So, I’ll be honest. I gave up with the GIANT CHRISTMAS KNITTING QUEUE about six years ago. The people I love get knitwear when they ask for it, I’m always working on something and I’ll give it to them when I’m done. But as this Christmas approached I had… urges. Unholy, unhealthy, inescapable urges. I… Read More

Oh God the laundry… I can get to it… but my characters… but I’m writing. The kids are talking in the car and I don’t hear them. I’m writing. That e-mail is pretty important… that newsletter… that blog post… I’m writing. But shouldn’t you be planning dinner? Christmas? Oh my God, have you even thought… Read More

I got a long, sad hug from ZoomBoy today, and I kept it going as long as I could, until my shoulder went to sleep because boy has bones like razor blades. He fell down a music rabbit hole and ended up at “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel, looking up all of… Read More

Okay, so for starters I made turkey + gravy w/mashed potatoes for dinner, and set the turkey carcass to slow cook for soup tomorrow. *happy sigh* Boy, do I love leftovers. I also, I confess, have a thing for yarn leftovers. The red and white hat (which is NOT color true at all because the… Read More

*covers mouth* Scuse me. It’s been a long couple of days of eating. So, since you last saw Squish’s crown, the week has gone like this… Wednesday– clean kitchen. Cook for Thanksgiving. Thursday– start with the following conversation with Chicken on text: Chicken: So, you’re coming to get us so we can carpool to Aunt… Read More

OKay, so I admit, I was one of those parents who would give the other kids birthday presents on the one kid’s birthday. Nothing huge, and the birthday kid was definitely the star of the show, but everybody knew I was a little bit of a pushover during birthday shopping. Everybody wants to feel special…. Read More

 Okay–where should I begin? My first story for Dreamspinner was a teeny tiny novella titled If I Must. It sold decently, and since then–Christmas, 2009– I’ve released one to two Christmas stories every year. Some of them were novellas. Many of the novellas have been bundled in one form or another, so it’s possible to get… Read More

So, California caught fire, and our air quality has been dismal and the world is topsy-turvy and upside down. Most of California’s outdoor events have been cancelled for the past weeks–including soccer–and the kids got Friday off school because just walking from class to class was killing them. I’ve been taking the dogs for their… Read More

So, the thing is, school is canceled tomorrow due to the smoke in the air–and it’s just as well. The lot of us are headachy with itchy eyes and the whole family is waking up and coughing like 80 year olds after a cigar and whiskey bender. But the thing is, the kids got to… Read More

Seriously. I need to finish it by Friday!!! btw– I had this idea… stuff it full of polyfil and glue some purple felt together at the end and fabric paint it red (like blood) to make it look like we ripped the mitten off the bad guy’s arm and put it in the sacred box… Read More