October 29, 2017
11:55 p.m.

I guess I could have waited until midnight and posted October 30th, huh?

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my good golly. I can't believe I haven't posted anything for over a week. Where does the time go, anyway? It's all zooming by entirely too fast.

I got a copy of the book into my hot little hands, the proof for final edits, and tonight, I finished those last edits. Now all I can do is pray that I didn't miss anything.

Work, work. How I love it.

Since I was a little girl, I have loved reading. I can't honestly remember not being able to read. I do remember asking lots of questions about words and meanings, and I clearly remember learning the difference between to, two and too. I remember being fascinated that there could be different meanings based on spelling variations. I found it rather magical. 

Once I got the hang of being told stories, and reading stories, I wanted desperately to tell stories of my own. And I have written lots of them over the years. But until these past couple of years, I didn't do much with them. 

Oh, many have been lost. Dozens were consumed in the flames of my house fire in 1993, including a full novel that I've never had the heart to re-write, even though I quite clearly remember the story. These days that story feels like it was something written by a stranger, and that's not entirely untrue. The Paula who wrote that book was repressed, depressed and disillusioned. I left her behind a couple of years before the fire, and I try not to think about her. The story was not a bad one, but it no longer feels like one I want to tell; hence, no re-write is forthcoming. 

Other stories that were lost I wish I could have the chance to read again and think about, but that's never going to happen, so I try not to worry about them. A lot of time has passed, and the Paula who wrote those stories, some from as long ago as Junior High School, is also long gone. Hopefully this present day Paula has learned from her and can move forward in her story-telling. 

That said, I find it funny that this book delves so much into the past. Mine, my family's, my hometown's. Not that the story is true, mind you. It is a work of fiction. But it would be a lie to claim that my past had nothing to do with the formation of the story. 

I took a writing class once, and the main thing I was told to do was to write what you know. I know the feelings I had when I was a little girl moving to a new town. I know what it's like to have to deal with a bully. I know about having babies. I know about having a wonderful, interesting and often amusing family. I know about loving and being loved. 

And, oddly enough, I know about ghostly encounters.

Unfortunately, my encounters never answer any questions or explain anything. No one tells me anything. They just leave my cupboard doors open and turn on the television. One of them has a delightful perfume, there and gone. I have no idea what it is. All I know is it doesn't ever make me sneeze or wheeze. 

One has on several occasions protected me from harm. I'll withhold the details in case I want to use them in a future story. Needless to say, I'm grateful for the interventions. 

This book may come off as autobiographical to some of the people who know me personally. It's not about me. It's a story. 

But some of me is in there, and I can't deny it. Hopefully, it's the best part of me. 

I want it to be.

The book is coming very soon. I hope you'll consider giving me a chance to tell you a story. 

By the way, I kind of dig the cover. I took the photograph this past summer while road-tripping with my parents. I like the tree, the branches. It symbolizes for me that family tree thing that the story embodies. It seemed like a good choice to me. 

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October 30, 2017

12:35 a.m.

Yep it's a brand new day. Am I working? Nope. I'm watching "Lost in Space" and headed for bed. 

We should probably talk about "Lost in Space" sometime soon. So many things about that show shaped the present-day Paula. In good ways, honestly. 

But we're going to have to do it later, because I'm ready to lie my old bones down even if I can't necessarily go to sleep. 

Good night!