New Year's Non-Resolutions.

Greetings, fair reader.

I'm happy to report that Unmask the Night, that most troublesome manuscript of mine, is at last in its final stages of preparation. That joyous time when writing is finished, editing is done, and my inner author finally gets to take a very small break. That hateful, tear-filled time of tedious battles with Amazon's obtuse technical specs, the endless maze of navigating Microsoft Word on an ancient laptop that freezes every thirty seconds, and muttered insults at technology everywhere. It's a time of slowly, angrily dying inside. Of creativity and free spirit weeping and quivering in a corner of my mind... Anyway, you get the idea. Book 2 of Red Wolf is getting itself made presentable. I'm a bit nervous to give a solid release date, since I know how those things tend to fall apart on me, however, I am *cautiously* optimistic in hinting that it should happen before the end of January.

I never got around to making any posts for the holiday's this year, which makes me a little sad. I hope you all had a wonderful season. Ours was very nice, even with the inevitable party overload, but very chill this year. We went very simple, and didn't even put up a tree. Yes, I missed it. But after a rough year, it was really great to simplify and just enjoy having Hubby home for those extra days, relaxing, getting extra sleep, and pulling off those parties without extra fuss.

With the end of the year, I always get introspective. I've never been big on making New Year's resolutions, but I like to take a look at my life and spend some time dreaming and thinking about where I'd like to be. This season something jumped out at me that has stuck in my brain and really influenced a lot of my intentions and goals for the coming year, both for my home, and for this blog. It was a line from The Two Towers (the movie version) which I had a chance to revisit over the holidays. Orcs have overrun Helm's Deep, and Theoden, in a daze and expecting to be wiped out, says, "What can men do against such reckless hate?" I feel like that could be the lament for our time and our culture. Everywhere I turn, whether it's social media with its endless memes, to news media, it seems like America is drowning in rage. And if not rage, then sarcasm and casual indifference. Nothing is sacred, and rudeness has no filter. For an introverted empath like myself, it can feel like any contact with the world is an attack. And when I'm dealing with my own ugliness, insecurities, anxieties, and humanity, just turning on my computer in the morning can drag me into a really dark place if I'm not careful.

I'm not making any resolutions, or setting any hard goals for anything, but this year I want to be more intentional about creating peaceful spaces. I want my home to be a haven. I want to celebrate reading nooks, potted herbs, paper and ink, hazy summer mornings and whole, nutritious foods. I want to de-clutter and clean and create an environment where my soul can be at peace. Instead of visualizing some perfect future where I can be happy because all's right in my life, my house is clean, chores are done, and magically there's nothing else on the to-do list, I want to find moments to live in. Moments where I can slow down and take it all in and remind myself to simply be alive. And I'm really hoping to be able to share some of those moments here. I'd like to create a space here, even if it's just a virtual one, to celebrate those geeky, homegrown moments of goodness. Maybe share some recipes, or talk about old fashioned things. Go all fangirl over garden weeds like dandelion and yarrow that are actually undercover superheroes. Just sayin'. Maybe it'll happen.

For now, keep an eye out for Unmask the Night. I'm hoping to get some special book-themed posts up here in the next few weeks. Super excited!