Thursday, December 21, 2017

A Christmas memory... again



Please enjoy a reprint of my Christmas story... my elf still watches over me :-)  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all!

Till,
Judi

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Many years ago, the Christmas season couldn't come fast enough for one little girl.  When she and her Dad arrived at the local church lot to pick out a tree, that's when it began.  It was always a glorious day... the trees stood straight on their own or leaned on wooden saw horses.  Some towered over her, some she could pat on the top, some she could reach around and others, well, they were three times as round as she was.  Bright lights twinkled everywhere and Christmas music blared through scarred old speakers at the entrance to the lot.  If she were lucky, she might even catch a snow flake or two on her tongue.

She roamed the makeshift trails through the forest of Christmas trees, singing and twirling.  Finally, she stopped.  Yup, this was definitely the one.  She stared up at her father and pointed a hand knitted mitten toward the oh too tall tree.  Her father smiled and said, "A bit too tall?"  She shook her head, he paid the man and off they drove with the prize tree tied to the roof of the car.

A week before Christmas, the tree stand, lights and decorations made their way down from the attic in the usual parade - bags and boxes of ornaments, the satchel of lights and the new boxes of tinsel and angel hair.  Dad brought the tree into the living room after he had secretly trimmed branches off the top and sawed off a bit from the bottom.  "To allow the tree to drink," he would say.  The rest of the day would be filled with laughter, singing, hot chocolate, and hanging silver tinsel on the tree and on her sisters' heads.  The tinsel hung from their hair like silver braids making them laugh even harder.  Once the ornaments had lovingly been placed in their usual spots on the tree, Mother would stretch angel hair from limb to limb.  Then Father would plug in the lights and everyone "oohed and ahhed" and the season began.

The day after the tree was decorated, a group of small elves arrived, one for each of the three girls.  They sat on a cloud of angel hair on top of the television observing the behavior of all throughout the Christmas season.  The little girl couldn't touch her elf or he would lose his magic, her mother told her.  And so, each morning she would check that he was still there, watching. 

When she crept down the old creaky stairs on Christmas morning, he had disappeared.   Mama said, "After Santa places all the gifts under the tree, he takes the elves back to the North Pole on his sleigh." 

As years went by, the little girl grew up and lost touch with her elf.  Christmases went by and she never saw him or even thought about him.  And then, one magical Christmas, many years later after her parents had died, she hung an old wreath in her window, the one that had hung on the front door when she was a child.  As she opened the box of ornaments that had been moved from her childhood home's attic, she saw a flash.   She looked up and there, in all his glory, sat her elf on a copper wind twister in front of the ancient wreath.  She laughed and cried at the same time.  He hadn't forgotten about her even though she had left him behind. 

And so, her elf returns each Christmas season to help the little girl, now a grown woman with a family and home of her own, make new memories and new traditions.  But he reminds her constantly of the child who once chose the tree with her Dad and who laughed, sang and drank hot chocolate as she decorated the tree with her Mother and sisters - he brings back all of her childhood holiday memories.   

May this season bring you peace, new memories and a return of the excitement that you felt as a child during this time of year.

Till,
Judi

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Coming soon...


Well, the process has begun.  I'm working with a graphic designer on the cover, soon an editor will enter the picture and then a release date will be set.   I'm hoping that the process moves quickly and the book will be out by Valentine's day :-) or by Spring.  It is still very exciting. 

I've worked on this particular manuscript for years -- updated it, edited it, rewritten parts of it, put it away for months and then this year decided it was time to let it fly.  November 1st came, which was my drop dead date, and I sent the manuscript out to two publishers.  My feeling at that point was that if it wasn't accepted by a publisher, I was going to self-publish it.

Then, about two weeks later, an email arrived in my inbox from one of them. I had received so many rejection notes throughout the years that I knew what it would say ...  thanks for submitting, but... always a but... it just doesn't fit into what we are looking for at this time, or I just can't take on another author, or.... 

I took a deep breath and opened the email message.  It began the same way... thank you for sending us "She's Not You". I almost closed it at that point but decided to see what excuse they would use... "If that title is stilll available, we would like to acquire it."  I reread it and then let out a "woo hoo" and ran around the office.  It was so thrilling.  For a writer, I don't think that feeling ever goes away, no matter how many pieces you have published.  Every time you send out a manuscript, you are exposing your work to others to read.  If they aren't thrilled with it like you are, it's very disappointing.  By the way, the other publisher loved it as well!!

I told you in an earlier blog that the workshop I took last winter really changed my writing - my characters were deeper; my scenes more senual and real, and the story line stronger and more realistic.  I have one fault as a writer, I fall in love with my characters.  I hate to let them go.  But in this case, there will be a sequel, so I get to follow them on another adventure. 

Writing is not easy and even though I have written and published tons of technical papers, creative writing is very different -- you have to write about real feelings and places, and create characters that the reader will connect to.  So, what I'm trying to tell you is not to give up, don't stop writing, and definitely take workshops and classes where you will receive constructive feedback.

My year is ending on a very high note and I'm hoping to keep that feeling going throughout 2018!  May you all have great happiness and success next year and enjoy good health and good friends along the way.

Happy holidays to you all! 
Judi