Vintage Romantic Author
Years ago, a co-worker gifted me a VHS tape about napkin-folding. It seemed an odd gift at the time. My husband laughed when I showed him. That tape ended up getting a real workout. It was some time later when I became interested in elaborate table-setting. How did my co-worker know me so well as …
I entered a nationwide writing competition last year. The winner would be featured in a national publication. Runners up would have their work published on-line and in eBook format. The word limit was 3,000—a story much shorter than I normally write. After previewing my epic in my writing group, I sent it along to a …
I enjoyed looking at our decorations more this year than I have in a long time. I took delight in standing back to observe the Christmas tree—the ugly ornaments would have been too obvious had I stood closer. The elf shrine was lit up day and night. One of my last decorating efforts was the …
What’s your most memorable Christmas gift ever? I’m not talking about the most valuable or opulent or even the most appreciated. We live in a prosperous country. Even the poor live better than kings and queens of old. Abundance has always been part of our family celebrations. I must admit, I probably couldn’t tell you …
What’s your favorite holiday decoration? I’ve been collecting Christmas items since before I married. A girl can accumulate a lot of stuff in half a century. Oh, my gosh, I’m getting old! But, doesn’t that mean my first collectibles are actually antiques? I got this guy when I was a teenager. He must be the …
Did you know Los Angeles had a Heritage Square? Me neither. It was no surprise when we depended on our phone to guide us there. Epic fail. I so hate phones. Evidently, people who live in Lincoln Heights don’t know it’s there either since no one we asked had ever heard of it. The only …
I guess I was a pretty involved mom in my day. I took on various jobs at my kids’ school, one of which was leader to the Buckaroos, the school’s version of boy scouts. One afternoon a week for four years, I willingly subjected myself to entertaining 25 first and second grade boys for 90 …
I’ve always been intrigued by ghost stories and imagine most people are. I even went with friends and family to a fun lecture about ghosts at Pierce College some autumns back. The speaker was a scientist, not originally interested in ghosts until he saw one. Putting his scientific methods to work, he began research on …
As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, I have an abundant collection of holiday decorations. I’m not sure when this got out-of-hand but I realize it definitely is. Maybe my first inkling was some years back when we made a stop to stretch our legs at Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria. On previous stops, I always …
I’ve been working on a short story, hopefully, the first of a series. My initial goal was 10,000 words but these people just didn’t cooperate. They got too interesting! As I approached 20,000 words, I felt the need to research parameters for a short story. Technically, they can be anything from 1,500 to 30,000 words. …