Ho-ho-holidays

I was given a gift of free time, and what happened? 

I got sick.

However, I'm on the mend and I did not squander all the time.  St. Paul is significantly updated and pending one last round of comments from a fellow critiquer, hoping to get the conversion to e-book started shortly.

Living Canvas has survived it's own round of rewrites, and I'm a full 2/3 the way through that and chugging forward.  I'm excited to have made contact with an editor who will hopefully help me make that one saleable shortly, and with that completed and "off the shelf," I'm looking forward to starting one of two new stories that I've outlined (but first things first).  That's the exciting news on the writing front.

On the homefront, as my friends know, I normally like watching holiday movies, etc., and this year I'm sorely disappointed by some of the really bad quality of the newer holiday movies.  I watched one last night that felt like a train wreck.  The plot was implausible, the actors were not talented or even terribly attractive, the story line didn't flow . . . and yet I watched to the bitter end.  ICK.  That's all I can say.  The themes don't vary much, and I don't imagine they can, although I saw a different take on the "It's a Wonderful Life" tack by taking a woman and fast forwarding her ten years instead of showing her how her life had impacted people in the past.  I didn't finish that one but will later tonight (DVR is a wonderful thing).

This has been a year of growth and revelations for me.  Life changing in some ways (without being too dramatic).  In line with that, the Christmas story I've been wanting to write forever has finally taken on a solid outline.  It comes as a culmination of life events this year and movies I've seen this year that I liked, maybe identified with just a little, but hoped for a more realistic angle.  It's a different kind of happily ever after - and I'm actually pretty stoked to put it to paper.  Again, first things first.  The story isn't going anywhere, and I'm pretty confident I can get it done for next year Christmas even with the speedbumps that slow me down over the course of a year (including getting Living Canvas into publication!).

So time to break out the Christmas carols, sip some eggnog and enjoy some quiet time.  I think I'll stick with the old classics when it comes to the movies - Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, maybe even a While You Were Sleeping for something a little more au courant.

How do you get in the holiday mood?