Forget January; my new years start in the fall. After
the languid days of summer, I’m ready for the renewed energy of autumn. I break
out the more substantial clothing, hoard my garden’s bounty, and turn inward.
If I regret summer’s freedom, I welcome autumn’s focus.
This year the ends of things are more prominent than
usual. My grandson is leaving toddlerhood and becoming a preschooler. The
salmon restoration project I’ve worked on for years has shut down. I lost a
dear friend and my publisher in July.
Likewise, the beginnings are prominent. Toddlers are
great, but preschoolers are real people. The salmon project will raise eels and
shad. No one can replace my friend, but I’ve found a new publisher.
When Linda Houle of L&L Dreamspell passed away this
summer, the publishing world lost a bright star and many of us lost a warm,
caring friend. The company closed and all rights reverted to the authors. Lisa
Smith, Linda’s partner, moved quickly to give us all as much opportunity as
possible to re-issue our books. One of the things I loved best about being a
Dreamspell author was the community Linda and Lisa built, and I feared it was
lost forever. But Lisa, despite her own deep grief, kept our Yahoo! group alive
so we could support each other. I will miss Linda forever; I hope I will work
with Lisa again in the future; and I’m delighted I can still be in touch with a
group of authors I’ve come to treasure.
In another generous gesture, Lisa arranged for
Dreamspellers to submit their books to The Wild Rose Press for re-release, and
TWRP graciously offered to fast-track those that suited their line. My cozy
mystery, Framed, has found a new
home, and I’m excited to be working with a new team of professionals. Their
energy has even reinvigorated my rewrites of the sequel, A Thousand Words.
To cite a truism, every ending is also a beginning. Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and changes, may claim January, but the prime number seven, September, wins my devotion.
