Mona Karel Author

And maybe I’ll wait a little longer for the lows. Some of them are shared: the violence around the world, people fleeing for their lives or standing up to superior forces to protect their futures; the memory of a horrific war; the realization we just don’t seem to learn from those horrific wars.

Some of them are personal: that litter didn’t happen, and I had to say goodby to a dog that was born into my hands thirteen plus years ago. It was for his benefit, and I was there at the end, with him. But it doesn’t get any easier.

I left my freaking geraniums out one night too many, and it looks like I’ll need to replace them. Doggonit, I’d kept them going for more than ten years. Oh, well.

But

I was ringside, in Pueblo, the day my dear friend attained a championship with her dear friend. Silly  me I didn’t grab a photo then but the next day I watched her show, and managed a few with my phone. Yeah, I had that expensive camera with me…in the motor home. Fat lot of good it did, right? But our phones fill in the need, sometimes. So I was able to capture this lovely  moment. Lark, multi talented, multi titled, and now an AKC champion. The photo wasn’t taken up close enough for detail but the love and trust is there. And it is beautiful

Her win prompted the margarita tradition we started this year and hope to continue many years to come. Our dogs bring us joy and sorrow and wonderful friendships.

And isn’t that enough to encourage us to celebrate life?

November is jammed full of ‘feels,’ with Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, family gatherings (or not) For writers we add the intensity of NaNoWriMo. And for dog people in the Southwest, November means Pueblo, Colorado.

Pueblo’s a smallish place, rising up from economic difficulties. Here’s a great overview. What matters most to me is the Colorado State Fairgrounds. I know, it’s a bit bizarre to have such an event in a smaller town! But the Fairgrounds themselves are great for a single woman traveling alone to show her dogs.

You can’t beat the drive!

That’s the doggy mobile, waiting at a rest area in Colorado

I was meeting up with a friend I mostly know on line or over the phone (I won’t share her picture, but it was a GOOD one since her Whippet became a champion. That was a plus. And she was there ringside…heck in the ring helping, when Biddy achieved her last two needed points for her own championship. A long journey with a cautious little girl who took a while to learn to enjoy herself after her person died. Here she is with her brother, outside the main building. Isn’t that landscaping gorgeous? My friend took this picture, and suggested the site since Biddy (that’s her in front) does not like the fuss of formal photos.

Another BIG huge about this show site is the snack bar. Seriously, the place we generally visit when we have no other choices. I found out several visits ago, this snack bar is a cut above the standard dog show fare partially because (blushes here) they offer wine. Beer too, this is a sports venue! But I don’t drink beer much. I’ve always been able to get a decent glass of red wine here. Except, not this year. And we had SO MUCH to celebrate. Soooo, margaritas? My friend agreed.

It was doubly fun since we celebrated two days in a row. WOOT. We each took home one of these great new title ribbons.

Yeah, dog people can be pretty easy to please sometimes. These highs can sometimes offset our lows of day to day life. But I’ll share that tomorrow. For today, let’s just…enjoy.

Biddy, happy to be back in the motor home.

NaNo? Oh no, we’ll talk about that tomorrow, also.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday, however you enjoy it.

This has been a favorite of mine for so long.

Never seems to be enough time but we still end up wasting time on things that maybe don’t really matter. Don’t worry, I get a bit off center with any of the time changes. My body usually tells me within a brief margin of error what time it really is, especially when I’m at home. Messing with my input throws me off. So, yeah I get a little cranky. Or crankier?

Let’s talk about someone who is making the absolute best use of her time. For years Brenda Novak has held an auction to raise funds for Diabetes research. This year she’s changing things up with a great book/cookbook offer you don’t want to miss. This specific offer ends SOON so click now or forever…you know!

20% offer!

Wandering down a path I’ve meandered along before. All writers are asked where we get our ideas and most of us have to shrug. Our greatest problem is how to choose what we’ll write about next.

Because…story ideas? How can we find the time to write about all of them? Especially when songs like this sneak up through our memories to grab our attention?

I chose Natalie Cole’s version mainly for the lead in. Most of the others start right off with “I wish you bluebirds” How much more poignant to hear “this is where our story ends, never lovers ever friends”

***

Goodbye, no use leading with our chins, this is where our story ends,
Never lovers ever friends.
Goodbye, let our hearts call it a day, but before you walk away,
I sincerely want to say.

I wish you bluebirds in the spring, to give your heart a song to sing,
And then a kiss, but more than this, I wish you love.
And if you like lemonade to cool you in some lazy glade,
I wish you health, and more than wealth, I wish you love.
My breaking heart and I agree that you and I could never be,
So with my best, my very best, I set you free.
I wish you shelter from the storm, a cozy fire to keep you warm,
Most of all, when snowflakes fall, I wish you love.

***

Who hasn’t been ‘friended’ by the person we thought would be the love of our lives? Or maybe heard from that person that they feel a calling to live in an ashram and find their inner selves.

Mmm Hmmm. Yeah.

Well it did all work out well in the end, once the drama dust blew away.

Winter’s coming, the bright shiny days are slipping away and I’m getting a lot done while ignoring my NaNo commitments. Tomorrow. Really. I think you’ll love this story I’m working on!

Yep, Winter’s on the way

I haven’t decorated in…forever. Didn’t seem much point, no one comes this far off the main road and not many people come to visit. Plus the creative side of me that was all about making it different seemed to be asleep. Then I got to thinking about SPIDERS. I don’t mind spiders as long as they don’t bite me, but I know many people have serious issues with arachnids. And I thought about the impact of LARGE spiders crawling around on my fences.

Unfortunately none of the stores in Edgewood carried large spiders to put outdoors in potential high winds. Amazon to the rescue, and this showed up at my gate:

Which unwound into these:

Those came out okay, don’t you think? I did warn some of my more sensitive friends not to drop by for a while! And I thought, enough for goofing off this year.

Then I found a treat for the ‘lukis, who’ve been eating raw food forever. Chicken feet. Which are full of all sorts of good things nutritionally but they do look a bit, well, handish, don’t you think? Especially against a sort of earthy looking background. Like this:

or this:

They told me to stop playing with their food…silly beasties.

Let’s end up with something prettier.

The veil is thin tonight…enjoy your Hallowe’en.

I haven’t been involved with much promotional work lately (I know, shame on me!) but when the delightful Nicole Morgan offered an opportunity to be part of what she was organizing, well, of course I had to give it a try. Sooo:

Welcome to the Romance Your Autumn Nights

Kindle Giveaway! 

PRIZES

GRAND PRIZE – Kindle eReader + $25 Amazon gift card

1^st PRIZE – $50 Amazon gift card (2 winners)

2^nd PRIZE – $25 Amazon gift card (2 winners)

3^rd PRIZE – $10 Amazon gift card (2 winners)

4^th PRIZE – $5 Amazon gift card (2 winners)

5^th Various swag items (5 winners – US only)

Yeah, a little late here so we’ll need to rush a bit and catch up. There will be a Facebook party October 27…this coming Thursday. I’ll be grabbing a time slot and getting to know you even better.

This party can only be so spectacular because of the other wonderful writers participating. Such as: Staci Troilo, Andrew Jericho, Kathryn Lively, Stacy Juba, Sheri Fredricks

I’ll share as more writers become available…this will be so much fun! There will also be a RAFFLECOPTER to help choose our WINNERS! Just click on that word and you are there!

Find us on Amazon

I looked out this morning on dry ground and bright sunshine, then looked at the calendar. Five years ago, the acute care facility said they could do no more for my husband, and prepared to send him to a hospice center. Since, they told me, I could not take care of him myself. Obviously I took this as a challenge and the next day he was delivered to the front room, to stay on a hospital bed for the next three months.  Looking out at the land he loved. I’m not saying this to ask for pity or praise, merely dredging up memories, and wondering if it’s time to put them away. To move on.

Is it ever time? How long do we wallow in memory before we move on? Wow that was kind of severe. Have I been wallowing? Might be. Just might be that I’ve been holding myself back from whatever it is I need to accomplish. Maybe the slow but steady progress in the garden, with writing, with the dogs, shows me I’m ready to move on?

Or maybe I don’t need to specifically move on, but I do need to make room for the present and the future. That sounds good. I’ve managed to finish and publish books since then. Managed to make it to meetings, judge dog shows. Write more books. I think he would have liked that…he enjoyed telling people about his wife the writer, the judge, the delegate.

For once I’m not going to dredge up an old song. If I did it would be memories, from CATS. He really liked that song, and the show. But, yeah, I’ll share some pictures. How can one live in a place like this, with dogs like these, and NOT share pictures? So, yeah, here’s one of him and one of the dogs. Enjoy. And if you have someone of your own, give them a hug for me. Thanks.

I begin with a disclaimer. I love this song. I have always loved this song. Even after I took a closer look at the lyrics, I loved this song. Especially this arrangement: so poignant, so desperate. But

So you have a relationship in trouble, and the two people involved are throwing accusations around. You don’t bring me flowers. You don’t sing me love songs. You don’t talk to me. You just roll over and turn out the light.

Doesn’t it all sound so familiar? Dissolving years of attraction, of trust, over what? Without ever getting down to the real issues, whatever those might be?
Doesn’t it also sound like the plot of so very many romance books? You have the ‘big misunderstanding’ separating the two for months or years or longer? Isn’t this all too often the impetus behind wanting to just toss that book against the wall? Or maybe writing your own?

If They Would Just TALK to Each Other.

Yeah, that. And don’t most of us try very hard NOT to put our people in those situations because, well…it’s too much like the blonde in the filmy white nightgown going down the steps because she heard a noise in the basement.

As far as these fictional people singing to each other…buy your own flowers, try singing love songs to her and for heaven’s sake TALK to each other. Yeah, that.

Because life and love are too precious to throw away.

Don’t forget A Question of Faith is now ready for you to read about Ty and Roz learning to trust each other. I just love those first days of a romance, don’t you?

Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence was first heard in 1964, but did not gain great attention until 1966. I remember wondering about the disparity between the lyrical music and the confusing, disturbing lyrics. Speaking of disturbing, a new version came onto the scene in 2015, from a heavy metal band, Disturbed. Some people have expressed outrage at this version.

Well, it does project a different air entirely but what should we expect? It’s a different time. From 1964 to 1966 we saw bombings in other countries, an attempt to control who could vote through testing, attempts to legalize marijuana, civil unrest from integration, attempts at immigration reform, really bad television programming, and…and…hmmm maybe not so very different after all. See for yourself: Timeline 1964-1966

The Disturbed version of Sounds of Silence is, in my opinion, more blatantly powerful. There’s an excellent music video but I think the live performance of the singer and the music is even more intense:

“People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening.”

The more things changes, yep, the more they are the same.

On the writing front, I’m done with the first messy draft of A Question of Trust. Phew! Now I need to pick a book to launch with NaNo. Any suggestions?

For some serenity, I’ll share this evening’s sky. Peace out.

I had this “thing” with my feet. Actually I’ve had this foot thing for a while now. I can remember looking for somewhere to prop my left foot…for just a few minutes…to make it feel better. It’s grown into something serious enough for me to trip from time to time, stumbling when I need to power forward.

And I decided it was past time to do something about this foot thing. Especially since I discovered we have a Foot and Ankle Clinic right here in Edgewood. So I don’t have to drive to Albuquerque to be told I have flat feet (DUH) with no advice on how to avoid that stumbling. I decided to try out this closer doctor, who told me a simple in house surgery could alleviate some of the problem.

Mind you simple and surgery don’t compute in my mind but the chance to reduce the pain and swelling was too good to pass up. I’d thought to take pictures during the actual procedure but I didn’t think they would be acceptable to many readers. Blood and bones, you know. Not pretty.

I did get a boot to wear, and I wore it religiously. Including crawling into bed with the darned thing on my foot. Showers were a particular form of fun. And I had to take it easy while the toe healed.

Easy. Really?

When the garden fence needed reinforcing and the gate had to be replaced and I really wanted to try to set up a bird feeding station. Still, it was just for ten days, two weeks, tops.I could entertain myself with New Mexico Autumn Skies.

And sunsets.

Then today, I saw my toe again. And it was good. At least it will be.

Helloooo TOE

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for A Question of Faith. Amazon has hiccuped, and it’s not yet available in e-book. I’ll let you know as soon as it is.