Exciting news! The 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Anthology, Where Spirits Linger, was released today! And we’re launching a six-day blog tour to send this delightfully eerie anthology off to a great start. Each blog tour stop will feature a guest post by one of the authors about their story, and there will also be an interview of Christa Planko, author of the winning story in the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, “Olde-Tyme Village”. So, I hope you will stay with us and follow the tour this week to learn more about this wonderful anthology and its featured stories. Many thanks to the wonderful bloggers who have graciously agreed to host for this tour.
This is Day 1 of the WordCrafter Where Spirits Linger Book Blog Tour, so let me tell you just a little about the stories featured in this anthology and their authors. Since I published this wonderful anthology, I can’t really offer a review, but you can find a review by D.L. Mullen on her blog, Undawnted, here: http://www.undawnted.com/2021/09/wordcrafter-blog-tour-where-spirits.html
The winning story in the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest was Christa Planko with her story of ghostly encounters, “Olde-Tyme Village”. Robbie Cheadle will be interviewing Christa about her winning story on Thursday on her blog, Roberta Writes.
Where Spirits Linger Authors
In Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s story, “Listen to Instructions”, a greedy man misses the message a ghost is trying to convey. You can find out more about this story in Roberta’s guest post tomorrow on, The Showers of Blessings, along with a review by Miriam Hurdle.
In my story, “The People Upstairs”, when a young girl inherits her housekeeper and long time friend’s house, she finds out that her friend may not have been crazy after all, when strange things start happening to her. You will find my guest post about the inspiration behind this story on Patty Fletcher’s Patty’s World on Wednesday.
Stevie Turner’s spirit gets his takes out his revenge from the ethereal regions in “David’s Revenge”. Her guest post will be featured on Friday on Zigler’s News along with a review by Victoria Zigler.
And on Saturday, we will finish off the tour right here, on Writing to be Read with a guest post by S.L. Kretschmer about her story, “The Final Portrait”, in which her character releases a spirit with a phantom image.
Unfortunately, Enid Holden was not able to participate in the tour and tell you about her story, “The Chosen Few”. But, I can tell you that it is a delightful paranormal charactered by some very colorful spirits whose co-existance with their home’s living inhabitants will surprise and delight you. This light and humorous story is sure to evoke a chuckle or two. I will include the excerpt from her story here.
The Chosen Few, by Enid Holden
I’m pleased with the selection of stories we eneded up with in Where Spirits Linger. We have some great contributing authors and some wonderful short stories. I hope you will stay with us and follow the tour to each blog stop to learn more about the stories within to picque your interest. Of course, I hope you buy the book, but each comment you make along the way earns an entry into a random drawing for a free digital copy of Where Spirits Linger, so you could be our next lucky winner!
You can purchase your copy of Where Spirits Linger here:
The 2021 WordCrafter paranormal anthology Where Spirits Linger is scheduled for release on September 20th, and is now available for pre-order. Featuring original paranormal tales by Kaye Lynne Booth, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Enid Holden S.L. Kretschmer, and Christa Planko, author of the winning story in the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest. It will be available in both print and digital formats, so be sure and order your copy today.
Submissions open today for the WordFire Press Mirror, Mirror anthology. This is a paid writing gig, so be sure to get your story in for consideration. For those of you who missed the submission call, you can learn more and read submission guidelines in my oroginal post.
To increase the chance of being accepted, I recommend reading the newly released, Slushpile Memories: How NOT to Get Rejected, by Kevin J. Anderson. It is written as a guide for authors submitting their work to publishers in the hopes that their work will be accepted and published, offering tips and advice to avoid the fateful rejection slip. The major points that came through were to me from this helpful guide were to be professional at all times, and to READ AND FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. I know from the preparation that I’ve been given for being a slushpile reader that these can and will be crucial factors in submitting a story that will make the final cut, so take heed as you prepare your submission.
Submissions will be open through October, so there is plenty of time to write and polish your submission. Click on the link to the submission guidelines above and read them over. It’s a theme that you can have a lot of fun with. Send us your best stuff.
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To kick off the WordCrafter Behind Closed Doors Book Blog Tour today, we have a guest post by author and poet, Robbie Cheadle. In addition to being an author and poet, Robbie is a wife and mother of two boys, which shine through in her poetry. I always find Robbie’s poetry fun and heartwarming, and her fondant masterpieces are delightful. Today’s post discusses the inspiration by one of the poems in her newly released collection of unusual poems, Behind Closed Doors. I hope you will follow the tour this week, with a different guest post from Robbie at each blog stop, it should prove to be quite interesting. Join us to learn more about this fascinating lady and her poetry.
Behind Closed Doors, a collection of unusual poems blog tour – Day 1
On the 9th of February 2021, I had been married for 20 years. So much has happened since that Friday two decades ago. We’ve lost loved ones, moved to a new house, enlarged our family with two lovely boys, progressed in our careers, and are now living through a pandemic.
Through all these years, some periods of which were joyous and some difficult and strained, my husband and I have remained the same; two contrasting personalities that complement each other.
Terence is the conservative one. He reflects and considers before he takes any action. He rarely gets angry or emotional and is peaceful and calming to be around.
I am the colourful one, always busy with four or five projects on the go. I have great passions and become deeply obsessed with things. My obsessions have changed over the years from instructing spinning and weight training in the gym, to baking, teaching Sunday School, fondant art, blogging, and writing. The subject of my enthusiasm may change, but my single-minded devotion and addiction has not.
In the beginning, Terence had one emotional, arty, and obsessive person to deal with and now, two sons later, he has three of us. Gregory and Michael are both more like me in personality and behaviour.
I wrote Contrasting Colours, one of my few metaphorical poems, as a celebration of our difference.
a leader with a firm attitude and commanding tone,
a soldier, determinedly marching through life,
a tawny owl, silent, watchful and wise,
a red breasted robin; bright eyed, perky and daring,
a spacious cavern, silent, restful and still,
a babbling stream; vibrant, noisy and turbulent,
a grandfather clock, steadily marking the seconds, minutes, and hours,
a cuckoo clock that loudly announces the hour,
a dictionary, providing an exact and definitive meaning,
a mysterious poem with different shades of meaning,
a mighty redwood, solid, sturdy and dependable,
a daylily flowering in a myriad of deep and bright colours,
a mural painted in calming blues and greens,
a collage of bright colours; yellows, oranges and pinks.
classic piano; gently soothing, relaxing, and soft,
raucous Broadway tunes; loud, lusty, and energised.
Do you think relationships work better if the couple are similar or different? Tell me in the comments.
Book blurb
Behind Closed Doors, a collection of unusual poems
What goes on behind closed doors: in the boardroom, after death, in the home, during lockdown, and in nature? This collection of poems, ranging from rhyming verse to twisted nursery rhymes, captures the emotions and thoughts people hide behind the masks they present to the world.
What thoughts are hidden
Behind her immobile face
Quite expressionless
Eyes cold and indifferent
Scrutinising me – hawk like
This book includes some of Robbie Cheadle’s spectacular fondant art and cakes.
Robbie Cheadle author bio
Author and Poet Robbie Cheadle
Robbie Cheadle is a South African children’s author and poet with 9 children’s books and 1 poetry book.
The 7 Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.
Robbie has also published 2 books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
Robbie has 2 adult novels in the paranormal historical and supernatural fantasy genres published under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle. She also has short stories in the horror and paranormal genre and poems included in several anthologies.
Robbie writes a monthly series for https://writingtoberead.com called Growing Bookworms. This series discusses different topics relating to the benefits of reading to children.
The 2021 Wordcrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference did not turn out as well as I had hoped, by any means. This year, we had a two-day event with a pre-event promotional and social day on Facebook to launch it. If you happened to attend any part of the event, I want to thank you for your support. For those of you who did not attend, and that is probably most of you as attendence was way down from the 2020 conference. I’m sure the pandemic had a lot to do with both last year’s and this year’s turn-outs.
Whatever the reason for the poor turn-out in 2021, I think we all still had fun just getting together and talking about the craft. We had a great group of authors, who jumped in and carried on without me when I experienced an internet outage, causing me to miss one full day of the conference. Let me tell you, as the host, that was really frustrating, because I didn’t know if things had continued on without me, or simply fallen apart, and I had no way to find out until I moved to another location where I knew I would have internet access for Day 2. But most of this great group of authors just picked up the ball and ran with it, even without their host to guide them. I guess it’s true that the show must go on.
It would be a shame to let all the hard work that myself and all of the wonderful authors who were kind enough to volunteer their time to present this conference go to waste. So, I made the keynote address by horror author, Paul Kane, available from the Conference Page, here on Writing to be Read or on WordCrafter’s YouTube page, immediately following the conference, and although the editing of the conference recordings has been slow, they will all eventually be released, as well.
The first of these has recently been posted to YouTube and can be accessed both there and on the Conference Page, as well as through the link below. It is the Character Development Panel Discussion, with authors Jim Nesbitt, Ellie Raine, Paul Kane, Chris Barili, and Mario Acevedo. It’s an interesting discussion, one that you’ll want to be sure and sit in on. You can even weigh in with your own thoughts on character development in the comments. And the best part is, it’s free!
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For the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest – You’ll have to wait and see
Where Spirits Linger
One of my biggest pet peeves is being fully immersed in a short story, only to have it end abruptly, like a slap in the face, leaving me scratching my head and saying, “Is that it?”. I am sure you know what I mean if you’re an avid reader, as most authors are. I think this is a problem found mostly in short fiction. Maybe the author cuts it short in order to meet a word count limit, or maybe they just aren’t sure how to wrap things up, so they jump right to ‘THE END’. No matter what the reason, the result is disappointment on the part of the reader, so it is worth the extra effort on the authors’ part, to take the time and effort to come up with the perfect ending for every story they write.
That’s why I’m postponing announcing the winner of the WordCrafter 2021 Short Fiction Contest, which I had planned to do before the end of May. I only had three entries for the contest this year. Each entry offered an excellent paranormal tale meeting the submission guidelines, but at the end of each one I found myself feeling disappointed, as if there should have been more to the story.
So, I’ve requested each author to revisit their endings and resubmit their stories before I make a decision on the winner. I’ve already received one story back with revisions and I’m waiting on the other two. When all three revised stories have been received, I’ll decide and announce the winner. These stories were all well written and I anticipate them being even better with the author revisions, so the decision won’t be easy.
Accepting Submissions: I want your ghost stories!
However, three submissions do not an anthology make, so I’m calling out for more submissions to fill the pages of Where Spirits Linger. Doesn’t every author have a ghost story hidden away somewhere? Contest guidelines asked for a paranormal tale with place being central element in the story. These new submissions won’t be eligible for the contest, so they will no entry fee attached. If you have a story that fits the theme, send it to me at kayebooth@yahoo.com, for a chance to have it included in the WordCrafter Press 2021 anthology, Where Spirits Linger.
For the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures” Book Blog Contest – That one I can tell you.
Poetry Treasures Book Blog Tour
For the Poetry Treasures Book Blog Tour, which ran May 24 – 30, we did a giveaway and three readers who followed the tour and commented will receive a free digital copy (.mobi, .epub, or .pdf) of Poetry Treasures! The three lucky winners are: Jules, Jill Weatherbolt, and Priscilla Bettis. If you are a winner, please contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com and tell me which format you prefer to receive your copy. (If you have already purchased a copy of Poetry Treasures, you may choose another WordCrafter Press book instead.)
Poetry Treasures had a great seven day tour with a guest post about the poetic inspiration behind a poem by a different contributing poet at each bIog stop. The anthology and the tour were amazing collaborative efforts among nine poet/authors and myself to create a unique and moving collection of poetry. Also many thanks to Miriam Hurdle, Ritu Bhathal and Teagan Geneviene for hosting tour stops to support the poets and the tour. Without their participation, this tour would not have been possible.
If you missed this wonderful tour or maybe only missed a few of the stops, you can visit them at the links below:
Day 1 – Writing to be Read – Guest post by Jude Kirya Italaki
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Welcome to Day #1 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures Book Blog Tour. We’ve got a great tour planned with guest posts from several of the contributing authors to this poetry collection, and an awesome giveaway. Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win one of three digital copies of Poetry Treasures to be given away. (Winners will be randomly selected following the end of the tour.)
Many of you may be familiar with Robbie Cheadle’s monthly blog series, “Treasuring Poetry”, which has grown in popularity since she began the series last year, here on Writing to be Read. For those who are not familiar with this series, Robbie hosts one author/poet guest each month, with an interview and review of their latest poetry collection. The series is popular because Robbie asks good questions which are designed to reveal some of the inner poetic workings of the author, and her guests are talented and insightful.
Poetry Treasures is a collection of poetry written by eight of the “Treasuring Poetry” guests in 2020, as well as the poetry of the series author, Roberta (Robbie) Eaton Cheadle. The poetry of the late Sue Vincent is also featured, along with a special tribute to this talented and vibrant poet and human being.
Poetry is subjective, often speaking to the reader in ways in which the author never intended, but are nevertheless just as valid as the ways in which those same words affected the poet. But, there are certain poems that just reach out and grab you, and I think that we have some of those featured in this poetry anthology, or at least I hope that we have managed to capture a few.
To introduce this wonderfully unique collection, we have a guest post by one of the contributing authors, Jude Kirya Italaki. You can find more of Jude’s wonderful poetry between the covers of Poetry Treasures.
Sometimes the most beautiful things are that way because we are able to share them with others. And once those people leave our lives, the beauty we used to see can turn sour.
All that was beautiful, now mocks me The resplendent night sky, hides secrets in plain sight The vermillion sunrise, paints scars in bloody hues And I hide from all their beauty; because it reminds me of you
However, there are things we will always find beautiful. It is important to discover ourselves, hold on to what makes us happy as individuals, and in turn share this with others. When introduced to beauty we did not know before, it might be crucial to love it genuinely, and instead of attaching it to the people who introduced us, we juxtapose it so that the grief of loss may not taint it.
We’ve got a great blog tour planned this week to introduce you to this wonderfully unique collection of poetry, published by WordCrafter Press. Contibuting authors include Sue Vincent, Geoff Le Pard, Frank Prem, Victoria Zigler, Annette Rochelle Aben, Colleen M. Chesebro, K. Morris, Jude Kirya Italaki and Roberta Eaton Cheadle, many of whom will be sharing their poetry and their inspirations in guest posts for this tour. I do hope you will join us and purchase your copy of Poetry Treasures, available in digital and print formats.
Last chance to enter the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest!
Where Spirits Linger
The deadline to enter the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest is April 30th, for a chance to have your short paranormal story included in the 2021 paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger. The entry fee is $5, and the author of the winning story receives a $25 Amazon gift card and inclusion in the anthology. See full submission guidelines and send me your ghost stories. There’s still time. Hurry!
There’s still time to get tickets for the 2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference
2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Writing Conference
Join us for a free Facebook pre-conference promotional and social book event on May 3rd, where you can meet conference presenters and other authors, learn about their latest releases, play games and enter giveaways! You can reserve your spot on the Facebook Event Page to join in on the fun from the comfort of your own livingroom or wherever you happen to be.
Then on May 4th & 5th, the interactive portion of the conference will be held, with interactive workshops & panel discussions will be offered by talented and experienced presenters, including Keynote speaker Paul Kane. Tickets can be purchased for $5 for individual sessions or a full event pass at the discounted rate of $50 for all 13 sessions. Visit the WtbR Event Page, right here on Writing to be Read, to see the full line-up and author bios, and purchase tickets. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we plan to learn a lot, too, so reserve your spot today.
I can’t offer a preview, because the conference will be live, but I can offer a sample from the 2020 WordCrafter Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference to whet your appetites. Below is a video of the Visceral Story Beginnings interactive workshop with Ellie Raine. Ellie jumped in to present this workshop after the originally scheduled presenter was unable to attend. I think you did a fantastic job of picking up the ball.
Announcing the release of Poetry Treasures, the WordCrafter poetry anthology featuring poetry by 2020’s author/poet guests on “Treasuring Poetry” blog series with Robbie Cheadle, right here on Writing to be Read.
Nine creative and talented poets have come together to produce this unique poetry collection, each one is truly a poetry treasure.
Poetry Treasures
2020 “Treasuring Poetry” Featured Poet/AuthorLinks:
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There are exciting things going on at WordCrafter, and there a few new or up coming deadlines and events which I really need to share with you. We have a submission deadline coming up, the lanch of WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, and a fabulous virtual writing conference in the works. Read on to learn more.
Where Spirits Linger
WordCrafter wants your paranormal stories. The submission deadline is fast approaching for the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest on April 30th. All entries are eligible for consideration in the WordCrafter paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger and the winner receives a $25 Amazon gift card and guarenteed inclusion in the anthology. You can find full submission guidelines right here, on Writing to be Read.
WordCrafter Book Blog Tours
WordCrafter Book Blog Tours has launched with three successful tours in February: The WordCrafter Press Spirits of the West anthology, Feral Tenderness poetry and photography collection by Arthur Rosch, and Barbara Spencer’s fantasy novel, The Click of a Pebble. Book blog tours are affordable advertising for authors, and a great opportunity to get the word out about your book and turn potential readers into fans. WordCrafter Book Blog Tours include host blog sites with author interviews, book reviews, banners and promo images. We are currently booking tours for March and April. Learn more and book your tour here.
2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference
I’m excited to be hosting the 2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference, May 3 – 5. I can tell you that we have a great line-up of presenters on board for this year’s conference,which you’ll see below, including a Keynote by horror author Paul Kane. We will be offering both interactive workshops and panel discussions, as well as a free pre-conference Facebook book event where attendees can learn more about the conference, purchase tickets, and mingle with readers, authors and conference presenters. I’m still setting up on both platforms, but more details will be coming soon, so watch for them here, on Writing to be Read.
I do hope you’ll all join us in one or all of the above listed events. I look forward to your stories for the Where Spirits Linger anthology, and to promoting your books on WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, as well as hearing from you at the 2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference.
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2020 has been an difficult year for all of us as Covid 19 turned lives upside-down. Here at Writing to be Read and WordCrafter, we saw some great accomplishments, in spite of the fact that my genre theme schedule fell apart half-way through the year on the blog and content was a little more sporadic. I had to figure out how to adjust to my own “new normal”, which life changes brought my way, but they also led me to remember who I am. Now, I’ve analyzed and regrouped, and I’m ready to head into the new year with new ideas and projects.
WordCrafter’s 2020 Virtual Writing Conference
One of the biggest things for WordCrafter was the 2020 Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference back in April. We ended up with twenty-two distinguished authors, offering live stream and video lectures, and interactive workshops and discussion panels, with free content for the Facebook event and a Zoom platform for the interactive stuff. We had a good turn-out with only a few glitches, and we’re preparing to do it again in 2021.
WordCrafter Press releases in 2020:
Ask the Authors
In April, the Ask the Authorswriting anthology was released after two years of compilation. This book is an ultimate writer’s reference with tips and advice from twenty-two authors, and it started right here, from a 2018 blog series of the same name. In November, the print edition of this book, (and all WordCrafter Press books), became available, as well.
Two of my own books were also released. Last Call and Other Short Fiction is a collection of my short stories, and my paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, is now available in print on Amazon, but the digital edition can be purchased through other retailers. In the coming year, I will have a story in the Where Spirits Linger anthology, and I’m working on a new book, The Outlaw and the Rockstar which I hope will be ready to release before the end of 2021.
Raise the Tide
WordCrafter Press‘ first stand alone author’s book was released in December, Raise the Tide, a devotional book by James Richards. We also look forward in anticipation to adding the January release of a massive poetry collection by Arthur Rosch, Feral Tenderness, to this list.
Feral Tenderness
Writing to be Read 2020:
We had some great guests on Writing to be Read. On “Chatting with the Pros”, my author guests featured Diana Raab, Amy Cecil, Cherokee Parks, L. Deni Colter, and Kevin J. Anderson. I’m hoping to transform this blog series into a podcast, which can be accessed through the blog, in the coming year, and I hope you all will join me there. Other authors interviewed in 2020 included Mark & Kym Todd, Jade C. Jamison, and Alan Dean Foster. The most viewed interview was with erotic romance author Nicky F. Grant. Interviews fell by the wayside along with the genre themes, but I’m planning to bring back author interviews for 2021, and I’m working on a new blog segment, “The Authors’ Covid Coffee Clache”, which will address issues of the pandemic specific to authors.
I was also honored to be a judge for the Writers of America’s Spur Awards and I reviewed my top six picks, and the winner of the western romance category, The Yeggman’s Apprentice, by C.K. Crigger. These were the best of the best, and I was honored to be given the opportunity to read and review them.
WordCrafter Book Blog Tours
Also, in 2021 Writing to be Read will be a host for the WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, so we’ll be keeping you up to date on several new releases as they come out. Robbie Cheadle will bring us a new blog series on nursery rhymes and fairytales, “Dark Origins”, and I plan to bring in a new series, “Writer at Work”, which will talk about different issues that writers face. Subscribe to this blog with one of the buttons in the upper right-hand corner to be sure not to miss this great new content or the tried and true content of continuing series on Writing to be Read in the coming year.
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I want to start by telling you that I have been a very good girl this past year. I’ve done everything I was supposed to. I always wear a mask in public and I try to stay at least six feet away from anyone around me. That’s not always easy to do when you’re in a store with people shopping up and down the aisles, but I have done my best, ordering many things online and only going into public when absoloutly necessary. And I sanitize my hands, my wallet, any cards that I used and anything I purchased, after every place that I go.
I’ve tried to give back, through the2020 WordCrafter Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference, which WordCrafter hosted in April, when Covid 19 first began to spread and we were all ordered to stay in our homes and we were all still trying to figure out and adjust to the “new normal”. It was a great event, with twenty-two authors offering instruction and advice in live lectures, interactive workshops and panel discussions, and we had a pretty good virtual turn-out, and it provided an opportunity for all of my fellow authors to interact, learn and socialize virtually, as they would have had all in-person events not been cancelled, so I feel like I may have done a good turn for my profession.
Also in April, WordCrafter Press released the Ask the Authors anthology. This anthology is a great writing reference, where authors and potential authors can turn to find writing advice from seventeen different authors, because we don’t all write in the same way. Thank goodness. In October, we had another release, Spirits of the West, which is the anthology resulting from the 2020 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest. More recently, these anthologies and all WordCrafter Press books are now available in print, which not only helps me, but all the other contributing authors with increased chance of sale.
In addition to publishing my short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, and my paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, WordCrafter also aided two new authors to bring their work into fruition. Pastor James Richards of the Christian Cable Ministries television program, Raise the Tide, just released his new devotional collection, Raise the Tide, and author Arthur Rosch will be releasing his massive volume of poetry and photgraphy, Feral Tenderness, in early January. I’ve got some great things cooking for next year, too, like the WordCrafter Book Blog Tours or The 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, but I guess it’s too early to count those as good deeds, since I haven’t done them yet.
In years past, I’ve asked you for many things, mostly tools which I can use in my writing. This past year, I’ve been collecting the equipment needed to move into the audio and video realms, and I’m hoping to create a podcast with paid subscriber content, to enhance the Writing to be Read blog, so this year you may be expecting me to ask for a new video camera, or the extra money I need to put the podcast together, but that’s not what I’m going to ask for.
The past year has been a rough one for me, I’ll admit. Due to various life circumstances, I found myself unable to complete my B.S. in Marketing, which would have been completed in the spring of this coming year. But, as I look around me, I see local business owners shutting down their doors, people out of work and homeless, people grieving at the loss of their loved ones, and I realize that this damn virous hasn’t really been kind to anyone. Although I’ve had to make many adaptions to function while governments strive to get it under control, it has effected many others more harshly than it has effected me. I still have my home, my business and my health, and I am thankful for that, but there are so many out there this year who don’t. There are many out there whose needs make my own feel small and trivial. Between the virous and all the wild fires and riots of 2020, there are many out there who have lost everything and are attempting to start to build again.
So, this year, Santa, I’m asking that you deliver to those folks whatever it is they need to fill this Christmas with hope and make things a little easier for them. I know that in the end, I’ll be okay. So, this year, take care of those less fortunate than I. I’m a survivor. I’ve got a plan. 😉
Merry Christmas, Santa!
Your Friend,
Kaye Lynne Booth, M.F.A.
P.S. I will still leave the regular milk and cookies out, if you just want to stop in for a bite on Christmas eve. That sleigh travel can be hungry work. I’ll leave a few ears of corn on the roof for the reindeer, too. 😉
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