Lifescapes

Works in Progress

Winter is a lovely time for needlework, and I'm indulging myself in the evenings with a cozy fire and a good movie. I keep better track of the work if I lightly grid the fabric with a hard pencil--that's the lines you see. This project is about 60% finished. When it's done, it will look like this--more or less. 

I'm looking forward to the next project, which is also cross stitch. 

This is a pastel by Taos artist Ann Cole, who has given me permission to turn this striking painting into cross stitch. It's a rendering of her casita in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, where Bill and I stayed about 15 years ago. In case you're interested, I'll be using this free online pattern software. This is the first time I've made my own pattern, but it looks pretty straightforward and no more difficult than the current WIP. I'm looking forward it it!

Book report. Other works-in-progress: the copyedit of The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle, which will be published in late 2018 in print, digital, and audio editions. This book will be the eighth in the Dahlias series. I'm also working on the second novella in a "Ruby trilogy": a spinoff from the China Bayles series, featuring Ruby Wilcox, who gets herself into trouble when she begins to use her ESP. I'm not sure when the trilogy will be published--probably in the summer, in ebook only.

I've just heard that The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover #(#7 in the series) will be published in an audio edition in March. You might want to let your library know so they can order it.

In case you missed it, Death Come Quickly is on sale on all its ebook platforms until the end of the year. And in January, watch for a big, big giveaway of the ebook edition of the upcoming Unlucky Clover from Goodreads.

Homestead report. When we got back from our winter trip to New Mexico, we were surprised to see that the Girls are laying again. There are only three now, but their large brown eggs are always welcome. The small crop of fall potatoes is waiting to be dug, when we get a warm day. It's been cold this week, in the 30s--but likely not as cold as where you are! The woods are lovely in the winter, when the trees have dropped all their leaves and are showing their bones. My favorite time of year here...

Holiday wishes. Bill and I wish you all the best for 2018--a new year that is happy, healthy, and productive! 

Reading note. We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.--Alan Turing

New Mexico Working Holiday

I'm taking a break for a few weeks at our cabin in New Mexico. We're on the east side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains about halfway between Taos and Las Vegas (NM), near Rociada. The valley below our cabin is a large ranch, first established in the mid-1800s, when the 25-mile trip by horse and wagon from the village of Las Vegas must have taken at least two days. Las Vegas itself was established in the 1830s, with a Mexican land grant. It became a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, the site of a battle in the Mexican-American War (1847), and an important station on the railroad (1879). If you've been watching "Longmire," you've seen many scenes filmed in the town and in the mountains and valleys not far from our cabin.

Book report. I've approved the files for the printing of The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover, coming in hardcover and ebook in March, 2018--so it's beginning to seem real! Also in the works, Queen Anne's Lace, due out in April from Berkley/Penguin/RandomHouse. I'm currently working on a novella featuring Ruby (a character in the China Bayles series); it'll be published next summer in an ebook-only format.

I've also been working (with Susan Schoch and Sherry Wachter on Inside and Out: Women's Truths, Women's Stories, an exciting collection of essays by members of the Story Circle Network. SCN is publishing it as a Kindle ebook and CreateSpace print book--it'll be available sometime this month. I'm president of SCN this year; we're gearing up for our July 2018 conference (more later about that).

Homestead report. Bill is holding the fort back in Texas, where we're having an unseasonably warm November/December. It's a La Nina winter, which means (sadly) hot/dry for us, both in Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, we're in early-stage drought. Here in New Mexico, the day after I arrived, there was a lovely snowfall--a welcome greeting from the Universe. I love snow (as long as I don't have to drive in it.)

I'll be here until 12/22, working and enjoying the solitude. No television, but I get enough news on the Internet to stay current. In the evenings, I'm watching season 1 of "The Crown" and reading the companion volume--a good, strong dose of modern British history. Eager for season 2 to be available on disk--we're on satellite, so we don't stream. IMO, this is the best series since West Wing. (I'm not a fan of "House of Cards" or "Game of Thrones."

Hope your holiday preparations aren't too exhausting and that you're able to take a little time to just be with yourself.

Reading note. In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'--Dave Barry