Like most people, I experienced 2024 as a roller coaster. When I was little there was an animated show that would air right before we started chanting with the crowd in Times Square as the ball dropped. I don’t remember much except the last image. The old worn-out man in a robe, hunched over with a white beard to his knees passing a torch? a balloon? something symbolic to a chubby, happy baby in a diaper marked with the new year.
The point to this image (that I apparently don’t remember as well as I thought I did) is that January 1st we get to start over. I’ve heard that our New Year should be in spring because people aren’t motivated to do anything in the dark and cold of January. We are supposed to be hibernating and reading books and eating yummy soups. Okay. But what if it is less about immediately DOING and more about BEING.
Here is one of my favorite quotes to read at the end of a yoga class:
For a seed to achieve its greatest expression
it must come completely undone.
The shell cracks, its insides come out
and everything changes.
To someone who doesn’t understand growth,
it would look like complete destruction.
by Cynthia Occelli
So I won’t bore you with details about how our “Grandfather 2024” got the last laugh requiring two cars to being taken to the mechanic and an emergency water heater replacement in the last week. Or how my father had to be taken to the ER (he is stable and making dad jokes in the group text chat so appears to be on the mend).
Instead, I’m going to focus on the positive. I made a scrapbook of my oldest daughter. I imagine some of you raising your eyebrows because you were expecting something spectacular. It IS spectacular for me.
We have a tradition where we take a photo of each child AROUND their birthday (clears throat in a non-guilty way) in a specific outfit or with a certain piece of sports equipment or in a specific pose. I have four children so it’s a little different, but you know what I mean. I drag my feet about making scrapbooks for the same reason I drag my feet on writing. My perfectionism makes me procrastinate and procrastination builds the tension. It sucks the joy out and leaves guilt. There is no external deadline and so the nostalgic time to enjoy looking through years of my daughter wearing my wedding dress as she grows turns into a stressful to-do that creates anxiety. After having this on my list for THREE YEARS I finished it in time to order before Christmas and surprised her with the book.
Another positive moment occurred at the end of 2024 as well.
Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of Postcards from a City of Monsters. If you forgot or need more copies, here is a link: Purchase. The award really boosted my confidence because the book hasn’t received a lot of reviews.
That was Grandfather 2024. What news from Baby 2025?
I have a new story out! The fantasy and science fiction magazine Abyss & Apex purchased “Where the Kelpies Swim” and its here, available to read for free. I am so excited and proud to be in their pages for a third time. This magazine was my FIRST professional sale back in…2012. Wow. Back when I was a baby writer. I love that the editors embrace mixing genre elements and the freedom of speculative fiction as long as it serves the story. I also love the way the editors take spend so much time and attention on each story.
I wish everyone a Happy 2025! May this year bring success, growth, and kindness to all.
Taste of Sherri 