My friend is dying

You learn to write by writing.  I'm writing a eulogy here.  If you don't care for this stuff, come back when I'm in a cheery mood.

One of the prices you pay for having friends is losing them.  A college friend, some one I have known for fourty years, is dying.  I sat with him for a while yesterday.  Consciousness seems to be a place he just visits occasionally, not somewhere he spends much time.  I don't know if he will even remember that I was there, yet, the hours I sat quietly beside his bed don't seem a waste.  I don't want to go all woo-woo mystic, but he has the same shadow on him that my husband's dad had just before he passed.

 It helps a lot to have a firm conviction that the end of this life is not the end of everything, and that I will see him again on the other side.  He will be out of pain and free from fear.  He will be just as young and strong and full of energy as he was when we first met. And oh, what a supercharged dynamo of energy he was!  If there's anything to astrology, he would prove it, because he was Leo to the tonails.  His personality filled a room, and he was the life of any party.  He was charming, sexy, witty, and fiercely intelligent. And like any male lion, he was a bit lazy and ego-centric.  At times he could even be an asshole, but for those of us who love him, he is OUR asshole and we love him still.  The earth will spin slower without his long stride to kick it on.

punctuation

http://i.imgur.com/5LdZT.jpg

(With the Oxford comma) We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.  (Quite a lively party)
(Without the Oxford comma) We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin. (I didn't know JFK was a stripper)

poetry

Spark

Last night’s party left a glass on the windowsill.
This morning, ice melted, it catches the sun -
a glint, a flare, a fire in the water,
a transient fraction of a star, visiting,
a scrap of halo for a sacred instant.

I love a good similie

Australian Troy Simpson said, "I feel as gay as a bagful of butterflies!"  What could be gayer?

change the character, everything changes

There's a folksong that starts, "A young man goes to Paris, as every young man should.  There's something in the Paris air that does a young man good."

Paints a picture, doesn't it?  Youth and strength, brisk walks along the wintery Seine; smokey cafes and experienced women; late night philosopy over cheap wine.

Change the character.

"A woman goes to Paris, as every woman should.  There's something in the Paris air that does a woman good."

What picture does that paint for you?  And why?

when you do a book signing

Take your knitting.  A book signing is an excellent opportunity to accomplish a lot of knitting. Having some handwork gives you a neutral topic to discuss in case people want to talk to you but are reluctant to be pressured into buying the book.  If it ties in to the book, so much the better!  My protagonist works her sorcerery through her fiber arts, and the books include patterns, so knitting is a no brainer. 

Unless you are already famous, there will quite possibly be spells during your book signing when you are waiting for an adoring fan, or an interested customer, or even a chatty nine-year-old to show up.  Book signings can have lonely spells, and knitting helps. People say to me, "I don't have the patience to knit."  I shake my head in puzzlement.  If I didn't have my knitting to keep my patience, I'd kill somebody. 

marketing!

On Friday, June 3, from 4 till 8,  I will be at

Make One  (a wonderful yarn store)
10558 SE Main ST
Milwaukie, Or

Reading and autographing  my first book, Sanna, Sorceress Apprentice. 

I am so excited I could just squeee!! 

All you folks from the Portland area, c'mon down!