The Wrap Tour Revisited

I don’t think it is unusual for people to have several personal anniversaries. For me, April will always bring back memories of the Wrap Tour. In 2004, my partner and I were in the middle of writing an urban fantasy.  Ok, most of our books have musicians in them but this one actually featured a rock star on tour.

Our of the blue, our favorite musician announced a tour, the first in several years. The problem, since it was not a planned tour, new dates kept being added while the tour was in progress which means the musician did a lot of crisscrossing the country.  We had a deadline.  What were we going to do?  Keep writing and leave our concert destiny to fate? Nope.

I am known in some circles as the Queen of Ticketmaster.  If I set my mind on getting good tickets, I stalk Ticketmaster until I get them. But tickets to each of these shows was a surprise.  We would have no idea where our seats would be until we picked up the tickets right before the show. I’m sure you can see the problem here. How far were we willing to go for unknown seats?

The tour started in the Midwest in March.  Our first show was in Pennsylvania in April.  From there were drove to Columbia, South Carolina.  Then, because of late booking, we backtracked to Knoxville Tennessee.  Then crossed to Raleigh NC.  Next Stop was Jacksonville, Fl, the up to Birmingham, Alabama, and then Atlanta, Georgia.  We were exhausted and briefly were sick in Florida, so we took a short break and rejoined the tour for 2 shows in DC, then up to Hartford, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. We did a total of 12 shows in in 11 states in a period of 3 weeks. We lived on 2:00AM IHOP omelets and BLT or chicken salad wraps from Arby’s while on the road. 

We noted some interesting coincidences.  Every time I wore t-shirt and jeans, we had front row seats.  If I dressed a little less casually, we would be a little further back.  For most of the shows we were in the first 5 rows.  There really isn’t anything like the thrill and the intimacy that is created when you are literally at the feet of your idol, watching him do his thing.

But it isn’t always as wonderful as it sounds.  There is an implied social contract with the band when you’re up front.  You have the responsibility to REALLY show that you’re enjoying the performance which usually means standing up, cheering uncontrollably, and singing along.  We had 3 shows that were on the first balcony  That is a whole different experience.  You can see the whole stage, not just the front.  We learned that we missed a lot of cool interactions by being in the front row.  The best thing is being able to sit down if you want to.

To make matters worse, we are both short and feared that people from seats further back would crowd around the stage and we wouldn’t be able to see.  But we began to recognize and be recognized by the artist’s security so that was never problem. On several occasions people blocking our view were moved back to their seats.

I still have that “front row guarantee” T-shirt and many amazing memories that will always remind me of one of the best times of my life.  We also have an extra memento.  Our writing club awarded us a “trophy” for best use of procrastination under the guise of research.

It's Hard to Not Worry

A friend of mine, who also happens to be one of the smartest people I know, is very worried about the increases in COVID cases in this country. He and I spent the entire year worried, but managed to make ourselves feel better once the rates in Connecticut began to decline and jumped for joy when the vaccine was rolled out in earnest. But things have started to reverse and he’s worried. So am I.

First, we noticed the cases in our state have started to climb. Earlier in March, we were at a low infection rate of 2.7% . Two days ago we were at 4.88%—the highest rate since early January. Second, cases around the country are on the rise, with a couple of hotbed states like New Jersey, New York, and Michigan. As states continue to roll back all restrictions, we’ll see more with that unfortunate distinction. Around the world, the data is sending the same message: The pandemic is not over.

Then we noticed that many people we know are resuming life as it was in The Before Times. They’re eating indoors at restaurants, going on vacations, and taking off their masks. Even people who previously were as cautious as we were are acting like a dose of vaccine is a magic potion.

Then my friend had an epiphany: If the people who, like us, effectively put themselves out of the path of transmission are now putting themselves back IN, there may very well be more people in the chain of transmission than there were pre-vaccine. Add to that dire thought the increased transmissibility, we are in a real life Petri dish.

What pushed me over the edge and back into worry, however, was the recent statement of the current head of the CDC: “I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom.” You have to admit, even if you don’t completely buy the science (which you should because, well, science), that’s an incredibly scary statement from the head of the Center for Disease Control.

It. Is. Not. Over. #wearyourmask #washyourhands #stayhome The sooner we all resume taking this advice, the sooner we actually can get back to normal.

Four Ways Television Sets You Up for Disappointment

Iwill admit that I watch way too much TV and too many movies. We all know that movies and TV shows are not based on reality. They set up the average person for disappointment–and I’m not even talking about the concept that everyone on most shows is young, beautiful, and wealthy.

These are the Top 4 Ways TV programs have set us up:

Burning candles on black background.

1. The speed of travel. A body can be found on the west coast and a D.C. FBI team is on site before the body is even photographed. On a smaller scale, the main character always gets a taxi quickly. Has that been YOUR experience? Not mine. I remember a fated evening in NYC where not one single cab would stop for me.

   Sometimes we have no idea at all how the characters get around. Do shadow hunters always travel with a warlock to portal them, or do they take the subway in their invisible form?

2. Housing is never an issue. Every character has a bedroom that is ridiculously large. Everyone who lives in a city has a penthouse apartment with glass walls and no curtains. Instead, they have beautiful, panoramic views of the city. Many have balconies large enough to accommodate plants, enough furniture for a full room, and maybe a hot tub. Admittedly, the real issue for me is the window walls. One show has wall of windows with a view of a brick wall that appears to be about three feet from the house. Why???

3. Alcoholism is rarely an issue. This despite the fact that, in some shows, all the characters ever drink is alcohol. They rarely show any consequences of all this drinking. Occasionally someone has a cup of coffee or tea but you have to watch closely for those moments to make sure whiskey hasn’t been added.

4. Unrealistic use of candles. What’s most disappointing to me, however, is that my bedroom is not lit with hundreds of pillar candles that seem to burn day and night. How do they afford all those candles? How do they get them lit so quickly? How are they lit when NO ONE was home? Why do none ever sputter and die?

I suppose I could make do with fewer candles if my room was filled with the strands of twinkle lights you see in the bedrooms of TV teenagers. Or I could get one of those glass-walled apartment and let the city lights illuminate my boudoir. 

It’s something to consider.

Soul Soothing Beach Memories

Just this week, I’ve realized it’s been about three years since I’ve been to the beach. The first two summers I was dealing with excruciating sciatica. Walking was difficult. Driving was impossible. This past summer, of course, was Pandemic Summer 2020. I didn’t go anywhere except for the odd doctor appointment and I had to be forced to leave the house then.

In the last few days, my back has started aching. You know, that band at your lower back? The muscle spasms take my breath away. I’m trying to baby it so that it calms down. I do not want to have another summer without the ocean.

Water rejuvenates me. The sound and rhythm of the waves soothe me. It’s always been this way. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a water sign. Or maybe its because my mom loved the beach and we’d spend sunrise to sunset at Sunken Meadow Beach on Long Island. If I close my eyes, I can see it as if it was yesterday: Mom in a beach chair with her book. Her beach hat AND a tilting umbrella. The blanket loaded with coolers, KFC, and abandoned flip-flops.

My sister was always the first in the water. My brother was the last because he hated taking off his t-shirt. But once we were all in, it was hard for Mom to get us to come out. The water captivated us.

It still captivates me.

Fingers crossed I don’t have another sciatica flair-up. I’ve got to get to the ocean by summertime.

365 Days

My love belongs to my beloved 365 days a year, 1440 minutes of every day. I work hard each of these days to show my love.

An unexpected cup of coffee.

Flowers for no reason.

A drive to nowhere.

A text from the next room.

And a myriad other moments.

Today is just a day where I shout it to the world. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Writing Through the Pain

I’ve just come through a very difficult period of writer’s block. I’ve not experienced anything like it before.

I was at a pivotal point in the story where my main character experiences something very painful. The kind of emotional agony that brings up every other anguish you’ve experienced in your life. Soul-wrenching. But something was in my way.

My writing process begins with me seeing the scene. I know this sounds weird, but my story comes to me like clips from a movie. No, I’m not saying that the story writes itself or that my characters are in charge or anything like that. But my imagination unfolds the story before my eyes, so to speak.

For this part of the story, the scene was blank, as if the reel of film had run out.

I tried to force the issue. Sitting at my computer for hours and hours, staring at the screen. Reading the thousands of words already written and then reading them again. I realized that I had to step away for a while, so I put it away for a few days.

Instead of coming straight back to it, I decided to plot it out. I opened up a rarely used program and I loaded it with pictures. Then I asked a few questions and wrote down the answers. What was the hero’s goal? What needed to happen and was it compatible with his goal? What was the conflict? The outcomes of the conflict and the reactions to it?

As I considered these questions, the story began to unfold. Suddenly, there they were, the plot point and the pain. As painful as this scene was to be for my character, I needed to find my connection to his pain. I cried as I wrote it. I cry every time I re-read it.

I excited to see what happens next.

Winter Snow is Coming? It's Already Here

I love snow. I’ve said that many times.  But the recent storm has outdone itself. It started Sunday evening.  I shoveled the steps and a walkway for the dogs

And went to bed.

Monday brought a surprising amount of snow.  I had put the garbage can out the night before and the snow was deep enough to cause a problem getting it back up the driveway. Snow was past the bottom of the doors and I spent much of Monday shoveling the steps and walkway for the dogs.  The snow was coming down so heavy that 30 minutes after I shoveled, the trench would be filled again. The dogs were not happy. Unless forced, they would not have left the steps.

To keep snow from getting too deep. We cleaned off the cars and shoveled snow throughout the day. We were proud of ourselves for staying ahead of the snowfall. We went to sleep expecting a fairly normal Tuesday.

But instead of the planned relaxing day of stretches, breakfast, and a day devoted to writing, we woke to snow deep enough to prevent opening the doors and snow literally up to our car’s doorhandles.

One of my favorite fantasies is curling up in front of a roaring fire, drinking hot chocolate, and napping or reading.  Just enjoying the snow. While I have seen a lot of snow and drank a lot of hot chocolate, I have never fulfilled the rest of this fantasy.  Today was not to be the day to live this dream.

Instead, we spent the day shoveling snow and brushing the snow off cars.  Lest you think this was easy, remember that the snow was up to the doorhandles.  And some genius decided to use a snow blower that threw THAT snow onto our car.

We didn’t shovel every moment, but my muscles would debate that.   We shoveled enough that coming inside and using ICE PACKS on our backs was necessary. We had scraped and shoveled the driveway to the street.  And driven over patches of snow to get our car near the end.

As evening fell. I went outside to survey our progress.  The city trucks had made a couple of passes and our driveway was blocked by a wall of snow and ice we could not possibly drive over. Snow had slid off the overhang and covered a good part of the area we had shoveled with 3-5 inches of snow.

At this point, I had the choice of crying or watching a few episodes of my current favorite TV show. To quote Scarlet O’Hara, “after all, tomorrow is another day.”

New Year, New Books!

Everyone likes free books, don’t they? I sure do. Actually, I LOVE books, even the ones I actually buy but free books just make me happy.

The event below contains 36 books and samples of all genres.

Books Galore!

“Hot and Dirty Books” is a Kindle Unlimited promotion. Take a chance on new authors and new steamy books and series’ starters.

To check them out just click on the pictures! Enjoy, and let me know if you find anything you like!

My Empowerment Garden

I’m not much of a gardener. In fact, I hate gardening, indoor and outdoor. The irony is that I love flowers so I do keep trying.

Over the years, it’s seemed that despite my brown thumb and hatred of dirt and bugs, some plants seem to thrive in my yard and in my house. The fuchsia below has been close to death many times but just when I’m about to call it over, it blooms. Isn’t it beautiful? It looks like a painting.

Here is a ZZPlant that my sister gave me ions ago. Originally, there was one stalk. What you see here is what is left after making two additional full pots. I’m convinced this thing cannot be killed. I call it my “little shop of horror plant”.

Here’s one more example, a Peace Lily. My partner and I found it about a decade ago in a discount rack of nearly dead flowers, for less than a buck.

My philosophy of gardening, much like the philosophy I use when it comes to my lawn, is “grow if you want to”. I’ll give the grass and flowers a good shot with water and sunlight as appropriate but in the end, it’s up to them. For my lawn, this has resulted in a mini nature reserve at the foot of my yard. For my flowers, it means some stick around and others don’t. But they are welcome to grow if they want to.

Oh, Look! Presents!

From time to time I have the opportunity to point my readers and followers to a few new authors and a few new books. In honor of the holidays, I have a slew of them!

Click on the pictures and ENJOY!

The books here represent a variety of genres.

Gifts of the (Covid-19) Season

For most of my adulthood, I’ve had a vision of the holidays. Picture this: Sitting in front of a fireplace, looking out of a large (well-insulated) picture window as it snows. On the coffee table is a bowl of popcorn, my mug of hot chocolate (overloaded with marshmallows), and my book. My partner and I spend days on end reading, snuggled with each other, our dogs, and our favorite comfy throws.

What’s your holiday fantasy?

We’ve gotten close in some years, but the days have always been so hectic. As odd as it sounds, this year we’re going to finally do it. The odd and fragile year has give us the gift of time. The gifts of a slower pace and opportunity to focus on our true priorities. Health, happiness, serenity, and love. Oh—and there’s a snow storm coming.

We’re taking advantage of these gifts. I wish you the same.

Weathering the Weather

Wise County, Va.

Admittedly, I have a love/hate relationship with the weather. I cherish the scents and sounds of the ocean, so I appreciate the summer’s warm, sunny days at the beach—as long as it isn’t too warm. I love the smells and scenery of the fall, although the days are often dreary, especially when the leaves turn from colorful to brown. And the winter…Oh, it’s so frustrating.

I do love the snow. It’s so beautiful as it comes down and when it lands. I have an ongoing fantasy of sitting on the sofa with warm fuzzy socks and a cup of cocoa or coffee, holiday music on the stereo and my beloved snuggling next to me, watching the snow fall. Thankfully, I’ve been able to turn it into a reality from time to time. We also love putting on winter duds and sitting on a bench with a thermos of hot chocolate or taking slow walks down our street to take in the view.

Wise County, Va.

Unfortunately, my partner and I both spent years driving in winter weather, in deep snow and ice. I remember nights of white-knuckled fear trying to make my way home from work, seeing numerous cars spun off to the side of the road or in ditches. We’ve both also had too many close calls to count. Even glorious, rejuvenating winter has its downsides.

Then there is spring. Not too cold. Not too hot. Flowers in bloom. Sunny and enough warmth to enjoy the outdoors. Oh wait…It’s also allergy season. And when we’re fortunate, lots of rain.

I suppose the lesson is that I—all of us—have to appreciate both sides of the coin. After all, we don’t get flowers without rain and pollen. And we don’t get snow to enjoy without snow to drive in.

I have my hot chocolate ready. Bring it on.