Tag: winter

Snowbound

We’re still in the middle of that promised snowstorm.

Can you see the deer in the woods there? Poor things. I’d invite them inside except:

  • I doubt they’d accept
  • With two dogs and a cat? Chaos.

Can you imagine? (Actually, I can imagine—I see them gathered around a table, like dogs playing poker.)

This week, I discovered that you can scrupulously brush and floss, see the dentist twice a year, and still need a root canal. In my case? According to my dentist, possible childhood trauma—the sort where one’s mouth meets the metal bars of a circa 1970s play structure. Apparently, this sort of injury can linger for years (even decades) and suddenly decide to abscess.  

So, I have that on my social calendar for this week.

The reason for my subscriber-only post yesterday was to test its functionality. Does it really work? Does the text end up in the RSS feed, either on WordPress or over on Goodreads, and so on?

It does work!

Here’s what I’m thinking of doing:

A read-along for The Pansy Paradox in the run-up to the release of The Marigold Miracle.

I need to review Pansy anyway before I dive into the full revision of The Marigold Miracle. But I wanted to do something as a thank-you for everyone who has stuck with me for all these years, both here and on my email list.

I could simply offer up the e-book for a limited time. But I wanted to do something fun, provide some behind-the-scenes writing-related content, and the like.

Of course, I have no idea if anyone will read along. That’s the risk of this.

So, this week, I’m going to assess the feasibility of a read-along. If I determine that it’s sufficiently fun for me, then I’ll go for it. In the same way that Booking Through Thursday is, and The (Love) Stories of 2020 was.

But today, I think we’re going to hunker down and hope the power doesn’t go out.

It’s a winter wonderland out there

And the dogs are having none of it. NONE. They do not appreciate the fact that I have shoveled a path for them or have loaded them up with fleecy dog beds and blankets.

In writing related things, I backed Ines Johnson’s Page Turner Planning Kickstarter. The system is a quarterly breakdown of writing, marketing, branding, and business tips that’s delivered on a week-by-week basis. Or rather, it’s a book that you read one section at a time.

While I don’t need much help with the writing—I’ve been doing that—I could stand to pay a little more attention to business and marketing.

I decided to start the system on December 1st rather than January 1st just to get a head start on 2026.

The system is probably geared more to newer writers. One of the first assignments is to write your author bio. Well, I have one of those. Actually? I probably have a dozen.

What I’m going to do with that task is to locate them all, get them into one document, and refine as needed.

When you’re just starting out with a handful of short stories or a single novel, one bio works just fine. After a while, though? I’ve found I need different lengths, anything from 50 to 100 words, or a different slant, such as one for short speculative fiction, one for young adult, and so on.

The other business task is to start looking at branding. I’m giving that a bit of a side-eye, but it’s something I can and should do.

I’ll let you know how it all goes next week.

Snow and solstice

I love how often we get one of those bright blue days after a snowstorm. It’s one of my favorite things about winter. And when it corresponds with the longest night of the year, making everything just a little bit brighter? Even better.

I can pretend I’m in a ski lodge, drinking hot chocolate and eating sugar cookies. Mind you, I haven’t been skiing in ages. The last time I remember was when I was living in Germany, and a group of us took a trip to Salzburg over a long weekend. And even then, I didn’t ski. My eyes were all wonky, so I spent the time lounging outside (it was warm enough in the sun), drinking that hot chocolate, and eating the Austrian version of sugar cookies.

So today, I’m going to pretend I’m at that ski lodge, although I’ll stay indoors. I have hot chocolate. I have sugar cookies. I have a good book.

I hope your Sunday is filled with such things as well.

On such a winter’s evening

Last week, my daughter and I headed to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for their Winter Lights display. Just a few photos, none of which really do the display justice.

And yes, there we are, drinking apple cider inside a large, electrified apple. In retrospect, this seems to be an unwise move on our part. We should have opted for the hot chocolate. Thankfully, the large, electrified apple is benevolent, and we emerged unscathed.

March: out like a lamb, an angry, angry lamb

The last day of March went something like this:

Lightning, thunder, rain, sleet, hail, snow, BLIZZARD.

Yes, an angry, angry lamb.

Angry lamb in blizzard generated from DALL·E

Then, yesterday, we had this:

Those lumps and stakes on the right? Those would be my raised beds, assuming they weren’t under another foot of snow. So, April Fools on us.

In other news, I might be writing a bit. Don’t want to say too much about it. Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what it is quite yet. One big book? A duology? A series? Your guess is as good as mine. (No, really. At this point, it is.)

But I suppose the snow is an excellent excuse to stay inside and read and write, no?

Weekly writing check-in: spills and chills

So way back in the day, I had a weekly paper route.

Those of you of a certain age may remember the weekly shopper newspaper. It was a small publication of mostly ads held together by a few human interest stories.

For three or so years, every Tuesday, I would diligently deliver these little papers in the neighborhood next to mine.

Fun fact: this neighborhood was the neighborhood from the Betsy-Tacy books.

The neighborhood contained several hills (and still does, to my knowledge). One hill, in particular, was particularly brutal. Each winter, like clockwork, my feet would slip out from under me, and I would smash my tailbone against the ice-slicked asphalt.

Even after I’d relinquished the route, I made it a practice to slip on the ice or the steps at least once a year. It wasn’t winter until I took a tumble and bruised my tailbone.

Well, last Sunday, I renewed that tradition. I’m fine, but I went down hard on some ice in our driveway.

After that, I was in no mood for the internet, never mind booting up my computer.

And yes, my tailbone still aches.

But I am making good progress on Coffee & Ghosts. So there’s that. I mean, it’s currently -9 right now. It’s not like we’re going to pull on our boots and take a hike.

I’d probably just slip on the ice anyway …

 

Weekly writing check-in: (low-key) adventure time

So, I missed last week due to some (low-key) adventure. My Girl Scout Troop will be graduating this spring, and between now and then, we need to spend all the cookie money they’ve earned.

In fact, we’re not even selling cookies this year. Even after this trip, we still have money to burn. (And yes, that sound you hear is my sigh of relief.)

What we did do is book a lovely house on a lake a couple of hours north. And somehow, everyone was able to attend. It did not blizzard on us. And I think/hope a good time was had by all.

We did jigsaw puzzles and snowshoed on the lake, baked cookies in the Italian kitchen and watched movies.

We also caught a gorgeous sunrise over the lake.

In writing news, I somehow (somehow!) managed to schedule all of the stories for March. I have April’s selected. Looking into May, I’m going to need to write a few new ones here pretty soon.

All in all, not a bad week.

Weekly writing check-in: winter wonderland

So much for spring.

Today we have a classic Minnesota sort of day: lots of snow overnight and this morning, only to clear off with brilliant blue skies in the afternoon–like none of it ever happened.

This week, I worked on the stories for March. I’m going with a theme (more or less) for each month. First, I thought of March madness. Then I considered in like a lion(ess). I’m still not sure what I’ll do.

However, I do know what I plan to do with this snowy Sunday. I have a mystery to finish reading. And it’s the perfect day for that.

Now Available: Frozen Fairy Tales!

In the bleak midwinter, heed the irresistible call of fairy tales.

Frozen Fairy Tales from World Weaver Press is now available, and it includes my story Simon the Cold.

I wrote this story during the very long, very cold winter of 2013/14. After that, I tucked it away. I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, wasn’t sure where to send it.

When I saw the call for submissions for the Frozen Fairy Tale anthology, it clicked. I had a fairy tale about winter, albeit a modern/urban one.


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Winter is not coming.

Winter is here.

As unique and beautifully formed as a snowflake, each of these fifteen stories spins a brand new tale or offers a fresh take on an old favorite like Jack Frost, The Snow Queen, or The Frog King.

From a drafty castle to a blustery Japanese village, from a snow-packed road to the cozy hearth of a farmhouse, from an empty coffee house in Buffalo, New York, to a cold night outside a university library, these stories fully explore the perils and possibilities of the snow, wind, ice, and bone-chilling cold that traditional fairy tale characters seldom encounter.

In the bleak midwinter, heed the irresistible call of fairy tales.

Just open these pages, snuggle down, and wait for an icy blast of fantasy to carry you away. With all new stories of love, adventure, sorrow, and triumph by Tina Anton, Amanda Bergloff, Gavin Bradley, L.A. Christensen, Steven Grimm, Christina Ruth Johnson, Rowan Lindstrom, Alison McBain, Aimee Ogden, J. Patrick Pazdziora, Lissa Redmond, Anna Salonen, Lissa Sloan, Charity Tahmaseb, and David Turnbull to help you dream through the cold days and nights of this most dreaded season.

Available: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Print