Starting Tuesday, Jan 6, I’m going to be looking at the colorful descriptors used by wine reviewers and poking fun at some the ways they try to be original. I’m not saying the people in question don’t smell those aromas or taste those flavors when they preview a wine, but sometimes the examples they use are just plain silly.
And I’m doing it all on Twitter. You can follow me at @comptonplations.
GOALS 2015
I divide my goals into categories: writing; family; personal; and so on. This year, I added a new grouping: Promotion & Marketing. Items such as newsletters, blogs, Tweets, Facebook, Goodreads, and Tsu belong in this category. They used to be under Writing, but they multiplied too quickly. One of the things I need to do in the coming year is focus on the writing when it’s time to write, and the promotion/marketing when it’s time for those activities.
Another thing I’m trying to do this year is be specific. “Be kind to myself” is a nice sentiment, but what does it mean? So I added “Monthly date with myself.” I’m also going to set up and maintain a Happiness Jar. I meant to do this a year ago, but until I reclaimed my office, I didn’t have a place to keep the jar. It’s now all set up and ready to go.
Speaking of my reclaimed office, once of my goals for 2015 is to maintain and refine the writing space. I actually worked on this the day after Christmas by moving books off one shelf to another where they would be more easily accessible.
I also hung my book covers.
And there are goals that have been successful and will stay on the list: calling my aging parents once a week; a monthly date with my husband. Because my parents are “local”, I didn’t make an effort to stay in touch, which is really self-absorbed. So for the past several years, I make a point of calling once a week. When X-Chromo was a senior in high school, I realized TV Stevie and my identities as “parents” was about to shift and we would once more be a couple instead of Y & X’s parents. So we started dating again. It’s been wonderful.
What New Years goals have been successful for you?
Do you remember the first time you ever heard of the Bogeyman?
I do. My mom had asked me to run down to the cellar and make sure the door to the hatch was locked. I didn’t want to do it. The cellar was dark, dank, spooky. The hatch was even worse. And there were spiders.
My older cousin was staying with us at the time, and she said, “What’s the matter? Do you think the Bogeyman is going to get you?” I had no idea what she was talking about, so she explained.
That made my trip to the cellar and the hatch so much more . . . memorable.
There are certain books I re-read at certain times of the year. There’s just something about the stories that suit my mood for that season.
Every December, I re-read Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne. My paperback copy is in tatters. The Kindle edition is on my wish list.
The heroine of the story is a woman alone in the 1800’s, who could have made her living on her back, as the preacher reminds the hero after their “forced” marriage, but instead worked all kinds of jobs to support herself. Her varied careers give her more insight into what makes the hero tick than he has into her. It takes his mother to point out certain home truths about his unwanted wife to the hero. There’s a perfect villain and a wonderful cast of secondary characters.
The reason I read this book in December is because of the Christmas scene. The heroine had never had a family. She’d never had a Christmas: “…she was positive that her first Christmas Eve with a real family would be the best evening of her whole life.” The hero’s family works together to give her a Christmas to remember. “Tonight was the most wonderful, the most beautiful, the absolute best evening of my life!” It’s a turning point scene in the book. I shed a few tears every time I read it.
Do you have a favorite holiday story?
This past week sealed it: the back yard project is officially on hiatus until spring.
