Life in the Fantasy Lane

Since I’ve been home, I’ve signed up to foster dogs through Animal Protective League, here in Springfield. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to help out abused and unwanted animals, although out of the 3 I’ve had, one didn’t get along with my dog and had to go to another foster home. The other one found a permanent home with my daughter. Right now we have Susie, the sweetest little thing, but sadly, had been abused and it shows. She is frightened of everything, cowers when we go to pet her and hides a lot. I think in time, she’ll come around but is slow progress. I am furious to think anyone could hurt a defenseless animal! That is when I think corporal punishment should be meted out… you did what to that dog? Then the same applies to you, buster!! Beaten, hanged, whatever, that’s what you get, too. This little girl looks so much like my own dog, only she’s black instead of brown, right down to the Papillion ears and curly tail. She’s so adorable…I’m sure she’ll find a good home when she’s ready.

Oddly enough, the same week that Susie came here, we found a black and white cat in the parking lot of the movie theater. It was after we’d had 12″ of snow and she was wandering around, dodging cars. I figure some ignorant jerk dumped her thinking that someone kind would take her home. Well, we did, but what a nasty SOB to do something like that. There’s no way she walked there, the nearest home was miles away and she was completely clean and dry not like an animal that had waded through that kind of weather.

I am going to have to find her a home, too, as my one of my other cats - Clover, who is evil - is being mean to her. Funny thing, though, the dogs like her, and my dog, Bo, usually chases cats. I have one 18 yrs old that won’t take his guff, but the younger one always runs, and he thinks it’s a game.

I’m not sure when we became Animal Planet, but it’s certainly been interesting this past couple weeks!

I have finally retired from my day job and have officially become a full-time writer! It is such a new concept, I’ve had trouble wrapping my brain around the whole idea. I’ve been off nearly 6 weeks, and although I have written, it seems like I’ve needed the time to decompress and gather my wits about me.

The good news is that Rise of Rebellion is much further along than I thought. The bad news is I still have a lot to do. Rise was promised this spring, and that isn’t going to happen, but I’m still hoping for the end of 2008.

There has been some changes within Laruso Publishing, and I don’t know how that will affect the timing, but I’m not going to worry about it. If not Laruso, then somewhere else…

Last week it was 80 and now it’s 28…if that ain’t an April Fool’s joke, I don’t know what is!

In 1978, in April, on Good Friday, there was an legendary ice storm in Central Illinois. Wonder if we’re in for it again?

My last post was in January - seems like a couple weeks ago, but it is now nearing the Spring Equinox. I’m amazed at how fast the river of life flows! I don’t know if it’s my age, or what, but good grief…

Since I was last on here, I’ve been to Istanbul, Turkey. It was an amazing trip - the people were so very nice, the local Turkish folks and all the other tourists I met while there. To walk into such history was thought-provoking. The most startling part was to realize we were standing in buildings constructed years before this continent was even discovered. To look upon sophisticated Roman architecture and realize that the good ole USA is such a BABY in the world…it was a sobering moment.

To also realize that Turkey is 98% Muslim - well, to some that is a scary thought. To me, it merely highlighted how similiar we all really are. The Turkish people are just as afraid of the fringe element as we are, they do not understand terrorism, are not part of it, do not want their religious beliefs to be lumped into the extreme. I found it relative to white supremacy here in this country. I don’t know of one Christian who doesn’t find the thought appalling.

There are elements of craziness in any belief. I am Wiccan, and believe me, there are just as many off the wall fringe elements (and in my spirituality, the Elements play a huge part, so that thought goes even deeper). Just recently I was at a convention, on a panel discussing religion and writing and how the author’s personal beliefs played into the storylines when this very thing was thrown out.

One of the authors made the statement that she has these ‘Witches’ coming up to her all the time at conventions spouting about how they do spells to get things they want (I’m paraphrasing, can’t remember the exact words). This author continued on about how these ‘Witches’ should be more concerned with breaking the law. Plus she didn’t believe in ‘it’ anyway.

Hmmm… I felt a bit like she was lumping us all into one big ball of wax, and the tone of voice was rather disturbing. Keep in mind that I was sitting on the panel with a Jesuit priest, a Lutheran and a Catholic. I would not dream of saying anything rude or mean about their religions, even if I don’t believe in ‘it’. The form of public debate demands respect for the subject and for each other.

I digress…

Spring is almost here, I feel happier and so much more creative. The sequel to Death of Innocence is finally moving forward again, and there is another story lurking in the background just dying to get on paper.

The luck of the Green be with you all and may the Leprechauns leave a gold coin under your pillow!

Haven’t been on here for awhile, haven’t felt like it. I found this year’s holidays to be extremely difficult for several reasons. The most obvious is the huge hole left by my mother’s death. Reaching that 1 year milestone and watching my dad, seeing his sadness…so very very hard. Knowing what’s coming, further death of loved ones, well, suffice to say I was most despairing, despondent, dejected, downhearted…

The good news is that I feel like I’ve reached a point where I can accept my mother’s death. The relentless review of her last days has eased off and I can think of her without crying. I can remember the fun times we’ve had and picture her with us with less grief and more joy. I know how much she loved the holidays and she would not want me to avoid them because of her. I will hold that thought in my heart and try not to dwell on any more loss.

Having said that - I wish all who read this a happy and prosperous New Year. May the goddess smile upon you and yours and hold you gently in her heart.

Once again, the bellydance workshop was a smash hit. It was slated in at 10 PM, much later than normal and I thought there would be few, if any, people there.

I was sooo wrong!! I had a jammed room full of enthusiastic women AND men shimmying away the hour long. We just didn’t have enough time but we had a great time. Met some new folks and reconnected with some women I met last year. Next year, I’m hoping for an hour and half.

Again, the autograph session – which is very nice to be recognized as a legitimate author – is still an exercise in patience as it is the rare person who approaches the table to look at your work. I passed out cards, met some new authors – I always enjoy myself, but there was nothing to sign.

Ahh….some day…some day….

WindyCon is a great convention, if you missed it this year, try for next!

The con was small but good. My problem was in trying to mix family with a convention. My husband and I combined a family trip with the convention since Denver was a big trip.

I had thought – silly me – that it would be easy to slip away to do the three days of convention but I found it nearly impossible. I ended up missing Friday altogether, including an autograph session, made Saturday afternoon but could not get back for the 9 PM panel. I felt very bad about that as the MileHiCon folks were so nice and friendly, accepting me when they didn’t know me at all. Sunday I managed to make an early panel but was not able to stay for a reading because of family events.

I’ve found that most of the time, as an unknown author, an autograph sessions means sitting there alone with no takers – a difficult situation. A reading is sometimes different, and often there are people listening. I will never know if I missed an opportunity or not but if anyone from MileHiCon happens to read this, I truly appreciated the chance to be there and if I return, it will be with a full commitment to the convention.

I’m way behind in the conventions I’ve been to in the past few months. Could just be laziness but it’s certainly NOT because the cons have been boring.

Archon (the same folks who are hosting NASFIC in 2007) had a great convention, lots of fun. I took my dad, my daughter and 3 grandkids to the convention – it was their first. They all had fun but the only ones adventurous enough to costume up were the twins. They went as a Ninja and Creepy Clown. They had a great time getting their pictures taken with various characters and overall just goofing around. Everyone enjoyed the masquerade.

My dad went to one of my panels – it was the first time he had seen me in my ‘professional’ role as an author. It was different for me, too, because I am used to be among strangers therefore anything I say cannot be held against me. Well, with my dad listening…hmmm….

The topic was Bad Ideas in Literature - for instance, Hilter in Oz. We were all talking about our own bad ideas and I mentioned a long ago, buried novel that was not good at all. It was my first, a murder mystery, only I had no idea who did it until the last page. Not the best idea I ever had and certainly not well written.

Well, both my mom and dad loved it only I had forgotten that. So when I brought it up as ‘bad idea’, my dad had to raise his hand and make a disclaimer regarding this statement. I had to confess my ‘fan’ was my dad and everyone applauded.

It was a good moment!

I will be going to NASFIC next year, and if you are going, better get those hotel arrangements made because they are going fast.

Well, here I am in Denver, ready for MileHiCon and guess what? The forecast for 3 -12″ of snow is now 12″ - 15″ and counting! Yesterday it was a balmy 67 degrees, warm enough to go with a light jacket and now it’s boots, coats and gloves weather. The wind is howling and the snow is PILING up, and it looks like we won’t be able to get out soon. We are visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Parker, Co before the convention, and Parker got hit - Kelly says maybe it’s the ’snowstorm of ‘06′. How nice that we’re here for it….

I think.

I took Bo, my dog, out for a walk earlier - the snow was over his back (he is under 15 lbs) but he was so funny - he jumped in and out of snow drifts like a little deer and by the time he came in, he had ’snowpants’, huge clumps of snow stuck to the fur on his legs.

The good news is that I’m in a creative streak and writing away. We can’t go anywhere or do anything anyway, so might has well take advantage of the downtime. The fire has been lit, I have a steaming cup of coffee in front of me, and the snow is falling.

Perfect.

FeeFee, one of the Tater Babes, was on her way to Havana (Illinois, over by the Illinois River, not Cuba, cause you can’t drive to Cuba) and was just driving along, minding her own business, one fine Saturday morning. She was going to a family reunion of sorts, which also included the other folks who had cabins on the river, who aren’t necessarily family, but close enough to share a dish. In this case, Cous Cous.

That’s what she had with her, CousCous, I kid you not. Now why would a Tater Babe take Cous Cous to a down home potluck? Well, she said it was to impress the Master River Chef that was gonna be there.

Maybe. And what exactly is a Master River Chef???

And I’m still a bit suspicious about that there Cous Cous, but whatever.

Well, FeeFee was singing along to the radio, like she always does - probably to Donna Summer, FeeFee sure does like her Donna Summer - she also knows all the words ‘The Brady Bunch’ and maybe ‘Gilligan’s Island’, except she forgets a couple lines and has to hum them - anyway, I digress.

This here story is about the Goat. Now how many people you know is driving along the highway and sees a goat running down the road? (I once saw a pig, which my exhusband accidently ran over. He picked the pig up - it was dead - and put it in the trunk on account of it was our landlord’s pig and we felt kinda bad about the whole thing. We drove the dead pig to the landlord’s house and told him, and he said he didn’t want the pig anymore, we could have it. Now, that was kind of weird, but we took it to Lloyd so he could butcher it. Ate it, too, but then that was back before I was a vegetarian….now that I think about it, maybe that’s WHY I’m a vegatarian…)

Darn it, I digress again. This is about the GOAT.

FeeFee sees this here goat running down the middle of the road, so she stops. ‘What was I supposed to do?’ she asked me. ‘Ignore it? Ignore those little goat feet, and little goat ears, and little goat beard? It was kinda cute and I didn’t want it to get run over, so I stopped. But the little bastard wouldn’t come to me. I’m out there on the road, chasing this damned goat all over, calling to it - I mean, really, what do you call a goat? Here, boy, here boy? What if it was a little girl goat and she didn’t like being called boy?’

You got to understand, FeeFee is ALL girl. She would take real offense if someone said to her ‘Here, boy’, and she didn’t want to offend the goat. If it was a girl. If it was a boy, she wouldn’t care. Course, it’s hard to offend a guy, if you’re offering up your hand.

So she’s chasing this goat around and some other folks stop. They get out and say, ‘Lady, is that your goat? Cause is shouldn’t be running around in the road, that’s dangerous.’

FeeFee gets all puffed up when she tells this part. She said, “I beg your pardon? That is NOT my goat!! Why do you think I would even HAVE a goat? Do I LOOK like I’d have a goat? What do you even mean by that??”

In the meantime, more folks stop. Lots of traffic stopped, a whole line, and some people are just downright rude. They are honkin’ and use the f word and giving FeeFee the finger. I want to say right here that if you give FeeFee the finger, you are just asking for trouble.

FeeFee was about ready to go pound someone when a pickup truck pulled up with a woman and a big dog. The woman just hands FeeFee a leash and then keeps on driving. So now, FeeFee has a leash but she still hasn’t caught the goat. Neither has anyone else, so she doesn’t feel too bad about it, and she sure doesn’t care about those rude SOBs who are stuck in a line of cars.

The goat is scared shitless by now. Have you ever seen a goat panic? According to FeeFee, it ain’t pretty. Them little goat eyes crossed and he started to charge anything that got near him. The lady with the big dog came back but the dog didn’t help anything.

Long story short, FeeFee said they had to tackle that there goat and since no one knew whose goat it was, she just put it in the back seat until they figured it out.

When she finally got to the reunion, everyone wanted to know where her fancy CousCous was and she had to tell them that the Goat ate it. And loved it.

I swear, this is is true.

A Tater Babe never lies.

Sincerely,
TeeNee

(Read the original Tater Babe Trio story, main page, short stories.)