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I wasn’t sure if I should even post today. I mean… everyone knows what happened Friday. What could I possibly have to say that’s important or relevant?

What do I say?

I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I sit at my laptop and the words… well, they’re not there. They’re not adequate. They’re just not. Because really, what do you say? Sorry, your rights don’t matter anymore? Sorry, but you now have less bodily autonomy than a CORPSE? Sorry, but any advances that you might have thought have been made in the course of my own lifetime were just jerked away by white supremacist evangelicals who lied to get to where they are?

I’m angry. And I’m scared.

Protest marches? No. I’m not going to march. Not here in Florida, where they made it legal to attack protestors, and where the police are more interested in being buddies with the counterprotestors than protecting our right to peaceful assembly. Marching these days is taking your life in your hands —  I’m hearing that marches across the country have turned violent this past weekend. No deaths that I’ve heard of, but at least one march had someone drive a truck through it because how dare we stand up for ourselves?

I’m fat, arthritic, and not at all fast. I won’t be marching.

Instead, I’m going to make sure my voice is heard in August, and again in November. I’m going to make some change on a local level. And those local changes may help make bigger changes on a larger scale. I’m going to put my money where my mouth is, and make sure there are donations going to the places where they will do the most good.

Are you registered to vote? If you’re not sure, check here.

Now, this is going to be WILDLY unpopular, but I’m saying it anyway.

NO GODDAMN THIRD PARTY VOTES THIS YEAR!

No more protest votes. No more tantrum votes. If you want things to change, we have to get the MAGA-crew out of every office that they hold. That means that there MUST be a Blue wave across the board. No more “But I didn’t like the Democratic candidate!” We don’t have that luxury anymore. I’m not sure we ever did — things would have been very different in 2016 otherwise.

We cannot move backwards. We cannot go bravely into the past, and that’s where we’re heading right now.

We have to turn this ship around. We HAVE to.

Vote Blue NO MATTER WHO.

Oh, and if you, oh Reader, are one of those people who was celebrating on Friday?

The door is that way —>

Don’t come back.

This morning, I launched the Kickstarter for the audiobooks of Swords of Charlemagne! I have a fantastic narrator who is already at work on Hidden Things, and I’m anxiously awaiting his preliminary test recording (one to two weeks, he told me).

Producing all four books will cost in the neighborhood of $4000. The Kickstarter is set for a $5000 goal to cover anything I didn’t think of. It runs until March 20th, and if we run over the $5000 goal, the remainder will be donated to charity (I’ll be polling backers to see what charity if that happens.)

I had a doctor appointment first thing. Horrible timing, I KNOW. But it was scheduled when Vivian Day was still the 7th.

Got home, handed my phone to my husband, and went to take a shower. Neglected to take off my Fitbit (which is waterproof, so no big). I am shampooing my hair when my wrist goes off. I look at this blurry, wet screen, see LaQuette’s name, and I start crying. Because I know that LaQuette makes NO calls before 11AM, because writing time is scared. So there’s only one reason she’ll be calling me today.

My husband comes into the bathroom with the phone, and says “LaQuette wants to talk to you.” and hands me a towel. And I will SWEAR on a stack of Bibles and other assorted religious texts that I heard NOT A BLESSED WORD after “As President of the RWA…”

Except for the point where she asked me if I was all right. Answer? I am BETTER than all right!

I’m a Vivian Finalist!

Let’s start with words.

Draft by the Solstice isn’t happening this year, considering that it’s the Solstice TODAY (Happy Yule, y’all!) and I have two and a half chapters left to write. So I’m going for Draft by Christmas Eve. And if I can keep the pace I started yesterday, I’ll do it. I finished yesterday with a whopping 4011 words total.

I’m not sure if my wrists will be able to keep up that pace, to be honest. But two and a half chapters is roughly between 7500 and 9000 words. I can do that by Thursday night.

Now, for contests — the Booksweeps contest for 30 erotic romances and a brand new e-reader has been extended. There are two more days to enter. Go try and win some books that will give you ideas!

And now… cookies. I know you’ve all been waiting for these. Turned out to be six varieties of cookies and one batch of fudge. Because that is what passes for sedate in my head, apparently.

In order:

• Three color
• Cinnamon mocha fudge
• Teff peanut butter
• Lemon Thimble (using homemade lemon curd)
• Molasses
• Oatmeal carob chip
• Chocolate Chip

Once the final words are written on John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen, I am done until January 4th, 2021. That’s when I sit down and start writing Heir to the Firstborn (Heir to the Firstborn, book 5). I have edits to work on with Wings of Air (Heir to the Firstborn, book 4), and more edits for The Lady and the Sword (Swords of Charlemagne, book 2). I have a very busy schedule for 2021 — six releases, starting in January with Hidden Things (Swords of Charlemagne, book 1) and going every two months until November. It’s incredibly ambitious, but I’m trusting myself and my ability to do this.

In 2020, I did something that a lot of my colleagues do. I chose a word for the year. My word for 2020 was Nurture. I think I’ve done that. Done a lot of that, really. Between my personal life and stepping up to the RWA Board, there’s been a lot of nurturing going on. Helping people and things get back on their feet. Encouraging. Rebuilding. Nurturing.

My word for 2021 was, I thought, Truth. Until I sat down to do my card. I picked up a pen and wrote…and what came out was not Truth, but Trust.

My subconscious knows what it wants, apparently.

So that’s my word for 2021. Trust. I will trust myself, and I will trust in my skills, and my abilities.

I may not get to the blog next week. If I don’t, let this be my wish to you for 2021. Have a happy, healthy new year. Stay safe.