I'm still a little breathless and a lot astonished. A long time ago I discovered that talent and hard work weren't always enough to get a book published. But I kept writing and kept submitting and filing away rejections, then went on to the next project. I've had a couple great critique partners who offered their wisdom and encouragement, and my kids were my biggest cheerleaders. Everyone believed in me - even me! But even so, the email offering me a contract today took me by surprise. Even more outstanding is that they want to release it in June of this year. THIS YEAR! Amazing, awesome and so very satisfying. I read the entire contract, but I think I need to read it again when my head is not still in the clouds and get down to business. But in the mean time - I think I'll have another glass of wine! Thank you to everyone who had a part in getting me to this place in my life. Love you all.

The week began with an unusually ambitious agenda, so I made a list. I'm good with lists. I like lists. I especially like checking things off! The first thing I tackled was scraping and sanding the outdoor furniture, then getting two new coats of Helmsman urethane on everything. That was the first easy item on the list. Another relatively easy task was to check out the possibility of moving back into the larger storage unit I had before, and when the answer was yes, that morphed into filling out the paperwork and actually moving everything from one end of the facility to the other. But since I was at it, I put away my winter gear and got out my summer stuff which is a plus. I even found my Easter Basket - just in case the bunny decides to visit my place, and came across a photo of my brother and I when we were toddlers to add to my family gallery. Next up: Last week I bought two new bougainvillea plants and three hibiscus. They were still sitting on the deck in the plastic pots they came in so I took pity on them and transplanted them into bigger pots with some room for their roots to spread out. The weather was so nice this week, it was a great excuse to be out of doors. But eventually I managed to burn through all the "easy" tasks and had to sit myself down at the computer to deal with the more problematic ones.

My writer's chapter voted to set up a PayPal account and since I'm the treasurer, getting it done fell under my job description. Reading through the initial information, this seemed pretty easy so I dove into that one thinking maybe an hour or so. Three hours later, having spoken to two helpdesks and having to conference the president in so they could actually talk to me, that job was done. The gorgeous weather and the beach called and I scrambled out of here for a walk by the sea. Balancing the chapter checkbook and writing up the monthly report came next. Fortunately no problems popped up and that was dispatched in good time. Our Annual conference in the fall had four registrations already - a good sign, but I had to take time out to wrestle with WORD (which is NOT my favorite program) to start the attendee list. And all this time the really big job loomed and I did my best to ignore it, or subconsciously find excuses to put it off. Time for another walk on the beach??

TAXES! I get through January and February reassuring myself that I can't do them yet because the company I used to work for gets until March to spit out their limited partnership reports. But the K-1 came  last week, which is why taxes were on my to-do list this week. Not my favorite task as you might have guessed by the sheer volume of projects I put between me and the tax return. But Friday morning comes and I haven't even started. As I savored my morning cup of tea I decided I'd download Turbotax and that would fulfill my tax obligation for the week. Just download it, perhaps take a look at it, but I wouldn't actually DO the taxes until NEXT week! I am happy to say, once started, it was hard to decide where to stop. I got further and further into the thing and ended up opting to connect with my bank and brokerage and download all that information automatically! And as I said, one thing led to another and I am thankful and relieved to report that I just put the whole paper file away with all my previous year's tax returns. The return has been electronically filed. AND I DON'T OWE ANY TAXES!

And so my ambitious To-Do list has everything checked off. Isn't that fantastic?

Anyone who loves history, pageantry and just plain fun will love St Augustine. I've never been in a city that celebrates so often or with so much enjoyment. This past weekend was no different. St Patrick's Day is still a week away, but the festivities have begun. For two days there was a Celtic Festival going on at Francis Field with bagpipers, Irish dancers, musicians, Scottish games, and lots more - even haggis for the brave folks who'll try anything once. Saturday morning began with a parade through town, and I know now I should have taken a lot more photos because I remember seeing a lot of really fun stuff. Ever seen storm troopers in kilts?  Check this out!!
 
Last week St Augustine was visited by re-enactors from as far away as Ohio that I know of - perhaps further. They set up camp at the Fountain of Youth and represented a colony in the 1600s. On Saturday evening, we were treated to the re-enactment of Searle's Raid on St Augustine in 1668. Women were kidnapped from houses along St George Street as the raiders forced the defending Spaniards back until they retreated into their wood fort.

Just the week before that was the 493rd birthday of Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of our nation's oldest city. That was celebrated by a parade down St George Street complete with courtiers, a 17th century pope, Big Head puppets and so many more.

Back in December we had British Watch night - honoring the 21 years of British rule in St Augustine and soon, we will have La Guardia de Noche (Spanish Watch night) complete with a military torchlight parade.


I fell in love with this city the very first time I visited and every week, month and year since I moved here has been filled with more reasons to love it. From our Spanish beginnings and the Native American and African (slave and free) influence to our present day, flavored along the way with Irish, Minorcan, Greek, Scots and British, there is so much diversity to celebrate and we celebrate it all with flair and pride.

One of the really fun activities I've gotten into since I moved to St Augustine is volunteering at the Colonial Spanish Quarter. I met Jenny, the tavern keeper, early on and spent a day polishing candle chimneys and lamp glass. Then I got sidetracked into working in the leather shop with Marko. The Spanish Quarter was peopled with over a dozen folk in colonial garb deeply invested in the history of Spanish St Augustine and passing their knowledge of leatherworking, sewing, cooking, blacksmithing, carpentry, black power guns and life in the 1700s to visitors. To the distress of many, including me, the city decided to close the Quarter to the general public last fall except on Market days (Second Saturday of each month.)  The tavern, however, remained open, and I was fortunate that Jenny welcomed me back to work there. It's a fantastic place to hang out, lit only by candlelight at night. Jenny, Josh and Bill, who are the official tavern keepers are fountains of knowledge about the tavern, Spanish St Augustine, and St Augustine in general. They are all great fun to work with and make even mundane chores like bussing tables and washing glasses enjoyable tasks. We meet folk from all over the country and even other countries who come in for a glass of the best Sangria in town, or for a mug of a local microbrew. Like all the volunteer activities I've done in my life, spending time at Taberna del Gallo turns out to give back far more than I give and I enjoy every minute. For a woman who loves history, it's fantastic that I get to step back in time and live the history I so enjoy reading about. Next best thing to time travel!!
 

It's valentines, day - when the florists sell lots of roses, chocolate is the ambrosia of the day and sweethearts everywhere celebrate their love. I started out feeling sorry for myself because I don't have a sweetheart to go out to dinner with, or cuddle with afterward. But then I stopped at the library and on my way back to the car I noticed a heart mowed into the lawn. A romantic groundskeeper - how cute. Then I got a card from an old friend. And email from new friends. My hairdresser greeted me with a wonderful smile when I arrived late and breathless for my appointment, and my dog greeted me with a madly wagging tail when I returned home. As I carried my lunch to my study to see what else awaited me in the way of friendly greetings, a tiny bright red picture frame with a heart shaped opening and the sweet little face of one of my granddaughters when she was two years old caught my eye. Suddenly it occurred to me just how rich in hearts I am. I have four grown children who couldn't be more wonderful no matter how hard they tried, and a step-son who's as much a part of my heart as the children I bore. They've blessed me with twelve grandchildren, each special and loving in their own way. My Dad is still with me, and he writes to me regularly. My sister and brother are distant in miles, but close in affection. And I've friends all over the world. Some close by, some on the far away, some new, some old, and all gifts bringing immeasurable blessings into my life. Life truly is good to me. Thank every one of you for being part of it.

Okay - time to get back to work and get this manuscript into shape. At a conference last fall, I won a critique from an editor of a well-known publishing house. It included a 15 minute phone call to discuss my project. While I would have loved to have her ask for the full manuscript (who wouldn't?) I got the next best thing. In her words, "The writing is strong, the characters come to life and I found the world engaging." She went on to discuss genres and the fact that while this story had a lot to recommend it, I needed to focus on a specific genre and aim my writing toward it. She had a lot of tips on where I could go with this effort, and she also wanted me to consider how it might be made into one of a three book series.  She ended by saying that if I wanted to resubmit this book when I had worked on the issues we discussed, she would be glad to look at it again. Words of supreme encouragement.

Now to get to work. On the book I was working on when she called, on the book we discussed, and on ideas for two more. That ought to keep me busy and out of trouble!

  There are books and reading material everywhere at my house. My library has floor to ceiling bookshelves stocked with hundreds of great books of all descriptions. I have a Kindle with 300 or so books on it and there are several more on my iPhone. I read every chance I get. Most of what I read is enjoyable or enlightening, but once in awhile a book comes along that touches me in a way most never come close to. On the Island, by Tracey Garvis-Graves, is one of those books. Her hero and heroine are so compellingly real and when they are faced with hardship and difficult decisions their courage and concern for each other grabs your heart. They not only grow as characters in a story, but they grew on me, the reader, until I couldn't help but cry with them, celebrate with them and feel a deep down connection. I started reading the book on my iPhone while I was waiting for an appointment. I picked it up again in between things, but last night, I took it to bed with me and couldn't put it down. I have not been so touched by a hero in a book in years. T.J. Callahan is an endearing young man who grows both in stature and character, mature beyond his years in so many ways, yet engagingly innocent and young. It was a pleasure to spend time with him and Anna. If you are looking for a great read, I urge you to find this book, available in ebook as well as paperback.

Description (From Smashwords)
"When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends. .

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man."

The first time I jumped out of a plane was on a whim – sort of. My youngest daughter and I had mentioned it might be fun to try, but that was as far as it went, until Lori heard a radio spot about an early season special on tandem jumps at Skydive Chicago. Was I up for it? Absotively! So there we were, two eager beavers signing multi-page waivers with harsh sounding words like death and paralysis, on a Friday the 13^th then gearing up to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. I’m not crazy – really! But I do hear a different drummer in my head some of the time. Okay, most of the time. And before you knock it, you really have to try it.

Even if you’re afraid of heights (which I’m not,) there’s something surreal about looking out the open door of a plane two and a half miles up. It just isn’t the same as being at the top of a high building or the edge of a 100-foot cliff. When it was my turn to go, I leapt free of the plane with abandon and was met with the instant rush of wind followed swiftly by the excitement of flying toward the earth at 125 mph. I don’t remember much about that first free-fall. I was too busy paying attention to my altimeter, anticipating the moment I’d pull the ripcord. Then my tandem master and I were under canopy, floating silently through the Illinois skies with a fantastic panoramic view of the skyline of Chicago, some 75 miles away with Lake Michigan spread out behind it. Way too swiftly my feet were on the ground and my first thought was, “I have to do that again!”

In all, I did 22 jumps. Nothing even remotely close to the numbers serious skydivers rack up, but each jump was a memory to savor. I managed to land my first solo jump in the trees, much to my chagrin and my kids’ head-shaking snickers, but I got better. Learned how to land it standing up like I was stepping down off a curb. I learned how to pack my own chute and screwed up the courage to jump it. And I got my class A license.

Skydiving is an extreme sport, and for most skydivers, it’s all about the freefall. That streaking minute or so when you are falling toward the earth at terminal velocity. The brief seconds when you can flip and roll with ease, or fold your arms back and swoop like a hawk as the earth rushes up to meet you. Most skydivers seem to wait until the last moment to pull the ripcord, and many fly high performance canopies designed to get them to the ground very quickly. But, while I admit to being something of an adrenalin junkie and loved the feeling of flying, for me the sweetest part was the canopy ride.

I liked pulling as soon as I could and still manage to land on the drop zone. I savored the moment I was snatched from my perilous descent so abruptly that it took the breath out of me. There was a great deal of satisfaction in looking up at the fully deployed chute spread above me just waiting for me to grasp the controls and guide it where I wanted to go. In the sudden hush, so different from the boisterous sound of wind rushing past at stinging speeds, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my ride back to earth.  The experience was irresistible and one I won’t ever forget. I haven’t been skydiving in a while now for a variety of reasons, but you never know. One of these days, I just might have to find another perfectly good airplane to jump out of again.

The hardest part of living at the beach is making yourself pay attention to getting things done that don't include enjoying the view, swimming or wading the sea or walking on the sand. I do have a dog which means I have an excuse to go for a walk several times a day - not that I need much of an excuse...!  When I first moved here, I balked at even going off to do errands like buying groceries or stopping at the library and post office. I might miss an hour of precious time in the sun. Eventually, my psyche wrapped itself around the fact that I was NOT on vacation and every day would find me right here by the sea. So, I don't procrastinate about the errands any more. The chores, however, are still up for discussion. Things like painting and maintenance, cleaning the house or dragging out the sewing machine to create a few new leotards for my grand daughters who've all taken up gymnastics now. (And I thought I'd sewn my last leotard when my daughter graduated from college and ended her sixteen year run as a gymnast.)

So . . . right at this moment, I have the sewing machine set up and four leotards cut out and waiting. I have a very blank GMC chart for my hero and heroine in the book I hope to start writing soon and more research on the historical background to do. The floors are covered with pawprints Duffy spread around after our walk in the rain last night. My hamper is full. I need to call my broker about gifting some Exxon shares to my grand children. My checkbook needs balancing and two bills just came in to pay. Zappo's had a security breach and I need to change my password and a few other things. There is still some woodwork that needs painting and my hammock stand could use another coat of urethane. And what am I doing? Sitting at my desk gazing out at the incredible blue sky and frothing white caps on the breaking waves, waiting for low tide so I can head to the beach.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.....

New Year's Eve is a very different kind of night. It's a time of saying goodbye to last year, both the good and the bad. For some it's good riddance, for others it's been a great year filled with memories to keep close for a lifetime. And for most, it's a time of reviewing where you are now compared to where you were a year ago and where you want to be a year from now. Nearly everyone makes resolutions - quiet naturally born of the review of where we want to be next year when the tooting horns and fireworks usher in yet another new beginning. Whether we keep those resolutions or not depends who who we are and how sincerely we want to reach the goals we set for ourselves.

For me -- I'm excited about 2012. Ever since I retired and moved into my cozy little bungalow by the sea here in St. Augustine, life has been good. Very good. Hard to believe, but I've been here three years now. At first, I was reluctant to even go out on necessary errands, I was so anxious about missing even a couple hours of time in this beautiful little corner of paradise. But I've gotten better about that - groceries, hair appointments and returning books to the library no longer threaten to steal precious moments away from the beach. I've gotten used to the fact that I'm not on vacation when every moment needs to be hoarded, and become secure in the knowledge that this IS my life now, every day. I settled back into my writing and got involved beyond my membership in Ancient City Romance Authors. For the past two years I served as secretary, coordinated one genre of the book contest and ran their annual fiction writer's conference (2010 in Jacksonville and 2011 in St Augustine.)

This past year, I got involved volunteering at the Spanish Quarter which has been a wonderful experience. For the first several months, I worked in the leather shop with a wonderful man, Marko, who got me started learning the skills of leatherworking (I've still got lots more to learn, of course.) Then, last fall, to the disappointment of many, the city decided to close the Spanish Quarter and most of the people I got to know there scattered to other places and jobs. La Taberna del Gallo, however, remains open and bustling and I was invited to spend my volunteer time there with Jenny, Bill and Josh, who are the tavern keepers, as well as a colorful bunch of characters who come in from time to time, including the Bilge Rats (who sing sea shanties) Captain Mayhem (local pirate) and dozens more. The friends I've made at La Taberna add such color and fun to my life, I pray, whatever happens to the Spanish Quarter in the coming year, La Taberna will continue to be a part of my world.

This past week, I took a whirlwind trip to New England to spend Christmas with family. I started with a day in Derry with my sister and dad, then drove north to The White Mountains, to spend Christmas eve and breakfast on Christmas morning with my daughter and grandson. Christmas morning dawned snowy and beautiful. There was already snow on the ground but this was the finishing touch to a Currier and Ives holiday. Then it was back to Derry for dinner with my sister and dad, and finally to Massachusetts for Christmas night and the day after with my son, his wife and their two kids. I was supposed to fly home on Tuesday, but the flight was so delayed, I missed the connection in DC and ended up jumping on the Metro and going out to spend the night with my daughter in Maryland. Her two girls were excited to see me - surprise visits aren't something you expect from a grandmother who lives almost 800 miles away!! I finally arrived home on Wednesday feeling like I'd been traveling for a month, but it was a great trip - lots of fun, got to see so many of my family and enjoy a wonderful holiday. Time for a nap...........

 Jack, snoozing with the teddy I made for him. 

And so ends 2011. I'm excited, as I mentioned at the start of this blog, about 2012. I look forward to hearing back from the editor who is reading a partial on my latest book and an agent who asked for a partial on the book I completed earlier in the fall. I would LOVE to hear them say they would love to see the entire manuscript, of course. In December, I was busy sewing for Christmas, but in the back of my mind a new book was brewing and I'm anxious to get started. Tonight I'll be volunteering at La Taberna del Gallo to usher in the New Year. I'm looking forward to that, as well. I look forward to another year of life on the beach, daily rambles with my feet in the surf and Duffy gamboling at my side, in and out of the water. I am also looking forward to the arrival of grandbaby number 13. (Alex and Noel expect their 4th sometime in early August.) And who knows, maybe this year is the year I'll meet someone special and fall in love again. Whatever the year holds for me, I'm eager and ready so BRING IT ON!!!