Back to work

The first Monday in 2011, and I'm at a loss. After a delicious Internet break, I didn't want to come back. But alas, that is no longer an option. Today has a long list of to dos - starting with my 2010 Annual Review, submitting the proposal for Taylor Jackson #8, getting the winter newsletter together, writing a big fat hairy non-fiction essay for publication, and getting back to this blog. Three things knocked off already, hallelujah! 

I read two books while I was gone - American Gods and How I Became A Famous Novelist. Both are highly recommended. Golf was a struggle, but it was good to get some fresh air.

My week off gave me some time to reflect on what I want from my interactions in cyberspace. I'm really happy with how things are going on Facebook and Twitter, and plan to continue using this blog as the main force of communication to the two fun sites. I hope to write more here: shorter, pithier journals of what's happening with my writing and my world. But mostly, I plan to share the things that make me happy.

Several things have touched me since I got home:

• Friend and fellow scribe Jeff Abbott has started up his blog again. This is a Good Thing.
• Neil Gaiman has dog pictures, and a view of his new Narnia-esque lantern in the woods.
• Louise Penny's blog 17 is a reminder to all of us that we have the strength to overcome anything. We are the light. We are the way.
• And this beautiful wish for 2011 from Neil Gaiman makes me smile:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

I couldn't agree more.

One last housekeeping item - an informal poll: If you are coming from FB or Twitter, can you weigh in on whether you like the prefix on these new blog announcements to read "New Blog" or "New Tao of JT"? I've added Murderati's feed to my sites, and that one will always say "Today on Murderati", since it's updated daily. I want to be sure to eliminate confusion.

Welcome to 2011, chickadees!

A Warm and Spicy Christmas Break

I received an unexpected gift from my editor yesterday. Time. A whole week of it, as a matter of fact.

I've spent the past four years doing edits over Christmas. It's just the way my schedule works. I've come to accept it, like the sun rising in the east. It's what happens in December. But this year, my editor got slammed with four books at once (granted, this was partially my fault, because I had a two-week extension.) So my edits won't be coming until next week.

Great rejoicing was had by all. This unexpected gift of time means I can actually take my Christmas break. I've spent the past 36 hours aligning the world so I can shut off my computer - I mean really shut it off. No blogs, no Facebook, no Twitter. Just me and my family, celebrating Christmas with some real together time.

I have space in my head to do my goal planning now too, which is lovely. No rushing through the lists this year.

And all that said, there is one post that will come during the break, but it's being pre-scheduled. A short announcement of sorts.

I hope that you will take a few hours off this Christmas too. As my critique partner/wonder twin/sister always says: Read a Book. It's good for you.

Merry, Merry Christmas to all of you, and best wishes for a joyous New Year!!!!!!!

xoxo,

JT

P.S.  A little something to warm your cockles: Hot Spiced Christmas Wine

Ingredients

• 2 oranges
• 2 (750 milliliter) bottles red wine
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle white wine
• 1 (3 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, or to taste
• 1/4 cup brandy (optional)

Directions

1. Use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the oranges in strips, being careful to remove only the orange part, leaving the pith behind. Then, juice the oranges into a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
2. Pour the red wine and white wine into the pot with the orange juice. Place the strips of orange zest, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and brown sugar into the pot with the wine mixture; stir to dissolve the sugar.

Cover and heat over medium-high until heated through, but not boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and heat for an hour or longer to bring all of the flavors together. Adjust the sweetness by adding more brown sugar, as necessary. Strain and serve hot with a splash of brandy, if desired.

Fa-la-la-la-la

Finally. All the Christmas shopping is done. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. The cards, presents and overseas packages have been mailed. All that's left to do is buy cookies for my friends at the post office and bask in the spirit of the holidays.

And what spirit it is. I sometimes think people forget that this is supposed to be a joyous time. For many, it's just a hassle. Things to buy, budgets to stretch. Travel nightmares. Awkward family situations. I count myself among the lucky that I don't have any issues along those lines. My own wackiness aside, that is.

As for me, I can't wait. There will be movies. And cookies. And golf. Maybe a little Internet break. I finished Hamlet's Blackberry this morning, and I'm looking forward to setting some new goals for myself when it comes to my screen time. Nooks don't count, right?

Who am I kidding? There will be work as well. Tons of it, I'm sure. Revisions will be coming out my ears.  

After reading this, I promptly went to the drugstore and bought myself a red lipstick. I've been using lip stain for years, sometimes a little gloss. More often than not, Carmex, or Burt's Bees in Pomegranate, or Yes to Carrots in Melon. But this morning, before I headed out for the great unknown situation at the Post Office on the heaviest mailing day of the year, I thought of Deanna. I threw my hair in a ponytail, put on my dark glasses, and swiped on that red lipstick. And made sure I smiled at everyone I saw.

The line at the post office stretched out the doors.

I didn't care.

Amazing what a little red lipstick will do for you.

Closed Doors. Open Windows

It is 36 degrees out. I have several windows open.

It began out of necessity this morning, after a slight issue with the morning's bacon. If you use the wrong pan to cook bacon, bad things happen. Our stove has a tendency to overheat things as well, so if you're cooking with pans that are neither cast-iron nor non-stick, things burn. The smoke from bacon grease is especially thick and noxious, so we opened the kitchen window. And the one in the eat-in. And one in the dining room, to create a draft.

The smoke cleared. We ate our breakfast. The bacon was salvageable - I like it crispy, and HO sauce masks a lot of sins. Randy set off to get "measured" for a new set of golf clubs, his not so secret Christmas present. I tossed in a load of laundry and settled in to read more of HAMLET'S BLACKBERRY, by William Powell.

I left the windows open.

Powell's book is hugely insightful, and very entertaining. I've read almost everything out there on the problems of being overconnected in this digital age, searching for an answer that will help me disconnect without guilt, but none have affected me the way Powell's book has. Perhaps it's because it's much more existential, more philosophical. I do like my Plato. Perhaps it's because, despite the philosophical bent, the concepts are much more accessible than anything I've read on the subject before.

I'm always trying to find ways to disconnect. And yes, there is great irony in the fact that I'm reading Powell's book on a screen (my Nook) and have interrupted that journey to visit my screen (my Mac) and talk about the experience. But sometimes you need to get your thoughts down before they disappear.

The windows have been open for three hours. Yes, it's a little chilly in here. But the sun is shining. The air is crisp and clear. I like the way winter smells, all chilly and brisk, like licking an ice cube. I like that I'm letting a little of it inside. It makes me wonder, what else am I missing because I don't want to be uncomfortable? Is the little bit of disconnectedness I'm searching for, and often failing to achieve, tied to not wanting to be uncomfortable? Is being tied into the grid solace in some form? I've never felt lonely. I like being alone. Perhaps, without realizing it, I'm looking for something and I don't know what it is.

Huh. We don't like to be uncomfortable. No question. Neither do I. Randy just got home and made me a fire.

The windows are still open.

I'm going back to Hamlet's Blackberry now. I recommend you getting it for yourself. And I do hope William Powell is planning to write more books. I stopped reading to get online, look him up and find out more about him. He's had a very interesting career, one that I will now be following. And a lovely by-product - I see that he's married to Martha Sherrill, who wrote a book called THE BUDDHA FROM BROOKLYN. 2011 is the year I throw myself into the study of Buddhism, Taoism and yoga, so her book has risen to the top of my must get pile.

Odd, how the connectedness and the disconnect overlap and help me find my way. Sometimes, you have to be open to let the universe in, whether it's through a window, or your soul.

Food for thought.

Waiting

Saturday. The book has been with my editor for two days. Since we're backing into a hard deadline, I know he's looking at it. Last night I dreamed that he approved the proposal for book the eighth, which means he accepts book the seventh. I hope dreams come true.

Waiting is hard to do. Waiting for editorial notes on a book you've struggled with and know still has some issues is simply painful. No book is ever completely finished. We find ways to revise up until the moment it goes to print, and even after that. So this moment in time, when the book is done but not done, and you know a major revision is to come, is taxing.

I've tried to handle the things on my to do list, most especially Christmas related stuff. I had a party for my critique group Thursday night. While I didn't make the brilliant red wine butter peppercorn tenderloin I was planning, we did have tenderloin wrapped in bacon, and scallops wrapped in bacon, and other lovely nibbles. And wine. A lot of wine. There was a moment, when we were opening our prezzies, that I felt the ultimate gift--everyone was happy. Genuinely happy. The joy and love of good friends having fun is always worth striving for.

Things that made me happy this week:

Paige got a new puppy yesterday. Moonshadow. I've been singing Cat Stevens for 2 days.

Jeff's new book ADRENALINE is going to be featured on the CBS Sunday morning show

Louise Penny's blog. I met Louise at Bouchercon in Indianapolis. On an escalator. She said something ingeniously outrageous that slayed me, and I had that moment of Oh, I want to get to know this woman better. She's a brilliant writer, and the blog is a lovely bit of introspection

Jennifer is editing my short (short) story collection this weekend.

I dreamed Harlan Coben was giving me writing advice, and the dream itself gave me a good idea for a book.

When there is no sun, the cat uses my lap as a solar blanket. This makes writing difficult, because I can't refuse her, but it's always so nice to be wanted by a cat. Like you're The Chosen One.

Neil Gaiman had dog pictures.

We were gifted with a Santa Claus on a wine barrel, which is too precious for words, both because of the giver and because of the significance.

I started my 2011 goals and planning, which involves counting up all the words I wrote, fiction and non-fiction, in 2010. More to come on that later...