When you're brain-weary ...

What do you do when you're brain-weary? You know the feeling: you're sleeping enough at night; your daily workouts, if you have them at all, aren't enough to wear you out; still, because of the mental work you're trying to do, you feel exhausted, and it isn't even bedtime yet.

I realized I must have hit that brain-weary, unable-to-think-anymore level recently when I found myself watching a TV documentary about the development of kittens. Not that kittens aren't fascinating, but I had a mound of work stacked up, just waiting for me to get to it, and I was watching kittens.


Somewhere between the four-week-old silver tabbies and the seven-week pure-bred Bengals, I got the hint. I could almost hear the TV whispering to me: Susan, your brain has done enough work for the day. You're done. Give up and enjoy the kittens. Feeling guilty about the work that still needed to be done, I kept trying to push myself to get busy again, but when the brain has gone on strike, well, it's kittens for me.

One of our sons, a mildly crazy entrepreneur who will one day be worth multiple millions, simply because he won't take no for an answer, has hit brain-weary regularly of late. When he just about lost it at work one day, his staff suggested he visit his doctor, just to be sure he's okay. The doctor's prescription: an evening of The Simpsons or Laverne and Shirley reruns. He said, "Give your brain a rest. Do something mindless for a while." Yes, The Simpsons or the L&S reruns may be adequately mindless, and maybe even fun, but the kittens are definitely cuter.

Besides, I love cats, but having recently lost the brother-sister pair we had for 14 and 16 years (the calico is my friend, Koi), and not yet feeling ready to watch real cats play in my home again, I get my kitten-fix from a TV documentary. For someone not yet prepared to bring another kitten home, watching them on TV is clearly safer than visiting the local animal shelter, just for a kitten fix.


So what do you do when you're brain-weary? And do you need a doctor's prescription to keep you from feeling guilty when you settle down to let the brain wander aimlessly for a while? I'd love to hear your answers.

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 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. 

When writers gather

Writing is a lonely vocation. Most of it is done either alone in an office or with a cadre of imaginary friends inside the author’s own head. Occasionally, that cycle is broken and a group of writers gather. That happened for me this past weekend in Gilbert, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. 

I belong to a few different writers’ organizations, each with its own purpose. The conference this weekend brought together members of the American Night Writers Association or ANWA. Founded in October, 1986 by Marsha Ward and five other women, the group served mommies with young children. These mothers also aspired to be authors; some were already published and others saw themselves publishing one day. They wrote at night, after the children were asleep, hence the name/

The group that started 33 years ago in a living room now includes 350 members. About half are published authors; the rest aspire to be. Many members have years of publishing experience, multiple book contracts, and designation as best sellers on some impressive lists. Creative energy abounds. It practically buzzes in the air all around us. 

When we combine large numbers of writers—who, by nature, are introverts—with the opportunity to network, teach, and learn, beautiful things happen. I attended workshops on everything from how to create emotional resonance, to writing inspirational non-fiction, to book marketing and taxes; met some multi-talented people, shopped in a store stocked with members' books, and had the opportunity to share some of my own experience in the publishing industry. The weekend inspired, thrilled, impressed and exhausted us all, but it was a lovely kind of tired.

One highlight came when I sat at a table with Marsha Ward, whose vision created ANWA and whose books—dozens of them—grace a number of different publishing platforms and top-seller lists. (That's Marsha in black.) I’ve been to conferences before and I plan to attend more. Every one sends me away refreshed, invigorated, and eager to sit down and write. I can hardly wait to finish Winter Skye. Any day now. . . .

Susan loves to hear from readers. Write her at susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com, or visit www.susanaylworth.com or her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Susan.Aylworth.Author. Watch for Amber in Autumn, Book 3 in the "Seasons of Destiny" series, coming near the end of September.  Books 1 and 2, Paris in the Springtime and  Sunny's Summer are available in e-book and paperback formats. Winter Skye will follow soon. Stay in touch! 

What's with the weather?

I know, I know. Weather is about the most boring (and neutral) topic I could pick. Only...just maybe...not. At least, not this year. My husband and I just made a long drive across the deserts of northern Nevada to visit friends and family along the Wasatch Front (the Rocky Mountains in Utah). The scenery surprised us. Greatly!

I've visited these locations in the months between November and March and have found the high mountains covered in snow. That's not surprising during ski season in one of the more active ski locations in the world. I did not expect the same sight in June. June! Some of the ski runs were still open and welcoming skiers. (If you don't believe me, I won't blame you. I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't been there to see the deep snows myself.)

Perhaps even more shocking, the drive across northern Nevada was ... wait for it ... beautiful! I'm shocked even to see myself write that, but it was true. We passed fields where cattle grazed knee-deep in green grass while snow-covered mountains hovered in the background. Some animals drank from streams created by seasonal run-off. In one field, two antelope joined them.

Other places boasted wildflowers I have seldom seen in this dry high desert, celebrations in purple, white, and yellow. The scenes were pastoral, paint-worthy, and yes, beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn't stop long enough to get pictures there.

Meteorology is not my thing. I listen to what the broadcast weather reporters have to say and wonder what it will really mean for carrying an umbrella or wearing a jacket and I stay glued to the Weather Channel when tornadic storms threaten my kids in Oklahoma. That's about the best I do with weather.


Given that, I don't begin to understand the processes that gave us snow in June and a beautiful trip across Nevada. I don't understand them, but I can certainly appreciate them. I did and I do!

Introducing Heather B. Moore

Today I want to introduce one of my most prolific (and kind and helpful!) writing friends. Have you read the work of Heather B. Moore? If you haven’t, you should. You’d probably enjoy her work as much as I do. If you have, you already know what I’m talking about.

Heather writes as both Heather B. Moore and H.B. Moore. She has an interesting background, which shows up frequently in her novels. Her dad, now retired, was a university professor with expertise in middle eastern records, history, and culture. Heather grew up in some interesting locations in the middle east. She was baptized at age eight in the Red Sea.


Because of that background, Heather has produced some wonderful thrillers set in those exotic locations. I love her Omar Zagouri novels. If you like a good mystery/thriller, you will too. LOST KING and SLAVE QUEEN are two excellent examples.

One of my favorite of her books, BREAKING JESS, is just now coming out in Audible, as have many of her other books.

Because she is prolific, she has written some excellent novels about iconic scriptural figures. One of my favorites is ESTHER THE QUEEN. She also has a series of stories about Moses and the exodus. 

As I said, she’s prolific. She also writes some lovely, sweet romances. One of her recent books that I thoroughly enjoyed is FINDING US, part of a series set in a fictional Pine Valley. I have just downloaded the eighth book in that series, ALL FOR US. Much of her work is available in both e-book and paperback and she almost always has something available free or for sale. Just now, several such books are available. 

Did I mention she’s prolific? She has a number of other books available as well. Find her at any bookseller or at www.hbmoore.com, also at www.facebook.com/heather.b.more. I believe you'll be glad you did.