Merry Christmas To Me

Another writing year closes and I'm very disappointed in my progress. I could make many excuses but I whine enough so I won't. If you read any of my posts, you know my health problems worsened the last 5 years, more so the past two. So we won't beat that dead horse.

When 2018 started I had high hopes that declined. As the year ends, I am trying to encourage more optimism. To start, I invested in an app to help me edit my writing. Yes, I did. I purchased ProWritingAid, the premium desktop version. The year-end sale was the trigger. For a few months now I've used their Chrome plug-in and tried the online app that limits checks to 500 words.  The results impressed me, but the price was too steep.

Christmas arrived and prices dropped and Santa brought me money to spend only on me. So, I splurged on one thing - ProWritingAid. After I ran several of my writing pieces thru the program, the findings amazed me; it wasn't all bad either. There were many things I got right, and those I got wrong, I recognized right away. Other findings surprised me but the program educated me because not only did it show problems but it explained them.

    I'll be using it in 2019 and beyond, in the hope it will help me stay motivated. Just reviewing the tests it ran gave me a push because it was encouraging to find I know how to write and that the problems are typical of first drafts.

I think this a positive way to end my poor writing year and I hope it can give me the motivation I need. Now, if the weather cooperates, and my rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia improves, I might do much more.

And just so you know, I ran this post through ProWritingAid until I made all the changes it suggested. What do you think?

Christmas Past Part 2

By the time the boys were tucked up, Dani was curled on the sofa watching the the nine o'clock news. Simon dropped next to her and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Anything interesting, love?" He whispered as he nuzzled her ear.

"Yes, actually."

He raised his head and looked at her. A frown creased the smooth forehead, drawing her brows together. "Ah Darling, you'll get wrinkles like that."

She scowled up at him. "Seriously, Simon."

Ignoring the scowl, he said, "Seriously." He turned to the television. "What's happened?"

"I'm not sure. Someone..." Her voice caught in her throat. "The owner of that big apartment complex that's been in the news and several families were killed tonight. Someone burned the building down."

He sat up and reached for the remote and raised the volume. Video of a blazing three story building filled the screen. People stood milling along in a field across the road from the fire, cars idled along the verge.

"Good Lord," he muttered. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and watched the story unfold. A reporter stepped into the frame and began to talk.

"We're at Sterling Apartments on Piedmont as fire fighters attempt to bring this blaze under control. For the last hour, the building has been burning and we've heard several explosions. We've been unable to determine the cause of those but someone indicated it might be gas mains."

Someone in the studio ask a question into the ear piece and he responded. "Yes, we've confirmed that two families did not make it out and that the owner may have been in the building as well. We don't know if he escaped but no one has been able to locate him."

"At this time, police and fire personnel are asking that you avoid the Piedmont-Garnet area until further notice."

Behind the reporter, flames blossomed to even greater height and the sound of  huge explosion interfered with his audio. Everyone jerked in response and the reporter was frantically speaking into his mike. Immediately, police and firefighters began to order people farther back from the blaze.

Simon stood up and handed her the remote. "I need to make a call, darling."

She stared at him. "Now?"

He strode from the room. "Now," he called over his shoulder.

The study was dark and he didn't turn on the lights but turned on the desk lamp. On his cellphone, he searched for the number he needed and when he found it, he dialed.

"This is Simon. Did you see the news?"

"Yes, I did."

"You want to tell me what that is all about? You know that is the individual you had me read last week."

"We're aware of that, Simon."

"So, what's going on?"

"Nothing you need be concerned about. Enjoy your holiday with your family."

"Don't you bloody hang up on me. Did you know this was going to happen?" Anger tautened his voice and he tried to damp it down.

"Of course we didn't. How would we?"

"You sent me to get information and a week later the guy is dead." He hesitated. "Along with two families. Maybe more."

"Listen, you did your job. It has nothing to do with a house fire."

"You're off your chump if you think I believe that." Simon tapped the top of his desk with his fingers, anger roiling beneath the surface. "I know what we got out of that session. Did we have him killed?"

"I have another call I need to take. You enjoy your time with your family, Simon. We'll see you after the holiday."

"There are at least two families who won't have a holiday." But he was arguing into a dead connection. He swore under his breath, put the phone down, and began to pace in front of his desk. Something was up. Unfortunately, he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Simon?" Dani stepped into the room.

He pulled his thoughts together and cleared his face. He couldn't tell her about this but she was perceptive and might guess. A deep breath and he turned to face her, a smile on his lips.

"Yes?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Of course," he said and gently grasp her shoulders. "I simply remembered a call I needed to make to remind Terry to have my travel papers in for review on Monday."

"But you're off for two weeks, Simon." Worry etched lines into her forehead.

Draping his arm around her shoulder, he turned her and lead her back to the den. "Yes, but they've got to run my itinerary through finance. That takes several days. I don't want to show up to get my documents and find it half processed." He drew her from the room. "How about I make us some hot cocoa?"

Christmas Past Part 1

After placing the last arrangement on the mantle, Dani stepped back and surveyed the room. The lights on the tree twinkled in a rainbow of colors and set the tinsel glittering as it moved in the air from the heat duct. It was beautiful. The fire in the fireplace warmed the room and the Christmas greenery and colorful lights and decorations added to the feeling of warmth.

Simon would have chosen all white lights and decorations in varying shades of white and gold. Everything would have been beautiful but in her view it would have been more like a magazine spread than a place for families to gather. He'd left her with it, over protest. She did let him take care of the outside of the house and it was stunning what he'd done with it. All elegant and tasteful. She made a face in the mirror.

Truth be told, she hated the holidays. They were the most depressing time of year, made worse because one must put on a happy face for the children. Baking cookies, cakes, pies, and all the other accoutrements of the season exhausted her to the point she could barely move by the end of Christmas Day. Then there was the New Year celebrations. She rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh as she dropped the extra string of lights into the storage bin and closed the lid. She'd have Simon take this back to the garage when he finished with the boys.

From somewhere in the back of the house, she could hear the squeal of the boys as they played with Simon. It had become quite rambunctious and she wondered if she should intervene before someone got hurt, probably Simon.

She loved when he could be home for days at a time. Lately, it seemed work got more of him than she and Connor. When he'd told her that he'd be home for two weeks at Christmas, she was elated. He traveled too much and she missed him.

More squeals and she knew there was no use trying to pry him away. He never got to see Connor as much as he wanted as it was and Nicholas even less. Right after the holiday and he'd have to leave again. Europe, he said. He'd invited her to go along but she couldn't take Connor out of school and she wasn't about to leave him with anyone.

"What are you doing, Mama?"

She turned to find Connor standing in the doorway watching her, his head canted to one side and a puzzled frown on his face.

Pushing the crate into the hallway, she grinned at him. "I just finished getting all the decorations up and was about to call your father to come help me put this away. What are you doing? I thought you were with Dad."

"Nicky had to go pee." He leaned to look around her.

She laughed. "Where is Dad?"

The rich sapphire blue eyes he inherited from Simon sparkled with amusement. "He said he needed to rest a minute anyway and I should go find you."

"Ah." She took his hand. "Well, we have cookies in the kitchen. Shall we go find them?"

"Yes, Mama. I'd like that. Can we get some for Nicky, too?"

"Of course. And Daddy."

The went down the hallway, to the kitchen and adjoining family room. Connor climbed up on the stool at the bar and waited. Dani looked into the family room but Simon was nowhere to be seen. He'd probably slipped upstairs while he could make a clean getaway.

"Aunt Dani?" Nicholas came into the kitchen on sock encased feet.

"Nick, where are your shoes?"

"Uncle Simon said we don't wear shoes in the house."

She sighed and gave each of them a small plate of chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk. "Right. When he's home, we don't."

The cookies were still slightly warm and smelled wonderful. She took one and closed her eyes as it nearly melted in her mouth. How Simon had managed to bake such amazing cookies while playing with the boys was beyond comprehension.

She felt arms slip around her waist from behind and a warm kiss pressed against her neck. "That's the same sensation I get when I . . ."

"Simon!" She snapped.

He laughed and turned her to face him. "I was going to say when I kiss you."

She slid her own arms around his neck. "Of course you were. Where were you?"

Nicholas piped in. "He had to go pee, too."

Simon grinned.

Dani laughed aloud. "Such dignity we have, boys."

"So," Simon said, nuzzling her neck. "Are you finished with the decorating?"

"Yes. There's a box in the hallway that needs to be put in the garage. Would you do that?"

"For you, my darling, I would carry it to the moon and back." His mouth trailed kisses up her neck to her cheek.

Smiling, she gently pushed him back. "The garage is perfectly fine. You can whisper sweet nothings in my ear later, when the boys have gone to bed." She reached behind her and plucked a cookie off the plate and stuck it in his mouth. "Until then, you can have this sweet nothing."


To Be Continued.....

A Wonderful Madness

So, another NaNoWriMo ends. The annual madness is over once again. Another 12 months before it returns. Everything feels different when the madness of NaNo ends.

I didn't get a win this year. I didn't reach 6000 words, in fact. However, I'm fine with it. The last three years have been pretty rough for me and last year, the surgery meant I couldn't even participate as ML or in writing. This year, I had pain problems and illness to keep me down. The truth is that I accept all of this as the universe telling me it is time to stop.

So, this is my last NaNo as municipal liaison. I attended the TGIO on Sunday afternoon to say goodby to the group. I'm glad I did because it was nice to be able to hug them and tell them how very much they meant to me. Not everyone was there and I'd already sent out a regional message informing everyone but getting to see some of them one last time was so nice. Gary McDaniel was there, and as I listened to him talking I realized that when he started he was only 15. Now he was a few years into college! It was awesome. I was so pleased he's stuck with it.

There were others that I could remember when I first met them. DeWayne, Diane, LaGina were long time NaNoWriMos. They became more than my NaNo participants. They became friends!

I started in 2006 when there were six people and no Municipal Liaison. My first year wasn't really much fun because I had no clue and I was pretty invisible. By 2009 we'd grown to 30 people and I had met some great people. In 2010, I became ML and it was so much fun planning and attending the meetings and writing with other participants.

Now, it's time to leave it to others. I was going to do it last year but couldn't bear to give up. It kept me going through the holidays and I could focus on other people rather than my own miseries. This year, I'm so relieved there is a competent person taking the reins and 8 years of hard work won't be lost.

I'm relieved it is over. But I will miss it. I will miss my writers. Gary ask me if I was no longer going to participate as a writer. My response: No. I'm done with that, too. I have 8 novels unfinished on my computer and NaNo is not conducive to finishing novels. You get a really good start but before you can finish it, you're starting to prep for the next one. As an ML, it is even harder. So, at this point, I have no plans to do NaNo again. I'll keep writing. I might go into the site and encourage everyone and see how they're progressing. I'll see the madness but for me, I think I'm over the madness.

Every writer should do NaNo once. See what you're made of. If you're published already, you may already have that answer but if you're still trying to hit that milestone, then do NaNo once. Get the bare bones of the story done and then, work on it. Do it for the madness of it. Do it to learn what kind of writer you are and what motivates you. Can you write under pressure? Does that looming deadline push you forward? Can you sacrifice things you want to do in order to write? NaNo will teach you that.

So, I say "Adieu NaNoWriMo." It was a wonderful madness.