A Whole Lot of Change All At Once

 

Dear Nicholas, I feel like an air traffic controller (with limited control) with all that’s happening just lately. Given our complicated times, I’m probably not the only one. But everybody’s list of flying objects is different.

Here’s my list of just a few weeks:

*New book under contract!

*Good lab results on husband’s cancer (wonderful!)

*Moving my paper-stuffed office home to my already-full house

*Agent awaiting revision to another book proposal

*Scrambling to make vacation and meet-new-grandchild-in-Poland visit happen in spite of formidable covid-inspired entry regulations (maddening!!)

*End of year financial stuff for Bob’s business and mine

*The usual responsibilities, including stopping global warming

*The holidays

Also, I signed up for a two-Saturday singing class.

So things are hopping. Or I am.

 

 

 

In more detail on three of these items:

THE BOOK is a novel, my fourth, MY LIFE ON EARTH AND ELSEWHERE, to be traditionally published in about

a year by a small and rather innovative press Hydra Publications, which does only speculative fiction, which is to say: fantasy and sci-fi.

My novel is the story of a girl in love with an astral boyfriend, a spirit who is in training to become human.This is happening at the same time her father is having more traditional religious experiences and developing monastic leanings. The book is unusual in that it treats Christianity and fringe New Age beliefs equally seriously. I’ve been working on it off and on since I was 32. That’s forty years. In the picture of me, I’m wearing a

starry number I bought in the story’s honor a while back.

 

 

 

THE LABS

Bob’s lab results after his six months of prostate cancer treatment are excellent. The treatment, which was increasingly hard on him, worked. He should be back to normal, full strength in four to six months. He wasn’t even worried; he assumed the report would be fine. I’m relieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SINGING: After I wrote last time about seeking a new passionate interest and daringly posted a video of me singing, I got quite a lot of advice coming in, including: consider piano. One friend told me about a two-Saturday free singing class at the beautiful nearby park Shakori Hills. A few days before the first, this past weekend, I got the email saying be prepared with a song to sing solo a cappella with no lyrics in hand. Heart sank, eyes rolled. And anyway, did I have time to be doing this?

But I went and sang and it was a wonderful experience:  We nine people in the class–“Sing Fearlessly and Love Your Voice” led by Marie Vanderbeck–all sang our solos several times each and got feedback. Amazingly everybody seemed comfortable, including me. There were folks there with no musical background at all and a couple of performers.  Every single person sang better after a few tries.

I left there on a high. I’m going again this Saturday and here’s video of the the song I’m going to sing. I changed the words a bit to better fit me. Remember: it’s not that the bear dances well, it’s that the bear is having a good time.

Peggy

 

 

 

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Tags: agent awaiting revision, astral boyfriend, bear dances well, book under contract, entry regulations, fringe New Age beliefs, girl in love, Hydra Publications, lab results, limited control, Marie Vanderbeck, moving, My Life On Earth, passionate interest, Shakori Hills, singing class, speculative fiction, traditional religious experiences, usual responsibilities