St. Paddy's Day Publication Update

Dear Hot/Cool Club,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today marks the six-month anniversary of this blog. I hope both you, and our community in the making, are blessed with a little luck of the Irish and enough blarney now ‘n’ then to make us giggle.

This festive celebration feels like the perfect time for an update. At least twice a year, I’ll devote a post to my publication progress on writings in the works. I’ll always announce any major publication milestones in a separate post.

Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights, the book, is over 90 percent complete. That’s the good news. The bad news: Those final 30 pages are like trying losing the last ten pounds on a diet. I always put off the hardest part till last. I decided to set aside a few hours during Holy Week for the chapter I expect will be the most difficult to relive on paper. My husband would say I have a flair for the dramatic, even the melodramatic. At least I will be in the right atmosphere of historic and spiritual suffering. Sister Agnes Henry always said we should offer up our suffering, that we all have our crosses to bear. When will I get that woman out of my head?

This last leg of the book journey also comes at a time of increased activity, both inner and outer. If you have been reading these pages, you know already that we have lost half of our fur family in a short time span. We’ve had another death in the family and other losses.

But life goes on full blast, giving us barely enough time to get the joy in the morning promised to those who mourn. I have been back to work two days a week doing some fascinating editing work, and I won’t bore you with the rest of my litany of To Do’s. I am living proof that you cannot say baby boomer and “retire” in the same sentence with a straight face. Would we really want it any other way?

Heading the list of activities that are competing for my attention is the book launch and recent publication of Capital Crimes: 15 Tales by Sacramento Area Authors. See the right bar next to this post for ordering information and local book signing events. Capitol Crimes is the name of my local Sisters in Crime chapter. One of these short mystery stories is mine, and you could say it’s a small appetizer—a taste of the kind of humorous cozy crime caper I like to write. Granted, it is a bit more twisted than my mystery book on the back burner.

One of the reasons I’m eager to complete my first memoir is to get back to The Crystal Ball. The plot: A do-gooder and her ex-CIA agent beau join forces to prevent murder and mayhem at a New Year’s Eve costume party. She’s president of a longevity association, and the Crystal Ball is their silver anniversary—and someone wants to steal what he believes they have that he covets, the secret of immortality.


The Crystal Ball has been finished since 1990, but as I learned more about mystery genre, I have embarked on a major rewrite. It is the beginning of a series, and I am eager to take a break from Memory Lane to visit Fantasyland. I’d like to spend time in the heads of my fictional characters for a change. I think it would be perfect to alternate between memoir and mystery. (In fact, I met an agent once who suggested it.) I like to say I write M-in-M’s for memoir, inspiration, and mystery. I think the “in” is always there, between the lines of the pages of both kinds of M. However, sometimes I write straight inspiration. You’ve seen it here.

Once I’ve got that first draft manuscript done of Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights (I’m aiming for May 1), I’ll do another round of agent and publisher queries, although I’m also open to self-publication to get it out there sooner than later. I’ll use my intuition—my hot flashes of insight!—to guide the way. I’ll be looking for the usual cosmic signs that I’m on the right path. And, of course, if you have any personal connections I should know about, do tell!

Meanwhile, thanks for your encouragement and envisioning a fabulous finished product that continues to find its audience. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I want to get out of my life as an author. Fame and fortune is not my motivation, although I’ll accept them if cheerfully, if offered! What means the most to me is connecting with the people that will find my work helpful and entertaining, whether that’s in the hundreds, thousands, or millions. I got a taste of that fine fit in my astrological writing and hope to go there again with memoir and fiction.

Last but not least, Happy Spring! The Vernal Equinox is the natural New Year for us in the Northern Hemisphere. What metaphorical seeds do you want to plant in your life to sprout in spring, bloom fully in summer, and harvest this autumn? Some ideas: improving a relationship, changing your diet, growing a personal quality such as compassion.


Thanks for sharing the journey,
Joyce

Hug the Dark

The title of the carol we sang at the Solsisters’ Winter Solstice celebration on December 21 is Holy Night, Longest Night (see Invocation). It's sung to the tune of Silent Night. This is a sacred time for many people and in most traditions. Above all, it’s the time when we can turn inward to see what’s really going on.

Darkness is part of a natural cycle, and when we reach the darkest day of the year on Winter Solstice; it’s time to shift to inner concerns. New Year’s resolutions are one way we do this in American culture, although we still tend to make them outer-oriented—I will lose weight, pay off debt, get a better job. People have more success with these new starts in spring, the natural new year, when our energy rises with the first shoots of plants from under the ground, and we’re more rarin’ to go.

Winter, on the other hand, is the time for reflection, reading, quiet, meditation, and taking stock. Two favorites in our Winter Solstice ceremony are something you can try at home during these last weeks of 2007. First, we do Meditation on Recognition—what do we recognize that we have accomplished and appreciate about ourselves this past year? This is a kind of self-report card, and writing down what we have gained since the last inventory can be a huge revelation. You can include both inner and outer achievements: I’ve been a better wife or mother, I have as many knee-jerk reactions to things, I like myself more. The second is a real favorite. After passing the Yule Log and infusing it with our thoughts of what we’d like to see changed in the world, such as peace in the Middle East; we focus inward. We write down all the things we’d like to release into the Yule Log Fire that are personal, whether it is 20 lbs. or an irritation with a workmate. It is a hoot to watch people line up to burn their lists. Some dump it and walk away, even with a “wash your hands of it” gesture. Others linger to be sure every fiber of paper containing the junk they want to dump has burned to a crisp. Some people have a short list and get to the fire among the first; others write long lists and need more paper.

This year, I plan to mine my journals from the past two years for insights, because it has been a very transitional time for me—from full-time work plus to full retirement from a day job. Even though I plan to go back to work part-time this year, the time off has been like an extended winter where I have finally had the time to be quiet, reflect, and let inner issues surface for resolution. That should be our true New Year’s “resolution,” the kind where we look in the dark corners of ourselves for the stuff that needs tender taking care of. In the whirlwind of most of our lives, it is amazing how many inner signals and intuitions we miss for running as fast as we can. The build-up of issues swept under the rug will ultimately make a big lump of gunk for us to cope with later, often not on our own terms. Illness, break-up, and tragedies of all sorts are often the result of the waxy build-up of untended inner content.

I describe my first year of retirement like getting off a kids’ merry-go-round in the park. You are no longer spinning physically, but it still feels like it, sometimes even with a wave of dizzy nausea. I had no idea how stressed out I was after 36 years of full-time work. I usually did other work on top of that, primarily my astrology practice and writing. My need for complete R&R for a period of time was screaming at me in raised blood pressure—highly atypical for me—crankiness, and a host of other physical and psychological signals. I am so relieved I took my body’s loud advice, even though I went kicking and screaming to rest. It took the first nine months of retirement for me to get that I needed to do nothing for at least a year—or at least as little as possible.

While this may seem like a luxury to most people, especially those of us who are not independently wealthy and have to work for a living, nature gives us opportunities every day of our lives. We just have to take them.

Winter is a time to relish the dark of night and the season of hibernation. Take time at night to meditate and reflect, even if it’s only 15-20 minutes. It can be so replenishing. Keep a dream journal, and encourage your dreams to guide you by welcoming them with intent to remember them. Part of my previous practice, Inner Growth Work, was to help people remember and work with their dreams. If there is enough interest, I’ll do some posts on this topic. Above all, give yourself light duty in the dark months. Read, relax, veg, take hot baths—know that this down time is essential to creativity and accomplishing all you want during the rest of the year. And if this all seems a little heavy to you, remember that you can do light reading in the dark and use the down time to watch funny movies and restore your sense of humor, health, and balance. One of the best articles I have ever read about the role of laughter is How Laughter Works on the How Stuff Works website—a must Favorite for anyone with a computer and a lust to learn and laugh.

Hug the darkness; it will hug you back. Spring will come sooner than you know, and if you miss the opportunity to rest and recuperate from last year’s action, you won’t be running on all cylinders in 2008.

Have a happy, healthy New Year—and a fabulous dance in the light and dark of life!

Where Are My Christmas Cards?

As a communication and connection junkie, I mourn the loss of my Christmas cards. At eight days before Santa, I have received only seven. The Ghost of Christmas Past: I used to get nearly 50. Nobody loves me; everybody hates me; think I’ll eat some worms.

Not really, but I will pout. Maybe e-mail and more constant communication makes them redundant in most modern relationships. Then there’s the eco-factor. I design my own and do a well-thought-out annual newsletter. My generic missive is more personal than most people’s one-on-ones. Still, I convert them to .pdf files and e-mail them to many people, especially those halfway ‘round the world. It’s not just the postage saved; it’s the energy for the transportation. At least I know I’ll save the equivalent of any pine branches I use to decorate. Not everyone is a creativity machine, and I’d be happy to receive store-bought cards well chosen.

There is something about the art and sentiment in these once-a-year offerings that I sorely miss, now that most of them are gone. Some people find family letters impersonal; I think they’re fabulous. No one has time to write to 20 people once a year, forget more often. The generic news and a note—even a real signature!—give me enough personal touch to gush with gratitude.

It’s really about connection. These tiny bits of cardstock, ink, or computer printout mean you want to keep me. I’m a keeper! There are relationships I truly value that are Christmas Card Companions. Even though we only connect once every 365 days, this custom honors the important place we still hold for each other in our lives. Often separated by miles and years of going down different paths, the annual card is old home week, a balm, a sense of continuity. I love them for that. They are personal history come home to give you a kiss under the mistletoe. They cause me to reflect where I’ve last been since I saw Art & Michele, Lynne, Judy—people who represent my young adulthood, college days, and Catholic grammar school era respectively.

If you want an exercise in stimulating your own hot flashbacks that can lead to cool insights, compile copies of your past holiday letters and look where you’ve been and what you’ve reported for the past 5-10 years—or however many you have kept. If you’ve got time, and if you also have the gene for packrat, my family curse, read others’ old cards and Christmas letters. You know, the ones you have saved with that wrapping paper that is so old, the store where you bought it went out of business more than a decade ago.

This reflection starts a trend in keeping with the natural cycle that begins at Winter Solstice on December 21. In one of my favorite, wacky Tom Robbins novels, Still Life with Woodpecker, the heroine is reportedly “off cycle with the Moon.” Never mind her periods that are out of sync with the lunar phases. Our entire culture is off cycle with the Moon, stars, planets, and especially the Earth. Take the dark winter, a time when other animals and vegetables are hibernating or dormant. If we had any sense at all, we would be meditating, reflecting, resting, and vegging. Instead, we are running around high on sugary cappuccino and latte drinks at malls mobbed with people, acting loony—our only claim to synchronization with the Moon.

If you can’t do it this year, make a resolution for next: Finish all your shopping by Thanksgiving and the merriest parties by Equinox Eve. Keep the peace of silent nights and reflective gatherings of spirit and family beginning with the Solstice.

This is how we were meant to be. And don’t get me started on New Years, designed to be the ultimate inner time, normally spent like we’ve got ants in our pants, no inhibitions, and a lust for alcohol that a large lake of champagne could not quench.

More on this later. Meanwhile, would someone please send me a Christmas card? Even a Merry e-mail?