rid of my copious amount of craft supplies and I’m not ready for that. I’m also still a member of the Northumberland Stitchery Guild, and when we start meeting up again I don’t want to show up with an empty work bag.

And spending so much time at all these things that are done sitting down, I need to get off my butt once in a while and get some exercise. It might help if I snacked less too.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

So those are my goals for 2021 and how I’m hoping to achieve them. There are some things I’d like to do every day – the three word prompt, editing, reading, and exercising. The rest will take some juggling until I find a workable system.

But I think as goals go this is doable. Only time will tell how doable they are.

Knightsong

I’ll bet you thought I was going to do a Happy New Year post today, complete with my goals for the year ahead, didn’t you? Well ha, ha. I’m saving that one for Sunday because this is Fiction Friday.

But seeing as this is the first day of a brand new year, why don’t we start with a brand new excerpt, one from the novel I hope to finish this year – Knightsong.

A few weeks ago I gave you the opening for Knightsong, introducing the main character, Jaxson Hunter, front man for the imaginary band, the White Knights. If you need to refresh your memory, you can read it HERE .

As you may have guessed, Jax and the woman in blue do end up together, but after a night of steamy sex, he wakes up alone. This scene is actually from the beginning of chapter two, and introduces Jax’s brother, Elijah.

Elijah let the curtain fall back into place and sighed. His neighbours were back from the city and from the smug look on Parker’s face and the defeated slump to Shaelynn’s shoulders, the prognosis from the doctor wasn’t good.

“Looks like good old Parker gets to torment his wife for another few months,” he said to the budgie chirping merrily in its cage.

The budgie chirped one, short burst at him and he couldn’t help but smile in response. He was not normally a negative person, but just the thought of Shaelynn and her situation made him sick at heart.

With another sigh he turned his attention back to his lap top and the website he was working on. The files had finished loading so he closed the folders and opened up a browser. Typing in the address he hit enter and sat back in his chair. The website appeared and he clicked his way through the menus, making sure everything worked properly. Perfect.

It would want to be, this being what he did for a living. It was perfect for him – he could work from home and make his own hours. A little computer repair on the side and he was set. Business was booming and he was good at what he did.

He’d trade it all if only he could help Shaelynn. They’d been best friends since high school and he hated with a passion what was happening to her. The life was being sucked from her and he was helpless to do anything about it, other than be her friend and offer a shoulder for her to cry on.

The ringing of the phone distracted him from his downward turning thoughts. He picked up the old fashioned, wall mounted receiver.

“Hello?”

“Hey bro.”

“Jax!” A smile lit up Elijah’s face. “Where are you? Still on the road?”

“Nah, the tour finished up last week. We’ve got a couple of months of down time before we head back to the studio.”

“Two whole months? I can’t believe it. Whatever are you going to do with yourself,” Elijah asked in amusement.

“I thought I might start by coming out to see you.”

“What?” Eli couldn’t possibly have heard right.

“If that’s okay, that is.”

Jaxson sounded unsure of himself. Eli couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever seen his brother unsure of himself. “What’s the matter?”

“What kind of question is that?” Irritation leaked into his voice. “Can’t a man visit his brother without there being something wrong?”

“Jaxson, how long have I been living here?” Eli paced as far as the phone cord would let him and back again.

“I dunno, two, three years?”

“It’s been five. And in all that time have you ever come to visit?”

“Well, no. Look, if it’s going to be a problem . . .”

“Don’t give me that crap. This is me you’re talking to.” Eli turned to face the window where he had a view of Shaelynn’s house.

Jaxson sighed into the phone. “There was this woman. She—I—I tried to find her . . . I just need to come home for a while. I need my family.”

“You don’t need an invitation,” Eli told him gently. “This is your home as much as mine.”

“Thanks, bro. I’ll be there some time tomorrow. I’ll tell you the whole story then.”

“Looking forward to it. Drive safe, Jax.”

Elijah hung up the phone carefully. Now this was an interesting turn of events. He wondered what it portended.

Superstitions X – New Year’s

I don’t think any of us will be sorry to see the last of 2020, but you might want to check out these superstitions before you wave the final bye bye.

Stock your cupboards up with food and your wallet with money to bring prosperity in the New Year. Empty pockets or empty cupboards on New Year’s Eve portend a year of poverty.

Open a window a few minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve to let the bad luck out and welcome in good luck for the New Year. Then at the stroke of midnight you should open all the doors of the house to let the old year escape unimpeded.

It’s tradition to make a lot of noise at New Year celebrations to scare away the devil and his servants. Church bells are rung at midnight for the same reason.

Kissing at midnight ensures that affections and ties will continue throughout the New Year. It is also said that to not do this would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.

If you eat 12 grapes at midnight (one for each month of the year) you will have good luck for the entire year.

One food you don’t want to eat, however, is lobster. It’s believed that eating lobster before midnight on New Year’s Eve is bad luck because they move backwards, which will set you up for a year of obstacles. You also don’t want to eat chicken because chickens have wings and your good luck could fly away.

The direction of wind during sunrise on New Year morning prophesies about the coming year. Wind from south foretells fine weather and prosperous times ahead while wind from north foretells bad weather. Wind blowing from east foretells natural calamities and wind from west foretells plenty of milk and fish for all, but death of a person of great national importance. No wind means joy and prosperity throughout the year.

Nothing should be carried outside on New Year’s day to avoid carrying out the family’s good luck for the year ahead

Don’t leave the house until someone enters from the outside first on New Year’s Day. And no one should enter the home from the outside world without bringing in something from outside, to ensure a year of prosperity for the family within.

The appearance of an unexpected visitor on New Year’s Day means a year full of company for the household. If the unexpected visitor is a man it’s considered good luck, but if it’s a woman it means trouble.

If you dance in the open air, especially round a tree, on New Year's Day it ensures luck in love and prosperity and freedom from ill health during the coming twelve months.

Avoid breaking things or crying on the first day of the year if you don't want to continue the pattern for the entire year.

In several countries, people do not let money, jewelry, precious items or other valuable things leave home on New Year’s Day. You should also not pay loans and bills or lend things to anybody.

Mountain superstitions dictate that the traditional meal for New Year’s Day is black-eyed peas and hog jowl. The black-eyed peas are served in heaping helpings because each pea or bean eaten is a guarantee of one day of good luck. Hog jowl is also considered good luck.

You should only do a token amount of work on New Year’s Day to ensure advancement in your career, and starting a serious work project is unlucky. Working hard at a task will guarantee a year of hard labor, since whatever deeds are performed will influence a person's actions for the rest of the year. People go to the extent of not taking out garbage or even sweeping their carpets on this day to ensure that nothing goes out of home during the year.

It is also believed that washing dishes and doing laundry on New Year's Day will lead to a death in the family during the year. Many people do not even wash hair on New Year day.

Any superstition that tells me I shouldn’t wash dishes or do laundry is one I can really get behind. :-)

May you have nothing but luck in the New Year.

Out With the Old

This is the post where normally I recap the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year and confess how well I did/didn’t do keeping them. It’s kind of a nice way to round out the year.

The problem is, I didn’t set any goals at the beginning of last year. Maybe I was in a bad head space, or maybe I had a premonition of the way the year was going to turn on us, but even in my writing journal I set no goals for the year ahead.

There was a lot of awful stuff that happened in 2020. First and foremost, of course, was the COVID-19 pandemic. What started out much the same as the Spanish Flu, or SARS, quickly morphed into something much more dangerous and widespread. If you haven’t Stephen King’s The Stand, you might want to.

The pandemic led to panic shopping and stock piling and widespread lock downs. Even those of us who don’t like venturing out overmuch felt the effects of self-isolation. Businesses that weren’t able to adapt to an on-line presence floundered. The stock market dipped. Schools were closed and people were advised to work from home whenever possible. It became a whole new world.

People came up with a variety of ways to cope with the new order – some thrived while others wilted. Myself, I started out the year by diving into books. I started out re-reading the entire Argeneau Vampire series by Lynsay Sands (30 volumes), and then got into Nora Roberts, followed by Charles de Lint and Alice Hoffman (among others).

According to Indigo I bought over 90 books throughout the year – and that was just online, never mind in-store. No wonder my bookcases are overflowing. And I have no idea how many books I downloaded from Amazon, but my Kindle is having problems updating.

The ironic part about having no goals for 2020 is that it turned out to be a pretty good year for me writing-wise. I got my fiction stories organized. I finish writing Blood Ties (formerly Wandering Wizards). I polished and sent off a story (which I haven’t heard back about, but no news is good news, right?). I completed another NaNo challenge. Sure, the book’s a hot mess, but I got my 50,000 words in. I created an anthology of flash fiction and figured out how to bind it myself.

So yeah. If I had a set of scales that I could weigh the good against the bad for this past year, I’d have to say it wasn’t that bad a year.

It gives me hope for the year ahead.

Superstitions IX – Christmas

With Christmas being so commercialized these days, it’s easy to forget its old-fashioned roots and traditions. And let’s not forget the superstitions. Many, many superstitions.

Christmas evergreens represent endurance while the berries represent resurrection of life. Since the 15th century, holly and ivy were essential part of Christmas decorations for church. If the holly used for Christmas decorations is smooth the wife will be master. If the holly used for Christmas decorations is prickly the husband is the master. Prudent couples use both kinds of hollies on Christmas to assure balanced and harmonious home.

Mistletoe, also known as Celtic-All-Heal was popular by the 19th century. Since the times of druids, it was associated with fertility and kissing. Luck favors those who kiss under the mistletoe but turns against those who avoid it. It is bad luck to take Christmas mistletoe down and it should only be replaced on the following Christmas. Burning old mistletoe was said to predict marriage prospects of an unmarried girl. Steady flames ensured happy marital life while the spluttering flames predicted bad tempered and cross husbands.

The Yule log should be lit by a piece of the log used on the previous Christmas. Once that is done, no evil spirit can then enter into the house. Yule Logs should never be bought. Once lit, it must burn all through the 12 days of Christmas otherwise bad luck will visit the household. Any difficulty in lighting the Yule log was taken as a bad omen for the year ahead. Yule logs were burnt on the Christmas fire and many people kept a piece on the log from the previous year as a lucky talisman.

Small amounts of lead were melted over the Yule log then poured into a container of water. The resulting shape was then used to predict future about the pourer

After the Christmas dinner, a popular parlor game was to float walnut shells as boats with small burning candles in them in a bowl of water. The owners whose boat crossed across the bowl safely were said to be endowed with prosperity for the coming year while bad luck awaited those whose boats sunk in the bowl.

Everyone was given an apple after dinner, which was then cut in half lengthwise. If the core was star-shaped, the company was sure of meeting again safely next year. If anybody's core was in a different shape, their death was predicted within twelve months' time. The appearance of four-point cross was a particularly bad omen.

The weather on each of the twelve days of Christmas signifies what the weather will be on the appropriate month of the coming year. If you really want to know the rainfall for the next year, you can hollow out 12 onions, putting salt into each. Each onion is named after a month of the year, and there will be rain in every month where the salt in that onion is wet. And if Christmas Day falls on a Thursday, the following year will be windy.

Whatever you dream on any of the 12 nights between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6) will come to pass within the next year.

Singing Christmas carols at any time other than during the festive season is unlucky.

Failing to decorate a Christmas tree will cause spring to never come – instead you’ll have bad luck and evil spirits.

A dog that howls on Christmas Eve will go mad.

If an apple is eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve, good health will follow for a year.

The gender of the first visitor to the house on Christmas Eve was said to foretell the sex of the child of the pregnant women in the household.

The gates of Heaven open at midnight on Christmas Eve. Those who die then go straight to Heaven (an Irish belief).

Christmas candles should be left burning until Christmas morning and should rest undisturbed from time of lighting until they are snuffed.

On Christmas morning the first person down the stairs must quickly open the front door and sweep trouble out the door.

Never give shoes for Christmas gifts. Giving a new pair of shoes as Christmas gifts would make your friends walk away from you.

Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green.

The first person to hear the rooster crow on Christmas Day is assured of good luck.

Every mince pie you eat at Christmas means a happy month in the year to come.

Bathing on Christmas Day will keep you safe from fevers and toothache in the year to come.

It’s bad luck to leave the dinner table before everyone has finished on Christmas Day.

The child born on Christmas Day will have a special fortune.

A Christmas tree should never be thrown out doors or it will attract evil spirits and goblins. Christmas trees should be burned, but save a section to be used as next year’s Yule log.

To avoid bad luck, all of your Christmas decorations should be down by Candlemas (February 2).

Floundering

With NaNo well behind me and the book flood anthology done, I find I’m floundering around trying to get my feet under me again. And while I did manage to get all my blog posts done, I got none of my other weekly goals done.

Furthermore, I probably won’t get any done this week either. In case you haven’t noticed, Christmas is upon us. I spent two days shopping, one day wrapping, and found a good dozen typos in my book flood anthology. You know, the books I sent out to my family on Monday. *sigh*

So today I’m taking the easy way out and posting a few of my favourite Christmas songs instead of an actual post. Merry Christmas everyone!

12 Pains of Christmas


I Am Santa Claus


Imperial March/Carol of the Bells


TSO – Christmas Eve in Sarajevo

And Now For Something Completely Different

I feel the need to take a break from the fantasy for a while, at least the writing of it. I’ll still be editing Blood Ties, but I thought it was about time I returned to the book I’m supposed to be writing for my writer’s retreat in the spring *knock on wood*

This really is something completely different for me. It’s neither science fiction nor fantasy, instead it’s a romantic suspense. It started out as a NaNo novel a few years ago, but I realize one week and 10,000 words in that it was a little too complicated for NaNo and I wouldn’t do it justice if I tried to rush it. So I abandoned it and it’s pretty much been languishing ever since. And yes, I did go on to complete the NaNo challenge with something else.

It should be an interesting experience for me, and if I enjoy it as much as I think I will there’s the possibility of sequels – the main character is the lead singer in a band called the White Knights, and while the band itself doesn’t figure prominently in the story, there are other band members that could use stories too.

For today I’m giving you the opening scene. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Jaxson Hunter nursed his drink slowly, he was starting to feel a distinct buzz from the whiskey and he wanted to prolong the feeling. Idly he glanced around the hotel bar, trying to see where the blonde had gotten to. Ah, there she was, sitting alone at a corner table. He contemplated going over to see if she wanted some company, then dismissed it as a bad idea. She didn’t look like a one night stand kind of woman, and that’s all he was willing to offer.

He’d noticed her the moment she’d entered the hotel bar. He wasn’t the only one, several heads had turned. She was average height, but there was nothing average about her looks. Underneath a cascade of wavy blonde hair was a heart shaped face and pouty lips just made for kissing. The body-skimming blue dress she wore showed off her curves in a modest way without flaunting them. Add to that breasts large enough to have just a hint of bounce and an ass firm enough to sink your teeth into and it was a wonder there wasn’t a stampede to get to her. Good thing this was a respectable hotel.

“She’s probably a hooker,” Jace, bass player for the White Knights, said as he sank into the chair opposite Jaxson.

“Who?”

“I’m not blind, man. You haven’t been able to take your eyes off her since she sauntered in here.”

“She didn’t saunter, she walked. And there’s no way that woman is a hooker, she’s got way too much class. And she’s not exactly inviting attention. In fact, she reminds me of . . .” His voice trailed off. Suddenly he tossed off his drink and signaled for another. “I just can’t help wondering what a woman like her is doing all alone in a bar.”

“Well, she won’t be leaving alone, if the guy I heard talking in the can has anything to say about it.”

Jaxson refocused his attention on his friend. “What are you talking about?”

Jace shrugged. “Happens all the time. Pretty woman gets tanked, sleezeball guy hangs around waiting for her to leave and ends up with a one night stand. The way she’s been drinking, it won’t be long now.”

Taking a closer look at the woman in question, Jaxson realized she’d been drinking pretty steadily. He didn’t think she was meeting anyone here and it didn’t seem as though she was looking for company. She’d been approached several times when she’d been sitting at the bar but sent them all on their way with a polite smile. That’s probably why she moved to the table, so they’d leave her alone. It was working so far, but he had to wonder for how long.

She reached for her purse and swayed slightly as she got to her feet. A man in a rumpled business suit sitting at a table nearby stumbled to his feet. He almost tripped over himself as he weaved his way towards her. Jaxson came to a decision. Standing up, he caught the other man’s eye, glared a message at him, and shook his head slightly. The man hesitated, took in Jaxson’s size, then shrugged and went back to his own table.

Jaxson tossed a couple of bills on the table. “I’ll catch you tomorrow before I leave.”

“Aw, man!” Jace said in disgust. “There he goes, ladies and gentlemen, the embodiment of the White Knights.”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

She realized she’d made a big mistake as soon as she tried to stand up. Finding the wig left behind in the hotel room had seemed like a godsend. She could sneak down to the bar and have a few drinks and no one would be the wiser. Only it had been a long time since she’d dared to have more than a glass or two of wine with supper, and she hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch. The liquor hit her like a sledgehammer the moment she stood up.

She swayed in place, trying to get her balance. Suddenly, there was a steadying hand under her elbow.

“Easy there, you don’t want to move too quickly.”

The deep voice reverberated through her sending a delicious shiver up her spine. She turned slowly and looked up into a pair of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. He was tall, with broad shoulders and lean hips. His dark hair was drawn back tightly from his face, emphasizing his cheekbones.

“Thank you,” the words left her mouth in a breathless rush. Desire slammed through her. This would be so much better to drown her sorrows with than liquor.

“Are you all right?” A frown marred that perfect brow, the genuine concern in his voice sent another wave of desire through her.

“I—” She could tell him the truth and go meekly back to her room, or she could have a night that would sustain her for the rest of her life.