As we ring in the new, reflect on the old

 

 

 

 The new  year looms large and it's straight ahead. 2024. I say it over, trying it out on my tongue. It sounds strange, for now. Growing up, I couldn't imagine ever reaching the year 2000 and decided by the time I did, I'd be too old to care. As it turned out, I wasn't even forty yet so I did care.

Although the new year is a time for celebration and making merry one more time before settling into often drab January, it's a change. I never was much of a party animal and I'll ring in 2024 at home, quietly. On New Year's Day, I'll follow tradition and cook pork (bacon for breakfast, a nice pork loin roast for midday dinner) for prosperity, black-eyed peas for luck, and a green vegetable to bring money my direction.

I'll think and maybe even sing the classic "Auld Lang Syne", based on a poem written by Scots poet Robert Burns, Burns wrote down the immortal lines in 1788 but didn't appear in print until soon after Burns' death in 1796. Burns claimed to have gotten some of the lyrics from "an old man". Mentions of auld lange syne and bits of the poem appeared even earlier. The tune most of us recognize and the anglicized words didn't appear until 1799.

The original was written in a broad Scots dialect. The classic first stanza and chorus originally were:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Today, we're more familiar with this version, changed little (although if you read or sing the rest of the song, there are many differences!):

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll drink a cup of kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne.

Auld Lang Syne means "old long since" or as we translate it today, for old times' sake.

In January, named for the two-faced god Janus, god of gates and transition. Janus is shown facing two directions at once, back and forward. It's the perfect name for the month where most of us do both.

 

One of my Christmas gifts this year is a new planner along with a set of markers in various bright colors. My son bought a much finer version than the plain one I suggested but I love it. A planner helps me keep track of upcoming dates and events. I often also write a few notes to remember the days as they unfold.

 

The cold of January seems to seep deep into the bone. After the hustle

and bustle of the holiday season, January always slows things down. Winter

seems to set in to stay awhile. Spring looms far ahead and most of us struggle

to recreate our ordinary patterns, to get back into the swing of things. Days

move with slow certainty.

January can be capricious. The frigid weather that makes us shiver can shift to warmer temperatures and even an occasional thunderstorm.

As I write and work, I gaze out across a barren winter landscape and gaze at all the brown hues.

It’s also a period of time as I prepare for what I have coming ahead this year as a writer and continue to move forward. A few years ago, January just meant a time to get things back on track but my life shifted in many ways.

This January marks five years since my husband, Roy Murphy, passed away on January 12. I lost my dad on January 10, 2009. My three children have grown up so the one-time wife, mother, writer, and author has become a widowed author with adult children.

During my husband’s illness, my fiction slowed and then stopped. I carried on as a reporter, columnist, then editor for the local newspaper as well as one for another nearby city. After Roy’s death, it took time to return to writing novels. After accepting a severance buyout offer from Gannett/Gatehouse Media in December 2020, I became a full-time author.

After the publication of Still Waters Run Deeper (Evernight Publishing) in October 2017 (when Roy’s health took a nosedive and my life shifted), it wasn’t until 2021 I saw my next work appear. Since then, counting my latest release in November 2023, I’ve had twelve new titles appear.

These include Scrooge And Marlee, By Any Other Name, The Cowboy Gladiator, Where Dreams Come True, and A Cure for Love among others.

In 2023, I had four new releases:

For 2024, I already have six under contract and more submitted so I expect the number to grow:

The lower right bottom square is for Gray's Good Samaritan, scheduled to release on February 5, 2024, my first release of the year. A reprise of an earlier work, it's been improved, tightened, and updated. I don't have a cover yet but will share one as soon as I do.

There will be more in the Laredo series from World Castle in addition to The Legacy of Boone Wilson and The Endurance of Moses Wilson shown above. There will be a Christmas 2024 release and much more is in the works.

I've also dipped a toe into the editing field. Here are three titles I had the pleasure of editing:

For the coming year, I hope to live happier and healthier. I pray for peace, prosperity, health and more for my loved ones. I pray for the 27 youth I have the privilege of leading toward Confirmation. I don't know what 2024 will bring but we will see.

Happy New Year and all the best for each of you. Look for my works forthcoming from The Wild Rose Press, World Castle Publishing, Champagne Books, and Evernight Publishing.