Old Friendships never die...

This past July, I went home for my 45th class reunion. My sister and I both had a wonderful time even though my sister and I never attended the same schools and didn't even live in the same county when we were growing up. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that we reconnected after our brother turned eighteen and was legally an adult.

Then I went home again in September to attend the wedding reception of my youngest niece, Sondra, who married Michael last April in Nevada. The reception was at the Inn Between outside Camillus and has for years been my favorite restaurant. The food was excellent, and my nieces and nephews kept me in stitches all evening.

Hugh, my "new to me" 1999 Honda Civic, made both trips without so much as a hiccup and averaged 48.597 miles per gallon. A friend who has a hybrid averages only slightly more than my Hugh!

Then last weekend, a friend I had lost touch with after graduation came to visit me. After having my email address for a year and a half, he finally emailed his way back into my life more than three years ago. We began emailing each other and a couple of years ago, when I needed an editor and simply could not afford one, I had the inspiration to ask Jim if he'd like to read the first chapter of my first book. He liked it and asked if I'd send him the rest of the book, and without my even asking him, he began editing the book for me. He has since edited the second and third books and will begin editing the fourth book after he re-edits parts of the second book to which I have added a new story line.

So, 45 years of not seeing each other, my hair is turning grey, he's bald, and we're both heavier than we were, but neither of us cared. Instead of 45 years, it seemed more like we hadn't seen each other for only two or three years. He likes trains and seemed quite knowledgeable about them so we went to Warther's Train Museum in Dover. I think he enjoyed the trains immensely--he bought a souvenir book that showed the beautiful carvings rendered by Mooney Warther. The carvings are incredible and they actually work. I'm saving a discount coupon for his next visit when I hope we'll go to the Warther's Sailing Ship Museum.

After a late lunch, he took me home and headed out for his next destination. I can't speak for Jim, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him again and I was sorry to see him leave. However, I can't wait to hear his reaction to the last book in the TIDES series--which, if he didn't go home, I might never hear.

Jim, thank you for a wonderful time and the HP hardbacks.

With the release of my third book, TSUNAMI, I decided that I wanted to revamp the first two books as I've explained below. I want everything to be ready for the release of the fourth book, VORTEX, so that the entire TIDES series will be consistent as to cover art, and that the first and second novels will reflect more of what I've learned about writing.

TIDES: Book One, my first book ever, has been loved by almost everyone who has read it. One glaring exception made some valid points and while I did not agree with everything she said, I did go back through the book and make some changes. The basic story remains the same, but I deleted some "he saids" and "she saids," some exclamation points, and removed extraneous direct addresses in two-people conversations. I did not remove any prayers--this woman attributed the prayers as "Christianity being shoved down our throats." Jews pray. Muslims pray. I'm sure there are other religions that have prayer as part of their doctrine; it doesn't have to be Christian. Regardless, the prayers are few and I will not remove them. They are part of my characters' lives.

I hope those of you who have read/purchased RIPTIDE will forgive me, but I'm about to make some changes to the book. I've already started writing the changes after a discussion with my editor, Jim Bahler. Jim feels that the romance in RIPTIDE should not minimize the overall adventure theme of the series, and I think he's right. Therefore, I am introducing another storyline that will be very tense and definitely an adventurous inclusion into the second book. I will also allude to what happened in the fourth book so you don't have to buy the second book again to find out what happened--although you might want to anyway. This new inclusion will fortify the existing story, which in itself, will not change. The wonderful thing about self-publishing is that there isn't a stockpile of twenty thousand books in some warehouse, so if you want to, you can make corrections and changes.

TSUNAMI is out and so far the feedback is that I have outdone myself in this novel. I don't really think my writing has changed. I think that the story is more involved, there are more storylines, and there are more characters telling the stories. The first book, TIDES, while it included the villagers in a big way, most of the story revolved around the two main characters and since Micah makes Katie promise to keep his existence a secret, it's not like they could throw a party and invite everyone. RIPTIDE answers several questions brought about in the first book, but hints that a storm is coming, which, the reason for the storm shows up near the end of the second book. TSUNAMI takes the storm to the next level, revealing that there are things going on in secret and from two directions. In VORTEX, everything breaks loose and two new species (and much more) are entered into the dyanamics. So, while I don't think my writing has changed all that much, I do think the complexity of the story changes with each book. As Jim noted recently, each book is very different from the others, but each is a continuation of the same characters and their stories.

I recently learned that TIDES' two youngest fans are a nine-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl. They both love the books. The ten year old is my great-niece. I was concerned because I did not write these books for children and I know what's coming. My sister assured me that my great-niece will take the story in stride--she's a saavy, bright tomboy (much like Katie). As for TIDES' nine year old fan, his grandmother didn't know he was reading the books until after the fact. So, TIDES has become a multi-generational book, from age 9 to 93, both male and female alike, although I would caution adults to read the books before they let their youngish children read them--just in case there might be some issues. The books were primarily aimed at young adults and adults, both genders.

For those of you who have read TIDES and enjoyed it, I am grateful and humbled, as well as awed. I hope you'll enjoy VORTEX when it debuts later this year or the first of next year.

After months of editing and re-editing, proofing and re-proofing, TSUNAMI is finally "out there"--on Amazon.com. While this book is a continuation of Katie and Micah's story from the first two books, this book is very different in many respects. Good vs. evil abounds in this book and leads to the fourth and final novel where all hell breaks loose until the final resolution. Whether you read it or not, I wish you the best!

Now that I'm back to work full time, I'm busier than usual. My car died. Her name was Sadie and she was a 1999 Saturn SL2. I drove her for nearly eight years in spite of the fact she'd go through a quart of oil every thousand miles. Then after the second bitter cold spell this winter, Sadie wouldn't start. AAA couldn't get her started and in the end, they thought her battery had died. They took her to my favorite mechanic. Gail called me the next day to tell me that Sadie's timing belt went out and there was a good chance it bent the valves. I was looking at $800 to $1800 to repair an old car that used a lot of oil. I had also had two new wheel bearings put in last summer and I could tell that another wheel bearing was going. The driver side window motor had been replaced and some other things that I can't recall off the top of my head right now. The point is that at some point you have to decide enough is enough. So, while I confess I do get attached to my cars, I had to let Sadie go. The good thing is that Gail has a 1999 fastback in the same color as Sadie and he can use parts off her to keep his Saturn going for a long time. His Saturn is mint.

So, with Gail's help, I bought a Honda Civic, also a '99. I named him Hugh after a character in Star Trek: The Next Generation who had been assimilated by the dreaded Borg, a race of humanoids that were mostly machine after assimilation. Hugh was found in a space crash, and Geordi, the Enterprise engineer, taught Hugh that humans value their individuality and don't want to be assimilated into a hive mind. Through the friendship that resulted, Hugh found his humanity again and he had a big heart. That's why I named my Honda Civic after him even though the Borg freaked me out.

Hugh, being a Honda in very good condition, should be a part of my family for a long time. I'm looking forward to taking a couple of trips with him. I'm really looking forward to not having to feed him oil every thousand miles and I think he's going to make an appreciable difference to my gas budget. Sadie was pretty good on gas, but I'm betting Hugh will be better....

It's been a while since my last blog. You would think I'd have more time working only twenty hours per week instead of forty, but it didn't work out that way. Unemployment is a pain. I wasted more time looking for a job that a) I could physically do (I have limitations) and b) that was close enough to my home that I wouldn't be on the road a ridiculous amount of time that would cost me a small fortune in gas, and c) that I would want to stay at for the next few years. It took way more time than it should have to find openings that fit my criteria, and then more time to fill out applications--only to find out toward the end that they require you to be able to lift twenty-five pounds above your head. Well,since I can barely lift eight pounds (the weight of a gallon of milk), the twenty-five pounds was definitely out. However, I dutifully finished the application in order to collect unemployment. I am delighted to say that as of January 2, I'm back to work full time again and I am very happy about that. I can't say I'm tickled about getting up so early every day--sleeping in was one of the perks I had since I went in at 1:30 p.m.--but if feels good to be back at work full time. I love my job and I really didn't want to leave it.

I, for one, am glad that 2013 is behind us. Not only did I have to deal with cut hours, but my dog, Ezri, died very suddenly the day before Thanksgiving. I was heartbroken--she was a stray that had been abandoned in the median strip on I-71. She was too terrified to cross the highway and she was trapped there. A nice young man spotted her on his way to Columbus and on his return trip, when he saw that she was still there, he pulled off the highway, put her in his car, and took her home to Youngstown. Angels for Animals bathed her, gave her her shots, a collar and leash, and they neutered her. The family of the young man who picked her up couldn't keep her due to allergies. They posted ads in the Youngstown paper, but then realized that since they found her outside of Ashland, they should probably advertise in the Ashland paper. I saw the ad and I needed another dog. I had a Great Dane that suffered from separation anxiety and I planned to go home for a week. I couldn't leave her completely alone, so I called about this stray. I offered to keep her until someone called about her or to keep her permanently if no one claimed her. I was glad when no one claimed her. We had a rocky start, but she turned out to be the best dog I've had in a very long time. She wasn't very old when she died--about seven or eight years as near as we could determine. She made a funny sound and in the time it took me to set my laptop down and turn around, she was gone. Her death came as a terrible and unexpected shock.

I know there are other people who had a lot worse to contend with in 2013 and I feel for them. Life has its ups and downs and sometimes, it's so bad, you feel like you'll never see the light of day again. However, the sun always rises from one day to the next--but if you're in Ohio, you might not see it every day. Regardless, we know it's there. Time and love cure everything--one way or another.

I adopted another dog. He's a black lab. He's a sweet dog and gradually, he's learning to trust me. I still can't get him to use the doggie door to the outside, but for right now, as cold as it's supposed to get, I'm just as glad he isn't using it. I have it closed for right now to help keep the house warmer. (The original rubber-like doors were destroyed by my Great Danes when they were puppies, so now it's a Plexiglas door and it leaks cold air into the house.)

I'm working on the edits of TSUNAMI, the third book in the TIDES series. Meredith is working on the cover. When I finish the edits, I'd like to read the book one more time before I submit it to get more proof copies. Then, several of us will re-read the proof books, I'll make whatever corrections we find, and then we'll publish TSUNAMI, I hope before the end of February.

I'd like to close this post with a very strong impression that I've been having: 2014 is going to be a great year--I hope for all of us! God Bless!