Wishes for a Happy New Year

Hello all! I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I know Santa was very kind to me this year as I have recieved the movie The Conspirator, The Victoria and Albert Museum book Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Fashion in Detail (It's what I like to all an eye-gasm...everything is sooooo pretty!), and an iPad.

I always hate the first few days after Christmas. I really want to curl up and watch A Christmas Carol, or listen to my music while sitting near the fire. Alas, however, this joyous season is soon coming to a close.

Still, I'm hopeful for the New Year and have gotten a good leg-up on my new story. :)

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all recieve an agent and a contract...I know that's what I'm hoping for.

A Christmas Wish

Well, it won’t be long before Christmas is upon us. It’s currently 52ish degrees here in Tennessee, so I find it especially hard to believe that soon it will be Christmas morn. In a few days, I will be going up to my grandparents’ house to open gifts from my cousins—there are 20 of us—and possibly Midnight Mass with my folks.

This Christmas season has gone by so fast. It feels like yesterday I was helping my roommate prepare for our Halloween party, and now it’s less than a week to Christmas!

I remember when I was younger the 25^th of December seemed to take forever to arrive. My mom put up this special calendar for December where each day you put a toy in Santa’s bag. I used to count the days, waiting eagerly for the night of the 24^th. On that day I would go up to my grandparents’, opening toys that I had been craving for what seemed like an eternity.

As the adults would play Dirty Santa, my cousins and I would play with our new gifts. Even after a full day of excitement, when I arrived home that night, I wasn’t the least bit tired. I can distinctly recall lying in my bed at midnight, my faithful Pooh Bear beside me, listening for the magical sound of Santa’s sleigh.

Of course, I never heard it. I discovered when I was about 7 or 8 that my beloved Santa Clause did not exist.

At first I was horrified when my mom broke the news to me, and I accused her of lying to me and tricking me.

I have since gotten over it, and my mother and I have patched things up. ;)

Christmas has changed a lot for me since I was a little girl. Now after my grandparents, I go to sleep on Christmas Eve. Instead of getting beautiful dolls or cuddly stuffed animals, I receive iTunes or Starbucks gift cards, a Kindle, and maybe a couple of movies. More importantly, however, I do not receive a gift from Santa.

Over the years, I have gotten wonderful gifts from my family over the years. A kindle as previously mentioned and a nice TV. My mother and father always make sure that I have a good Christmas and receive wonderful presents, to that which I am very thankful. However, I still can’t help but feel as though the magic of the season has slowly died. I still love Christmas, but not in the same way. I no longer wait anxiously to hear the bells from Santa’s sleigh, make a mile-long list, or look at the Christmas Eve sky hoping to see the blinking red light from Rudolph’s nose.     

I believe now if I were to receive anything this Christmas, I would want to go back to the age where I still believed in Santa. I want just one more Christmas where I still believed in the magic that comes with this most wonderful season. I want to wake up once more giddy with excitement, seeing that Santa had indeed come. I would like to again have the innocence of a child.

Now to quote one of my favorite Christmas books, “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Happy Holidays!

I'm sitting here at my Aunt's house in New England listening to family laughing and visiting together. It makes me just apperciate the holidays and this time of year even more. I can smell the pumpkin pies baking in the oven, and soon the house will be packed with relatives and numerous dogs. I can't wait and feel very, VERY blessed.


This year I'm thankful for the following:


1. My awesome family who are there for me no matter what.
2. My great friends who always know how to make me laugh and smile.
3. My roommates who are NOT crazy, mean, and actually have lives.
4. My health and the health of all of those I love.
5. The fact that it is so close to Christmas and soon everyone will be reunited.

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I’m climbing back into the saddle both with this blog and my writing.

I have decided to start over with my blog, hoping to make it more about my adventures in college and my writing of course.

In September (I think) I finished my Revolutionary War story entitled The Tory’s Daughter. I have received lots of advice on it, and am in the process of getting it revised by beta readers and the good folks of Absolute Writer Water Cooler.

Now, I am starting to write my Civil War Story entitled Yankee Belle. However, I’m having some trouble.

When I wrote the opening scene of The Tory’s Daughter, everything flowed so naturally. I believe I wrote around 2,000 words in one sitting. It was perfect—well not perfect, but everything seemed to just come together so nicely.

Yet, I am having trouble with Yankee Belle. I only wrote up to 600 words when I first started out. I took a break, and then wrote an additional 300. I think it works well, but I am afraid I’m having trouble getting back into the writing game.

I woke up this morning hoping that maybe I was just a little rusty, but I have only managed to crank out 119 words. I know what I want to say and what happens next, I just don’t know how to say it.

Does anyone else have this problem?

I surely hope it isn't long term.

Sincerely,
Sarah