Vigilant Silver Fox

I got tagged by my friend  Amy Jarecki ,  www.amyjarecki.com ,  amyjarecki.blogspot.com ,  to participate in a writer's blogfest  “The Next Big Thing” where authors answer questions about their WIPs (Work in Progress).  I've taken you through my month of writing a novel (NaNoWriMo). This blog gives you some information about my WIP that is being edited, polished, validated for time and place,  and overall  in review.   What is your working title of your book?
 Change of Habit Where did the idea come from for the book? Growing up in Chicago in the 1950s it wasn’t uncommon that women of my generation had a few unsavory characters cross their paths. 
 What genre does your book fall under?
 Adult Fiction Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
 Joseph Gordon Leavitt, Ryan Gosling, Angie Harmon, and Anne Hathaway easily could portray the main characters in this story.
 What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

       Each time I attempt to write about a holiday memory I am stymied by my choices. Do I write about my childhood memories? The baking of cookies with my mother. The staying up late and watching television with my brother while my parents attend midnight mass.        Do I write about my memories as a teen? Do I tell about working in my grandmother's bakery? The preparation of special baked goods made only for the holiday. The joy of participating in the musical productions at my high school. The challenges of learning to master new songs and recipes simultaneously.         Should I share my experiences as an adult in the retail industry preparing for the big holiday? The hiring, training, extended hours, the joyful customers and the not so happy customers.         Or better yet, I could pick a story about the holiday season and its impact on the many students I  had the privilege of teaching.  The preparations for school assemblies, classroom parties, the joy of that prevails

This holiday season 27 families have an empty chair. They have lost a singer of carols, A gift opener, a eggnog drinker, a cookie crumb maker. A family member lost through unexplainable actions  Of a gun toting man set on an unknown mission. A child, sister, brother, best friend, teacher, aunt, uncle Who left before the holiday season begun. The nation stunned yet again with senselessness shooting. It is difficult to speak aloud about this great rendering of innocents. Adults trying to help children understand when they hardly can contain their own feelings. Storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes destroy property.  Those types of losses are devasatating and hard to bare. The senseless robbery of human life is a travesty that none of us can phantom. Yet 27 families are feeling pain that never can be described.  Their chasm of the heart is bottomless and forever. Pray for the families and friends of the children and teachers lost. Pray for the st

It was with great disbelief when I tallied my words on Wednesday, November 28, and the total "shouted" to me 50,661 words. It’s done. A novel completed in a month (well,the first draft), a novel consisting of more than 50,000 words. My last attempt at novel writing was tedious, painful, and after several months I could only eek out 35,000 words. Word count was not the only success I experienced during National Novel Writing Month. Consider some of my new learnings and successes: 1. Branching out and meeting new people at the meet ups and write ins were helpful for my psyche and work ethic during the challenge.  The joy and duty of a writer is to meet and interactive with new people. (Hey, you never know when you might meet that new character you were searching for your next book.) 2.  Establishing boundaries for your writing time is key to successful writing. It became very clear during NaNoWriMo that I had a writing goal. (It is especially helpful if yo