Resolved . . .

Every year when January 1 comes around, people everywhere consider whether or not to make resolutions. I used to; I don't anymore.

That doesn't mean I don't have goals and plans, but I consider those a little differently. In my definition, a resolution is something I'm not doing, haven't done lately, and probably will never do, but I resolve to do it anyway because it seems like I probably should. (I've discovered that peer pressure isn't just for kids.)  I hope I've outgrown that behavior.

On the other hand, goals and plans are usually projects I already have in the works which I intend to expand or continue, projects I want to do. For instance, last year I made a goal to write all four books in the new "Seasons of Destiny" series. I met that goal, along with two short novellas, one of which (A Monumental Love, from the Timeless Romance series) has been in publication since last spring. Of the six books I wrote last year, four are now available and a fifth will be out by mid-February. The sixth is part of a contest and won't appear for a while, but its time will come. Goals and plans like these are easy to fulfill because they are already in the works and because I enjoy them.

Once in a great while, I even manage to do one of those tasks I don't particularly want or love to do, but know I should. This past year I managed to exercise more. In the coming year, I hope to do even better, although I admit right up front that exercise is not my favorite pastime. I guess I can call that a resolution . . . do you think?

How about you? Do you make resolutions because you know you "ought to"? Do you see those differently from goals and plans? 

Part of a Sweepstakes

The news this week is the "Sweet and Clean Contemporary Romances" Sweepstakes at BookSweeps.com. BookSweeps is giving away an eReader and 15+ great sweet romances to the winner of their contest, happening now. The bigger news is the deadline: it's been extended.  It was scheduled to end on Jan. 21, but people can now enter through Wednesday, Jan. 29.

This is great news for all readers of books like those in my "Seasons of Destiny" series, which is fortunate because (drum roll, please) Paris in the Springtime, Book #1 in that series, is among the eBooks in the giveaway. Some of my writer friends have books in this sweepstakes as well. This should be a great set of enjoyable novels for anyone who likes the wholesome side of the romance genre. Thanks to the extended deadline, there's still time to sign up.

Interested? Go to https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/january-2020/sweet-clean-contemporary-romance. If sweet romance isn't your thing, but you have friends who enjoy these books, please pass this information along. Thanks! 

The Pacific Flyway

California grows rice, about two million metric tons of it each year, and 95% of that is grown in the Sacramento Valley. Those of us who live in the valley become accustomed to the rhythms of the rice season, planting to harvest.ea


We are also firmly in the Pacific Flyway. Between our location and the flooded rice paddies, we are visited by many kinds of water fowl each winnter. December is a great time for swans, gray geese, coots, and a few ducks. We found some of them enjoying our home country this past week.

These birds were feeding in fields near Richvale, California, with the Sutter Buttes in the background. Fun fact: the Buttes constitute the smallest mountain range in the world.

Our avian visitors are always welcome. They'll soon be followed by Snow geese, Ross geese, and varied species of ducks. We're happy to share our valley with them all.


Look for the first three books in the "Seasons of Destiny" series, available for pre-order now. All three are due to be released on January 6. The fourth book will follow later in January. In order, the four are: Paris in the Springtime, Sunny's Summer, Amber in Autumn, and Winter Skye. Hope you enjoy! 

The Nativity

Christmas has passed and I am once again putting things away until next year. That activity means I get to stir up memories of each of the treasures collected over the years. That includes a growing collection of nativity scenes.


Our first acquisition was a small, rather traditional portrayal, complete with an angel who stood on a staired shelf in the stable. We book-end it with another traditional set that shows all the figures in silvery porcelain.

Since then, we've gathered a few others. I've been fascinated by the many ways different artists portrait the story. A few years ago, our church sponsored a Creche Festival. (That's when I learned that a nativity scene is a creche.) People brought their prizes in over a four-day period. The creches were artfully displayed on white tablecloths amid poinsettias and lights. I was astonished by the range of styles and interpretations.

One of the interesting aspects is the way different cultures have appropriated the story to make it their own. In Cochabamba, Bolivia, I found a set portraying the holy family and their visitors as Aymara natives. In Tuba City, Arizona, just inside the edge of Hopi, we found a set that cast each of the well-known characters as members of  Four Corners nations. The rug trader, naturally, is Navajo. Other figures are Hopi or Santa Clara Pueblo and the scene is set inside a typical Hopi pueblo.

Other portrayals are traditional, but in such varied media and design that their differences are more notable than their similarities.










There's the one that includes a light for the star. Another is made in crystal. One of our favorites was a gift from a friend who paints miniatures. My finger is included there for scale. In a craft class, a daughter-in-law created a minimalist portrayal of the Holy Family. We enjoy that, too. We displayed them all this season.

We may find others we like in years to come. We may be honored with gifts from other friends and family. Although it seems we're running out of room, we will always find ways to portray them. They are part of what makes Christmas.







Look for the first three books in the "Seasons of Destiny" series, available for pre-order now. All three are due to be released on January 6. The fourth book will follow later in January. In order, the four are: Paris in the Springtime, Sunny's Summer, Amber in Autumn, and Winter Skye. Hope you enjoy! 

The Perfect Gingerbread House

Thanksgiving in our home is much like the holiday in many other American households. We have the turkey with all the trimmings and invite any of the family who live nearby. This year we had two sons with their combined families who joined us for the day.

Our youngest son, a talented though amateur chef, prepared a "flying pig," his own creation. It began with a turducken (boned chicken inside boned duck inside boned turkey), but then added layers of ham and sausage. He packed different kinds of dressing between the layers of meat. My favorite was the wild rice with sausage, although the fruit stuffing came in a close second. The total  concoction weighed 37 pounds before it went into the oven.

Each of the families added one or more yummy side dishes and everyone brought pies. That gave us a delightful Thanksgiving feast. It also gave us six adults and eight children to enjoy the day. The two eldest grandkids, cousins born two days apart, turned 10 that same week; the baby was 15 months old.

We intended to keep the group through the afternoon, enjoying leftovers and pie into the evening hours. So the challenge: How to keep eight little people entertained through the afternoon, especially considering the weather getting chillier and the darkness coming sooner each evening. That definitely narrowed the chances for outside play. What to do?

We started by having the kiddos decorate the Christmas tree, which we set up the day before. They covered it thoroughly, all the while making sure to keep the breakable and edible ornaments out of the hands of the one- and three-year-olds. Decorating the tree kept everyone busy for the first hour after dinner, but we still had several hours to go. We decided to  build a gingerbread house.

I knew better than to start from scratch. I love gingbread and enjoy making it from a recipe, but with eight assistant cooks in the kitchen? Not a good idea. We planned ahead and bought a kit.

In no time at all, we realized the standard approach of carefully following the lines and decorating according to the design on the package was never going to work. We passed out the parts of the house, one per child, and gave them the freedom to decorate however they liked. We also quickly saw that the frosting that came with the kit wasn't going to do the trick. There wasn't enough and with only one frosting bag to go around, seven little people waited and fussed while one took her (or his) time with the frosting bag.

Our resident chef made some royal icing which he divided into several bags and we passed them around the table. When the candy that came with the kit ran low, I scrounged up some leftovers from Halloween. In the end, every child except the youngest got an opportunity to decorate something.

The resulting house is nothing like the kit's designers intended. Each half of the roof looks quite different from the other. The front wall is nothing like the back wall, and the two side walls are even more different. The tree in the front "yard" is nicely decorated, thanks to one of our five-year-olds, but the gingerbread man who is supposed to reside here is gone. The three-year-old made him so enticing that he ate him on the spot.

Our gingerbread house has become a permanent centerpiece for our dining room table since Thanksgiving Day. It may not be what the designers planned, but we think it's perfect.


Susan is the author of 20 novels. Her newest series explores the four seasons in nearby locales.  Paris in the Springtime and Sunny's Summer are available now. Look for Amber in Autumn and Winter Skye, both coming early in 2020 in e-book and paperback.