Five Things - December 4, 2023

Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. On Saturday night we had dinner at our son and daughter-in-law’s home. Ray and I realized this is the first time one of our kids has had us over for dinner. They are technically all adults now, but two are still in college, and the other has a great apartment, but we’ve never lived close enough to have a meal there. As simple as it was, this felt like a milestone in our parenting journey!

2. We decorated our tiny home for the holidays. It looks adorable and feels festive, although, I am used to the weather being a bit colder during the holiday season. I’m not complaining, though, as Ray and I spent a couple of hours poolside yesterday.

3. My alter-ego, Maggie Clare, is running a holiday giveaway. If you enjoy romantic suspense, click HERE to download your free copy of Sing for Me, book 1 in the series.

4. When the kids were younger, I really wanted to focus on creating a magical, memorable holiday season that wasn’t focused on gifts. For the month of December, we ate dinner by candlelight, baked cookies, listened to holiday music, hosted gatherings, decorated the house (thanks mom and dad for acting as decorating elves!), trimmed the tree, watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ so many times we can all quote the movie, kept a supply of the most delicious eggnog from our local farm in the fridge, helped deliver holiday food baskets, and wandered the neighborhood appreciating the light displays on the darkest of nights. Now that everyone is grown, I hope their memories of the season are good ones, and I look forward to watching them create their own traditions with their families.

5. “Winter is a quiet house in lamplight, a spin the garden to see bright stars on a clear night, the roar of the wood-burning stove, and the accompanying smell of charred wood. It is warming the teapot and making cups of bitter cocoa; it is stews magicked from bones with dumplings floating like clouds. It is reading quietly and passing away the afternoon twilight watching movies. It is thick socks and the bundle of a cardigan.” ― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

Our itinerary, subject to change:

November 19 - January 3, 2024: Orangeland Park, CA

January 3 - 14: Oceanside, CA

January 19 - February 2: San Diego, CA

February 2 - 16: Palm Springs, CA

February 16 - March 1: Las Vegas, NV

March 1 - March 5: Meteor Crater, AZ

March 5 - 15: Albuquerque, NM

March 15 - 17: Amarillo, TX

March 17 - 24: Oklahoma City, OK

March 24 - April 5: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

April 5 - 12: Fredericksburg, TX

April 12 - 19: Hot Springs, AK

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Monday Musings 12-6-21

The holiday season is in full swing. Last week, we decorated the house for Christmas. As I write this, the music station is playing carols in the background, twinkle lights are glowing on the tree, and the yield from yesterday’s cookie swap will supply a delicious platter of sweet treats for an upcoming party. Despite this, I find myself shifting back and forth from joy to melancholy.

With three of our kids living on the west coast, and the last one nearly out the door, our traditions are shifting. I miss cookie baking day with the kids, evening drives to look at Christmas lights, annual trips to watch the Nutcracker, dinner by candlelight each night through the season. I could go on. We always focused on experiences rather than things during the holidays. With a big family, we wanted to make memories not accumulate stuff, and I think we did.

This year, we made an unexpected trip to LA for Thanksgiving. One of the kids needed surgery, and we all gathered in support of him and to celebrate the holiday. While we were there, we were went to another son’s apartment to help him and his lovely girlfriend decorate. The significance of my husband and I becoming part of their newly forming traditions wasn’t lost on us. Change is in the air and our family is at a sort of in-between state. When my feelings of nostalgia tip into sadness, I find great joy watching our kids enthusiastically build their own traditions.

It’s easy to allow the season to become stress-filled and overwhelming, but I hope we’ve modeled for our kids that it doesn’t have to be. Instead, it can be a season of mindfulness, meaningful experiences, and celebration.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness.” - Helen Keller

Wishing you and yours a season filled with joy, peace, and love!

In other news…

The RI Author Expo is this Saturday, December 11th from 9 am - 3 pm at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. Signed books make excellent gifts, and this event showcases over 100 Rhode Island authors, myself included. For the first time, I’ll be signing books from the HORIZON science fiction series and the TACTICAL SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL romantic suspense series, so if you’ve found me as Tabitha or Maggie, come say hello!

In addition to celebrity guests, book signings, a cool raffle, entertainment, and snacks, there’s an excellent line-up of panels and programs. I’ll be presenting this one at 11:15 am…

Editing: Soup to Nuts

For many authors, the editing process is a daunting one. But a well edited manuscript can mean the difference between a book that’s ready for the world and a document that sits in a drawer collecting dust. Let’s talk about the different parts of the editing process, and how to successfully find and work with an editor. We’ll then spend some time discussing the goals of a developmental edit, and share techniques that will help make the editing process efficient, effective, and satisfying.