Fall weather finally arrived in Phoenix the last two weeks. Our doors are open all day except when our neighbors leave their diesel truck running in their driveway, or someone is smoking at their house. Regardless, we can stop running the air conditioner! The electric bills are descending! Hooray!
We don’t get a lot of yellow, orange, or brown leaves in our yard. Our main trees are big Aleppo Pines originating in the Middle East. They are all about 35-40 years old except the one in the backyard. That one is only about 10 years old. They came to our yard when instead of buying cut Christmas trees, we bought plantable pine trees. We kept them in their dirt until January, then added them to our yard. The title of this blog is a song by Simon and Garfunkel, from their Sounds of Silence Album. You can enjoy it here: Leaves that are Green.
Regardless of all that, today’s blog isn’t about our trees, or even Christmas! We have yet to get through the fall. So far, we had an eclipse, a harvest moon, and a blue moon! I love the autumn, by the way. I think autumn is my favorite season, even though I was born in the late winter. Even though February feels like spring in Phoenix, as you all know winter doesn’t end until March 20, or there-abouts.
In the meantime, TJ is writing feverishly on something, probably something fantasy, while I attempt to revamp my current manuscript. I let my BETA readers have a crack at it, but they love all my work, so I am not sure I’m getting some real criticism, if you know what I mean. As I reread, I’m finding places in the story that sort of drag. Those are real buzz kills for readers. Movement, action, keep a story going. TJ is so good at that. I get a good story, then kill it with boring. Re-edits often take me quite a while. I was hoping this story would be out for Christmas, but it is definitely not a Christmas story… I found out after writing the first draft, this one is literary fiction. What? I’ve never written anything like that. I can’t wait to publish. I have a book cover, also. (place a smile here)
I want to ask you to check out our event page. We will be in Prescott next week, then in December, we’ll be in the Tonto Village and after that, in Prescott again. I haven’t added the 2024 list of events, but things are cracking for January and March already. As soon as I have some current emails, I will add the dates. We love it if you are able to come see us.
Also, if you’ve read our books, reviews make our world go around! Not just stars, though. A thoughtful comment about our stories help our writing. AND you can respond to this blog. We love to get your notes! Thanks.
Mirror Gate Chronicles 