Hello, friends. I am feeling especially grateful today. In a world filled with chaos, I choose kindness, love and joy. I hope all the Moms out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day celebration! I had a great Mother’s Day celebrating with the kids and grandkids. Even got some facetime with the kiddo away at college.
One of my favorite places on earth is the area around Sedona, Arizona. It’s been a few years since I got to visit, but this image took me back there.
Last week was full! I worked extra hours at the store for another lady who was off. Then I had two final band concerts with the grandsons on separate days. I enjoyed them both so much. That was all on top of my regular schedule.
I love getting to see all the kiddos shine. It’s why I live here.
I had two blog tour stops last week for Fringes, Heartstrings, and Lyrics. In case you missed them:
Liz Gauffreau’s Blog Tour Stop
One more stop to go. I wrap up this blog tour at Teri Polen’s this week! See you there.
I am so humbled by the way this little book is being received, and especially how almost every reviewer mentions Sydney’s insightful poetry.
On the writing front, I hit a big roadblock with my new Christmas story. First of all, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Kentucky in the 1950s had a lot of dry counties (meaning they couldn’t sell alcohol). Of course, the place I had chosen to set the story was dry, so there could be no Briscoe’s Tavern. That’s not a huge problem. I ended up creating a fictitious town in a wet county.
Then, as I made the changes, I saw so many issues with the first chapters that I’d missed before. Back to the drawing board. I brainstormed with my sister. Then I brainstormed with Sydney. She actually had some good suggestions. I think that girl may be a writer, if she decides to pursue it. Anyway – long story short, I had to start again at Chapter One. Hopefully, the kinks are worked out and I can now move forward. Has this ever happened to you? What was your strategy to fix it?
Being a pantser, I never exactly know where the story is going. That is a freeing way to write, but can also create problems that could be avoided with an outline. So, I now have a loose outline that I feel will be fluid, yet serve as a guide.
I’m looking forward to getting together with a couple of local authors for coffee on Tuesday morning. It’s always uplifting to talk to other creatives. Lizzie Chantree has a great group of authors in the UK she meets with regularly. I’d love to find that here. I wish we all lived close so we could get together often and share. In the meantime, blogging will have to do.
Another thing I’m looking forward to this week is going with my daughter and some other folks to a local watering hole to hear Blacktop Mojo. I’ve never heard them, but love what I see on YouTube. I’ll let you know next week.
Maybe it’s part of getting older, but I don’t go out to hear live music nearly as often as I did a few years ago. Well, actually before COVID. So much changed from that lockdown. And I don’t know if it will ever go back to the way it was before.
I received a notice from Amazon that the 2026 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. Out of curiosity, I went to the fiction book page for Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. What I found both shocked and surprised me. It seems the the entire book, 304 pages, is one very long run-on sentence. What? Go check it out and let me know your thoughts. I would have a hard time reading it. But I have to wonder if this is a new emerging style of writing. If so, it’s not for me.
I saw this quote on LinkedIn, and it resonated with me. The author is unknown. It really fits with the dance I am doing with my Christmas story, discovering its rhythm. What do you think?
This is the tarot card I got for the week ahead.
Swords represent our mind or intellect. Often we can find ourselves bound by our thoughts, leaving us feeling helpless or trapped. It creates a level of anxiety. But notice how the chains are wrapped loosely around her wrists with no locks holding them. She has the ability to simply unwrap them and remove the blindfold. This is a self-imposed bondage. So, I think for us, the message is to not allow our thoughts to take us into a place of anxiety or darkness. The choice is ours.
I hope you have a great week ahead!
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Thanks for the lovely wishes to all mothers, Jan! So glad you got to spend time with all your young loves xxxxx
Hi Jan, this card certainly speaks to me. I wish I could get away from my mind and all its conflicting thoughts. It’s all very tiring. I’m glad you had a great week with your grandchildren. Family is great.
Wrestling with the mind is tiring, Robbie. I hope you find a place (perhaps in nature) to let all the thoughts go for a nice little break. Thank you for stopping by!
How awesome that you were able to see your family, I’m sure it was wonderful! I loved the tarot draw too, it’s something I needed to hear actually. I used to do my own tarot readings but unfortunately my cards got stolen some time ago and I haven’t gotten around to get another deck.
Oh, wow! That’s creating some bad karma to steal someone’s tarot cards. Glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you for stopping by!
I know who took them, she still uses them and refuses to give them back so yeah definitely some bad karma. Still, I’ve decided to let them go and not focus on that too much.
My pleasure!
Wonderful musings, Jan – lovely grandsons
Thanks, Toni. Glad you enjoyed the post!
You too, Jan. Great pics, and I agree that Sydney may well be a writer. A one-run-on-sentence book doen’t sound like my thing either. Hmmm. I’ve never done tarot cards, so thanks for the interpretation. Stay safe, and enjoyed your post. 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting, Laura. Glad you enjoyed the post. I honestly don’t think I could read the book even if it is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Glad you enjoyed the introduction to tarot.
Weird seems to be the way for winning prizes these days. 🤔 Not for me … 😐
That thought from the card is really powerful and pertinent. I tend to build my own shackles then fight to shrug them off. I hope you do find a local group to kibitz with.
I definitely related to the card, Craig. Maybe I will eventually find a writing group to plug into. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh, that is so cool that your grandsons are this entertaining and love making music. You must be so proud of them.
The message of the card is truly going along so well with my post. I love how you refer to the loose chains. We are not chained at all. But we decide whether we act as if. As you said, our thoughts are choices… not more, not less! Thanks for making me aware of your post, Jan. I might have missed it otherwise today.
When I read your post, I knew the Universe was at work with the messages today. 🙂 I appreciate you taking the time to visit and leaving a comment. Yes, I am super proud of all the grandkids and love watching them grow and start to experience life.
Simply amazing and wonderfully confirming! Sure, I am glad I did 💖
I went to look at Angel Down, and I have to say the guy does well with commas.
Lol! Guess he better, since the entire book is one long sentence. 🙂
It’s wonderful that you had such a great Mother’s Day celebration with your kids and grandkids, Jan. I’ve sure appreciated the blog tour, and think it will bring you good results. Have a great week.
Thanks so much, Tim. You’ve been a big supporter all along the blog tour. I am deeply grateful!
You’re very welcome, Jan. 😍 I’ve been very impressed with the blog tour.
I enjoyed reading this piece, Jan. We love to see our kids and their kids. We are so lucky as all 4 of our grown ups live close by. The grandchildren are up in the smoke as we say over here. [London] I hope your week goes well.
Thank you, Joy. I appreciate you stopping by and how wonderful all four of your grown-ups live close by. That’s a blessing!
I hope that you find a critique group nearby. I love my group because they are honest and offer valuable constructive criticism. There are five of us, and we take turns hosting and meet weekly. We limit the number of pages each writer shares. If someone doesn’t have pages to share that week or is traveling, that’s fine too. Their suggestions are spot on 95% of the time.
I wish our grandson was closer, but we’re grateful to have the health and finances to be able to hop on a plane. How precious that you’re able to enjoy watching your grandchildren do what they love.
That is so wonderful, Pete, on both counts. You are lucky to have a supportive and consistent critique group. I know that is invaluable to you. And yes. You are blessed to have the resources to go often to see your grandson. Thank you for visiting today!
I’m glad you had such a good Mother’s Day with your family, Jan! My daughter and I had a wonderful heart-to-heart conversation on Mother’s Day. It really meant a lot to me.
I’ve had to go back to the drawing board plenty of times when writing fiction. Throwing out what doesn’t work is one step closer to getting to what does work!
I’d never heard of Daniel Kraus until he won the Pulitzer. I looked at the sample of the book on Amazon, and it does have paragraphs and plenty of white space, which probably makes it readable.
Those heart-to-heart talks are wonderful. What a great Mother’s Day gift. It’s better than any kind of physical gift. I agree about the process of getting rid of what doesn’t work. I am almost back to the point where I can add new words. 😁 And I know the story will be stronger from the effort. I did notice all the white space in Kraus’s book but I seriously don’t know if I could read it. Such a different way of writing. Thank you for visiting and for your engaging comment.
You’re welcome, Jan. 😊
You are blessed with your family.
I am, Jacqui. I give thanks every day. What did you think of the Pulitzer Prize winner’s odd way of telling a story?
Long ago, I discovered that every sentence has a writing rhythm just like songs. A word too much and the sentence is off. Not enough words creates the same problem. And I suppose you can take that further and the book’s rhythm is the same way. Great quote. Joshua is so much taller than you now and Connor is catching up!! Goodness. Not sure what the Eight of Swords means to me. I’ll have to think about that. Love you, Sister.
That is so true, sister. I honestly think the story’s rhythm is part of what draws readers. Yes, Joshua has gotten so tall. He is taller than Kevin. The card is food for thought. And it won’t resonate with everyone. Thank you so much for stopping by! Love you. 💕
I agree about a book’s rhythm. Part of the creation process is discovery.
I admire Daniel Kraus’s writing. He pushes boundaries and is so imaginative and raw. Blood Sugar is my favorite book of his, and that was challenging to read, not one whole sentence, but still challenging. His stuff can get very dark, though, so I don’t have a hankering to read any more of it!
I’m glad you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Thanks for stopping by, Priscilla. I had never heard of Daniel Kraus, so it was an introduction. I have to agree about reading something that gets too dark. I can take a little, but not too much. But the run-on sentence is a bit over the top. I seriously think I would struggle with it. It would be like not taking a breath. Still, it won a Pulitzer.
I’m so happy you had a wonderful Mother’s Day, Jan! I love the book quote and the tarot card. I also could not read a book with one long run-on sentence. How exhausting!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Thank you for stopping by today, Yvette. I am glad you enjoyed the post. It is so bizarre to me how that book won the coveted Pulitzer Prize. Just strange. Have a great week ahead!