Spooky Season and Birthdays

What do spooky season and birthdays have in common?

It’s scary how they creep up on you!

It’s once again birthday month around here – how did that happen?! - when I try to get all my devilish little ducks in a row for the rest of this year and on into the next. 

I will do this by taking a bit of a blogging/social media break, eating cake, and wondering how many old episodes of Project Runway it will take before Tim Gunn’s catchphrase Make It Work, once again becomes my go-to mantra for writing, for life, and for everything in-between. 

Happy October, everyone!

Baked Goods and Goals

October is my birthday month (and my husband's!), and while baked goods are always involved, we sometimes use this, not January, as the start of our new year. We make plans and set goals but keep it loose, see what’s working and what isn’t so we can tweak things before the actual new year. 

I’m considering two bigger goals for myself - one weight loss/health-related and one writing-related. We’ll see how it goes!

 

WRITING

A flash fiction story is out to an anthology – fingers crossed! And the first draft of my longer story/novella is moving forward. Slower than a tortoise full of banana, but forward is forward. 

 

WATCHING

Movies – We enjoyed The Trap (by M. Night Shyamalan) and AfrAId (starring John Cho).  

 

TV – We’re still having fun re-watching L.A. Law! We get a big kick out of seeing how many guest stars we recognize in their younger days.

 

READING

I’ve used the words dark and twisty here before when describing other books, but A. R. Torre’s, The Last Party, takes those words to a whole other level in the best way possible. Whoa. Just whoa.

 

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Do you use your birthday to look back over the year and/or look ahead? How do you celebrate your birthday? Any TV shows or movies to recommend? Read anything lately that blew you away?

 

Oh, October!

October is one of my favorite months! We finally get cooler weather here in Florida. Our household celebrates birthdays. And all things spooky take center stage. 

 

I do read, write and watch scary stuff all year long, but I like to ramp it up in October, binge on stories of things that go bump in the night. I've got stacks of books to choose from and jotted notes of movies and TV shows, but I'd love to hear your recommendations.

 

*** What books and/or stories had you checking under the bed before going to sleep? What movies and/or TV shows had you turning on every light in the house? What was it that made your skin crawl? ***

 

Wishing you all a wonderful month and a Happy Halloween! 

🎃👻😱🎃👻😱🎃👻😱🎃👻😱🎃👻😱🎃👻😱🎃👻😱

Bingo and Birthdays and Books! Oh, My!

I've got a birthday coming up soon. Sometimes this makes me cranky, but this year I came across a cartoon that made me smile (and okay, a little teary) for a few reasons. 

It reminds me of my maternal grandmother. The woman loved a good Bingo game. Whether it was at the church hall or at an Atlantic City casino, she was ready to play. 

It reminds me of my godmother. Sometimes for my birthday, she took me into Manhattan to what felt like a giant Barnes and Noble store and let me pick out lots of books. And she never questioned or censored my choices. 

It reminds me that I am not alone in my love of all things books and reading. 

(Check out the Introvert Doodles website and the book - which I own and love! - available a number of places, including Barnes and Noble.)

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How do you feel about birthdays? Any big ones coming up? Any favorite birthday memories? How do you celebrate? (For me, just let me loose in Barnes and Noble with a gift card in one hand and a chocolate cupcake in the other and I'm good. I am soooooo good!)