Here is my first blog under this new regime. To begin, I’ll tell you some things about myself. You already know if you’ve followed my previous blogs that I’m past 75 years old; that I’ve published several books; that I live in Sacramento, California; and that I have a large extended family, most of whom now live a long way from me. I had a very happy childhood, and was married and divorced three times. I have one son and three younger sisters and a younger brother, and I consider myself a liberal and an agnostic. I divorced my last husband in 1976, so I’ve been on my own for 40 years; it’s not so bad.
I may write about what I learned raising a child (not a whole lot), or what I know because of having worked for forty years in the corporate world. But more than that, I’ll chat about some of the stuff I know because of what I’ve studied, or what folks have told me, or just what I’ve noticed about “real life.” I may also find myself posting a short story or two (you may notice that I started this Author Page with a number of short stories, some of which I’ve now published in short-story collections on Amazon).
As an author, I’ve tended to write fantasy, particularly about fairies and/or ghosts. But I’m not someone who lives in these fantasy worlds. I’ve read massively in my life, and I’m an introvert so I do live in my own head much of the time, but I have learned to be somewhat outgoing and have moderately good social skills.
PLEASE NOTE: The following are some of my favorite cliches: I live in a world that I look at with rose-colored glasses, which means for those of you born after 1980 that I’m what used to be called a cock-eyed optimist. For me, the glass is half-full, rather than half-empty, meaning that I expect things to be good, getting better, rather than the way they probably really are.
I do live in the real world, though. I’ve been very fortunate that the real world has been good to me. I was born with a good deal of common sense, and several talents that I’ve been able to make good use of. I’m a pretty good writer, I can sing quite well (at least I used to), I have a good sense of direction, I can draw reasonably well (though I simply can’t learn to water-color), and I learn very quickly when it’s something I’m interested in (other than water-colors).
So I made it to “elderly” without a lot of problems. I’m relatively healthy, I put enough money into Social Security that I have a fair income (though going forward I’m not sure how long that’s going to last), I have a great son (who unfortunately has never given me grandchildren), and I’m happy. I’m also now a published author, which I’ve dreamed of being since I got my first A for a story, in grammar school.
Well, I guess this is enough for a personal blog. I’d love to respond to questions, if anyone wants to post one.