It's been a while since I've done a blog post, but something happened today that just needs to be shared.

      With my fifth book in the hands of my publisher as we speak, I've learned many things along this writer's path and one of the most important is that being an author is never about the money. 

        A book is diligence and creativity and business all wrapped up in a neat 300-page package.  But, most of all, writing a novel is about connection.  My greatest hope is to touch others, evoke something in my readers, make them laugh and make them think, hope, reminisce, dream.

 

About a year ago I started making myself a nightly cup of tea. Well after dinner when it's time to settle on the sofa with my husband and watch a favorite show or two, I don my pj's and put the kettle on

 

The second gem in my "Sixty for Sixty" plan of incorporating sixty things into my daily life to honor this crazy ago of 60, is, simply, to embrace the ritual of making that daily cup of tea.

 

Tea is ancient,.  Buddhism, a religion based on the beliefs and practices of Buddha,  "the awakened one," embraces tea drinking as a ritualistic practice.

:

 

I've dreaded turning sixty.Yet, just two days in at this new number  I've thought, wait a minute.  I'm asexagenarianand that's quite a group to be among. And when your title begins with "sex" I've decided you don't mourn lost youth, you don't drown yourself in expensive creams and lotions until you look like you're coated in Miracle Whip, and you don't run out and get a tattoo. No.  When you turn sixty, you make it count.

     This Friday I will be attending a meeting here in my neighborhood where a group of ladies will gather to share their quest to write their memoirs.  I've been invited to speak on the topic of writing and perhaps motivate the group toward their memoir goals.

     I've decided to bring a list of writing prompts, words and ideas that can spark putting pen to paper.  Trust me, I've had to do this for myself from time to time.  I've sat at many a blank screen watching that pulsing cursor all but laughing at me while I conjure nothing.

    My husband and I record our favorite television shows using the DVR feature from our cable hookup.  It happens to be a great way to keep current with your favorite programs, as well as allowing you to watch one while recording another.  A bonus, of course, is the fact that you can zip past commercials.  You can view an hour prime time program in about forty minutes, a half-hour show in seventeen.  Handy, yes?  Here's the new issue at our house:

That's what they call us, you know,The Sandwich Generation.  We care for our kids and we care for our parents. Sometimes it means caring for a sister or a friend, as well.  Right now my sandwich is a triple-decker and I realize it's what's on the menu for me at this stage of my life.

 

There's a bunch of stuff going on in my family's world right now and we're all a bit off our axis. I've been feeling like the guy on Ed Sullivan with the plates on sticks.