When I was young

The holidays have always been a great time for me, and for my family.  With Christmas coming up, I find myself anxiously awaiting another time like yesterday, except that maybe this time, I'll be able to control my spontaneous urge to eat myself into a food coma.

Thanksgiving itself has always been just a nice get-together with plenty of grub.  Things have changed a few times over the years.  We add to the family, and sometimes, the branches of the family tree grow too big to support, and they fall off, sprouting new trees to cultivate.

Christmas, on the other hand, has stayed pretty much the same.  There have been some fairly big changes to the formula (my father passed away several years ago), but we try to keep everything consistent.  We still have stockings as part of our presents (even though my brother and I are in our twenties now).  The food is the same, if not even better.  The presents, while not as plentiful now that we're grown adults, are still just as meaningful.

When I was young, these holidays seemed so much bigger.  When you're a small child, things tend to look bigger by comparison, but the holiday itself - as an idea - just seemed so much grander in scale.  It meant more to our family than a Black Friday sale.  A crazy uncle would love to air grievances about the government, but it was funny how eloquently he put it.  Going to sleep early to wake up at the crack of dawn was a given thought, and probably one of the reasons I wake up so early every day.  Our dad would set up the camera, and watch us open presents - I still need to find a way to convert those old tapes into something tangible by today's standards.

Not all of these things have changed, but nothing really ever stays the same either.  We grow older, we grow wiser, we grow children and families of our own.  As that happens, and you start to cultivate that new beginning, I feel like that youth ultimately comes back to us.

Unrelated: My new book came out earlier this month.  Check it out if you are interested.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060O7IXW

Of course, the old book is still chugging along as well: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052TSJQ6  It's actually been in Amazon's Best Seller's for the past two weeks for its genre.  Huge satisfaction seeing that!

And finally, the Tellest website is coming along nicely: http://www.tellest.com/

Everyone, have a great holiday!

New Beginnings

A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to start fresh with a new employer, and in a brand new field.  The change was so drastic that I worried about it for weeks before I initially started.  It was the first time since I was fifteen that I've been that anxious about making a great first impression.

Now that I'm here, I feel like I'm picking up on things more quickly than I would have given myself credit for.  This job is potentially one of the best things that's happened to me in a long, long while.  The place that I work at is a self-contained community.  When I say that, I mean it literally.  If power went out all over Pennsylvania, my place of business would be able to sustain electricity for another three months.  Beyond that though, I've never seen so diverse a people who are this friendly to each other.

There are so many parallels between this place - this event - and the inspiration that I'm given when working on anything.  I don't have to worry as much about trivial things anymore.  That's a welcome insight to any creative mind.  To all of those who have just recently started a new journey, good luck.  And to all of those who are waiting for their door to open, patience and faith are good companions.  You'll find your way!

Check out my eBook on Amazon Kindle: http://tiny.cc/hnfhk There are samples and reviews to look at.  Maybe you'll find something you like!

Restless Nights

I had a restless night.

I agreed to watch my mother's dog for the weekend, and everything would have went well, but we had a thunderstorm at about one o'clock.  As is usually the case with dogs and storms, the old girl lost her mind, and started barking.  Every time I thought she'd have stopped, I was wrong.  Finally, at about three o'clock, I brought her into my room so she'd feel safe.

I have the hardest time trying to get to sleep when I'm consciously trying to.  My thoughts drift everywhere, and they finally had me thinking about characters in my books.  How would they react if they couldn't get any rest?

My main character has experienced much more than I ever could.  He's a former military man, having worked for the King's army.  His sleep patterns are a lot like mine.  If even the slightest noise happens to alert him, he'll wake up.  It's something that he's grown used to - it makes it almost more troubling when he's sleeping comfortably, which is the opposite problem for me tonight.  Then again, he's had a lot more to worry about than me.  If you're interested, check out the sample on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/hnfhk