Current CotS word count: ..21549 (no longer on hold - no more excuses!)
Goal for first draft: ..............90000
(Numbers don't include removed sections and "false starts")
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Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

A quick disclaimer: Two of the names I use in my Children of the Stars story are not originally my own. I obtained permission from their creators (friends of mine) to use the names in my writing, so long as I keep them respectable characters. So my thanks to 'Galiwyr' and 'Obie' for their friendship and trust. This is my way of showing respect for the personas you created.

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It's funny how memories work.

They don't just come at your bidding. At least, not at mine! Instead, they have to be enticed out. Coerced by something familiar: a sight, a sound... For me, it's usually smells. A human's sense of smell may be the least-developed of the five (or most devolved, depending on how you look at it), but it most certainly still works! I can't smell wood-smoke without thinking of bonfires in the backyard out in the country where I grew up. I can't smell a mossy, fishy bog without thinking of the creek I used to play in. In the summer, an early morning rain always reminds me of the cool, dew-wet mornings in northern Minnesota at my grandparents' home. All these years later, I still say that damp earth "smells like Minnesota." Now that autumn is here, the weather brings another memory: school days when I was a kid, waiting for the bus in the drizzle in my plastic raincoat and over-the-shoes galoshes.

This is the hardest time of year for me, because I still feel like I should starting a new class in a new classroom with a new teacher with my new bag full of new notebooks and pens and pencils and folders. I feel like I should be taking notes about an exciting new subject while wearing my new school clothes and a new school hairdo. School was boring when I HAD to go, but I feel like I'm missing out on an important ritual. There seems to be a piece of my life that's being skipped over just because I'm an adult and I'm supposed to be past that part of my life. Maybe I should have been a teacher after all - I don't think I'll ever get over the feeling that autumn means a new class.

I do have a new activity to throw myself into, though, so maybe this year I won't miss school so much. I start a new job on Tuesday (tomorrow) morning, and I intend to throw myself into it like a kid doing a cannon-ball into the pool on the first day of summer vacation. I'll be running an eBay store for a Harley Davidson dealership. No, I won't be giving up my reliable little 38-mile-to-the-gallon 3 cylinder hackback in favor of a Harley, and no, my friends don't get an employee discount. LOL! However, once I get the site back up and running, I'll post a link in case anyone's interested in buying some items at what I'm told is "a significant discount." It sounds like I'll be starting off with simple things like parts, accessories, and clothes, but eventually they want to put bikes up for sale, too! So if you're interested (or even curious), stay tuned.



A special "Dear Abby" kind of note to a few good friends:

Survival is a matter of perspective: consider yourself strong, and you will be. Consider yourself worthwhile, and you will be. Consider yourself weak and exhausted, and you will be. Never give up on hope. It seems a useless commodity until you need it. Give up burdens and regrets first. Give up blame, give up worry, give up sadness... give up bits of yourself if you have to. But NEVER give up hope. If you've already cast it off, get out there and go find it! It's too valuable, too precious, and too necessary to be tossed out like excess baggage. If you hurt its feelings, Hope pouts. If you frighten it, Hope goes into hiding. But if you nurture it, feed it, and help it grow into something healthy and strong, Hope will let you ride on its back while it slogs through the thickest muck for you. It will be your guide when you lose your way. It will support you when your strength has been used up. How could anyone be expected to make it through those times without Hope? More importantly, why would anyone want to try?

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Currently accepting commissions for crocheted and cross-stitched items!

Prices will be based on complexity and will be discussed ahead of time. I'll accept either a pattern with a "make this for me, please," or a general idea of what you want, and the colors you want it in, and I'll find a pattern myself. It could be anything from a simple "Home Sweet Home" cross-stitch fridge magnet to a big crocheted afghan blanket. Whatever you want, let me know. If anyone would like to browse a few sites with free patterns to see if anything interests them, let me know and I'll hook you up with links.

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Partner in crime:

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Friends:



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People I'm watching:




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