Remember November

One of our favorite movies in this house is 'V' for Vendetta. Remember, remember the fifth of November...  We're not from the UK, but the movie has a message. Plus it's just downright creepy and disturbing.


November is also the month in which Thanksgiving falls. With everyone offended by virtually everything that's ever happened in history the celebration of being thankful for friendship and a good harvest has turned into a slap in the face to the native Americans, so Thanksgiving has lost much of its status and turned into more of a Harvest Day celebration so none of feel guilty,,,when in reality only a very tiny percentage of current Americans can trace their ancestry back to the Pilgrims and other early immigrants to this country. I'm only a second generation American myself. My father's family didn't arrive here until the very late 1800's. They were Polish refugees who settled in CT and farmed onions and potatoes. My Dad was born in Hatfield in 1928 where his parents had moved to from Suffield, CT. They were still farmers. I'm third generation American on my mother's side. My grandfather was born in Greenfield in 1905, my Mom in Griswoldville in 1930. My grandfather worked in Kendall Mills as a truck driver between the two mills in Colrain. My mother's relatives came from southern Italy and through Canada as French-Canadian immigrants in the late 1800's. They were all poor, came to this country with a lot of other immigrants looking for a better life, worked hard, struggled, went hungry, learned to speak English before they were allowed to go to school, fought in wars for this country, worked hard, raised families, and cared about everyone, not just themselves. So, every November, Thanksgiving doesn't really mean anything to me other than I'm thankful my relatives were welcomed into this country and through their own hard work made something of themselves without stepping on anyone else's rights or taking anything away from them to do it. We can't change history- it's already written. What we can change is how we behave toward one another now in the present day because we are writing OUR history now, and I for one don't want to be lumped into the Jerks and Assholes who ruined this country category in some future history lesson. History is more than just a generalization of events and their outcomes. I'm just thankful for the simple things in my life- my family and friends and my ability to write. Everything else- well, I've worked for that. (I am stepping down off my soapbox now.)


November is also NaNoWriMo month- National Novel Writing Month. This is my 6th NaNo. I began participating in 2012 and have written a novel each year. I've self-published the NaNo novels I've written. In 2012 it was Talon: An Intimate Familiarity about a young woman who is different from her peers who is hired as the night shift receptionist/secretary at City Morgue. The old ME passes away and the frosty, difficult younger ME takes his place. But he's more than just a doctor- he's also a grim reaper and he's chosen Bryce as his portal long ago, but their relationship is volatile because Bryce is not just your typical portal- she's also in the angelic ranks and a healer. He's also never experienced this type of powerful intimate attraction to a portal before, and being an immortal supernatural being, he finds it difficult to deal with Bryce's human side, her emotions and feelings. In 2013 I finally wrote the first novel in the Amberton Paranormal Investigation series, The Fairlawn Investigation. I wrote The Victoria Wayfarer Inn Investigation, the second novel in 2011. In 2014 I took a Halloween novelette I wrote for Kelly when she was in middle school and added a new beginning and a new ending and rewrote the novelette to blend it all into one new adult novel, The Unwilling Witch (formerly called Medea). It received it's new titled in late September this year as it was the last book I revised and changed the cover art of during this year of revising and polishing all my books. In 2015 I took the premise of nearly two dozen attempts at a story written throughout the previous year and wrote Remy and Lissa's story, Life Skills, a contemporary novel about two young people from abusive homes who had been Life Skills class partners in high school where she did the majority of the work because he was already twenty-one years old but part of his former juvenile sentence was that he had to complete high school, not go the GED route- so he's already out in the real world working while also attending school and doesn't have the time or patience or desire to do outside classwork. But when Lissa has a breakdown one night he's the one who takes her in because he's always cared about her and understands some of what she's been going through. His dysfunctional family embraces her and welcomes her, and helps heal the rift between her and her abused mother. And there are some pretty wonderful German Shepard dogs that the Brice family owns who play a role in the novel also. Last year my 2016 NaNo novel was the sequel to Black King Takes White Queen, my magic/fantasy realism novel that was shortlisted in 2016 for the OZMA Award. Black Knight, White Rook continues Romney and Ivy's story. Now that the threat of his being killed by his evil sister has been dealt with, things have been peaceful as they've continued to work on uniting white and dark arts practitioners. But then Ivy's sister returns with a cruel, evil warlock as her husband and they begin trying to wrench Romney and Ivy's bond apart and ruin everything they've worked so hard to attain so far, and steal their son, Ezra, the future king. It continues Ivy's journey of self-discovery begun in the first novel- from white witch/druidess living an unassuming life working in her grandfather's nursery growing things to Romney's queen has not been an easy transition, but she's found strengths within herself she never knew she had. She's going to need all those still newly discovered strengths and more to cope with everything Holly and Wheaton Trowbridge throw in her and Romney's path in this sequel.


2017's novel will be The Clockmaker's Son- the lycanthrope novel that was inspired this past spring by my first real life sight of the mechanical clock tower here in the town I live in open at high noon one day. During the remaining ten minute ride home the idea for the novel developed. I made a few attempts to write it...but was busy with the book revisions still, and other things, like putting together the WhipCity Wordsmiths writers group, and working full time. I'm going to try to write this darker novel this month.


If I'm not here much, it's because I'm working or writing...this is going to be a crazy month!! See you in December!