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End of Year Organize & Purge

For some odd reason, in the midst of the busiest season of the year I always find myself organizing and purging. Some call it decluttering. I don’t. Decluttering is a messy and undignified word. I am quite fond of the word “purge,” and as a Capricorn, “organize” is just part of my DNA. The act of purging itself is actually difficult for me. I’m a sentimental person; and, again, I’m a Capricorn. I can find sentiment in every item I own, and I can eventually use everything currently in my house for it’s stated purpose, OR… I can repurpose it given the opportunity.

I don’t know, perhaps organizing and purging is a baked in kind of thing for me—get rid of the old and make room for the new. As unusual and weird of a year 2020’s been, it’s no different for me than any other year in regard to the organize and purge impulse. It’s December? Yes! Time to organize and purge!

One of the areas I’m focusing on this year is my computer files. Oh. My. Goodness! What a frightful collection I’ve got! I am not exaggerating when I claim I’ve got about two terabytes of information stored between computers, drives, flash drives, and disks—likely more. How many of them are duplicates files, I cannot say.

While I love my Mac computers, I do not love the Apple filing system itself. It’s been a burr under my saddle since my first experience with it. It makes dupes when you want to move files, and creates a tangled mess that leads me to ignore it all until I have no more room to operate. It hurts my head trying to figure it all out, so I leave it until I’m forced to deal with it. To say it kills me to delete files, especially when it comes to umpteen versions of all my books is an understatement. But, let’s just say I’m thankful all those draft copies are not physical copies or I’d have to have a 20,000 sf house!

Actually, I still have several physical draft copies of my first book I’ve lugged around with me for 25 years. That first book was 600 pages; yet, I cannot bear to toss them. Each is unique and a step toward finishing something monumental in my life—my first novel. I would bet every writer who’s hoping to complete their first novel or who already has knows exactly to what I’m referring.

Sometimes, I’ll sit down and read through those hefty drafts, reminiscing through the editing notes in them, marveling at my writing and editing method at the time. It seemed so tedious then. I remember how thrilled I was when I first began editing directing on my computer. Now, so many years later, I realize I felt a connectedness to my work then that often feels missing now. Physically holding something in my hands and making corrections and notes with a wood Ticonderoga pencil as opposed to staring at a glowing screen for hours and hours at a time felt more… real. Comforting, actually. Hmmm… I’m sensing a change of process in my future. Old school redux.

There’s no shortage of organizing and purging needed here. Besides my files, I have many other areas I plan to tackle this month so I can start January fresh, with a much lighter load. The truth is, disorganization and an overabundance of stuff can make it difficult for me to write. I have to make my bed, wash my dishes, and pick up the house before I can write with a clear head. As the year goes on, small things I feel I can ignore (like my files—physical and digital) eventually grow out of control and begin to not just clutter my space, but my mind as well.

The part I enjoy most about living in cold country is I’m stuck indoors for the winter months. Sure, I can lay around watching television, or get stuff done. Of course, I use those months to start writing in earnest. Whatever I don’t get done by January 1st, I will continue to chip away at during those long winter months.

What’s interesting is the older I get, the more I worry about dying in my house, surrounded by stacks and stacks of stuff no one will understand when they come to clean out my house. It really does weigh on my mind, and so I want to avoid that situation at all costs. When I die (which I plan on being a long, long time from now, by the way), I want the clean up crew to say, “Wow, this lady was really neat—and, considerate.” This is why I can’t die for a long time. I’m just not ready—I need about 30 more Decembers of organizing and purging!

End of Year Organize & Purge

For some odd reason, in the midst of the busiest season of the year I always find myself organizing and purging. Some call it decluttering. I don’t. Decluttering is a messy and undignified word. I am quite fond of the word “purge,” and as a Capricorn, “organize” is just part of my DNA. The act of purging itself is actually difficult for me. I’m a sentimental person; and, again, I’m a Capricorn. I can find sentiment in every item I own, and I can eventually use everything currently in my house for it’s stated purpose, OR… I can repurpose it given the opportunity.

I don’t know, perhaps organizing and purging is a baked in kind of thing for me—get rid of the old and make room for the new. As unusual and weird of a year 2020’s been, it’s no different for me than any other year in regard to the organize and purge impulse. It’s December? Yes! Time to organize and purge!

One of the areas I’m focusing on this year is my computer files. Oh. My. Goodness! What a frightful collection I’ve got! I am not exaggerating when I claim I’ve got about two terabytes of information stored between computers, drives, flash drives, and disks—likely more. How many of them are duplicates files, I cannot say. 

While I love my Mac computers, I do not love the Apple filing system itself. It’s been a burr under my saddle since my first experience with it. It makes dupes when you want to move files, and creates a tangled mess that leads me to ignore it all until I have no more room to operate. It hurts my head trying to figure it all out, so I leave it until I’m forced to deal with it. To say it kills me to delete files, especially when it comes to umpteen versions of all my books is an understatement. But, let’s just say I’m thankful all those draft copies are not physical copies or I’d have to have a 20,000 sf house! 

Actually, I still have several physical draft copies of my first book I’ve lugged around with me for 25 years. That first book was 600 pages; yet, I cannot bear to toss them. Each is unique and a step toward finishing something monumental in my life—my first novel. I would bet every writer who’s hoping to complete their first novel or who already has knows exactly to what I’m referring. 

Sometimes, I’ll sit down and read through those hefty drafts, reminiscing through the editing notes in them, marveling at my writing and editing method at the time. It seemed so tedious then. I remember how thrilled I was when I first began editing directing on my computer. Now, so many years later, I realize I felt a connectedness to my work then that often feels missing now. Physically holding something in my hands and making corrections and notes with a wood Ticonderoga pencil as opposed to staring at a glowing screen for hours and hours at a time felt more… real. Comforting, actually. Hmmm… I’m sensing a change of process in my future. Old school redux.

There’s no shortage of organizing and purging needed here. Besides my files, I have many other areas I plan to tackle this month so I can start January fresh, with a much lighter load. The truth is, disorganization and an overabundance of stuff can make it difficult for me to write. I have to make my bed, wash my dishes, and pick up the house before I can write with a clear head. As the year goes on, small things I feel I can ignore (like my files—physical and digital) eventually grow out of control and begin to not just clutter my space, but my mind as well. 

The part I enjoy most about living in cold country is I’m stuck indoors for the winter months. Sure, I can lay around watching television, or get stuff done. Of course, I use those months to start writing in earnest. Whatever I don’t get done by January 1st, I will continue to chip away at during those long winter months. 

What’s interesting is the older I get, the more I worry about dying in my house, surrounded by stacks and stacks of stuff no one will understand when they come to clean out my house. It really does weigh on my mind, and so I want to avoid that situation at all costs. When I die (which I plan on being a long, long time from now, by the way), I want the clean up crew to say, “Wow, this lady was really neat—and, considerate.” This is why I can’t die for a long time. I’m just not ready—I need about 30 more Decembers of organizing and purging!

Now Available @ All Major Digital Retailers

“Much beloved and fan-favorite Dot Baverstock is back in this fourth installment of The Em Suite—but not in a way you’d ever expect.

Dot and her son Waverly have a deep, dark secret they’ve been keeping for years. When Dot suffers a traumatic fall, they make a difficult and daring decision to expose themselves to their extended family.

Waverly has orders to report for Air National Guard duty which would leave Dot, seriously injured, on her own or in the care of strangers. Em and Eve, with their son, Liam rush out to the Palm Springs desert to the rescue. Along for the ride is Em’s ex and Liam’s aunt, Prairie Fire Vaughn.

But, there’s something else…

Dot and Waverly’s secret, ”the “Big Mystery,” and the true reason the family is needed is revealed soon after their arrival. It appears far more will be needed from them than caretaking, while also putting them in peril. There’s no question. They love Dot. They’ll do anything for her, even if it means breaking the law.

Regrettably, Dot’s fall reignites an antagonistic foe, prompting memories of her late partner, Ivey, and the root of the “Big Mystery,” taking her back to the early 1970s to when they first met.

In mourning for her best friend and long-time infatuation, Fiona, Prairie is on bereavement leave from her job as a major league baseball physical trainer. While Em and Eve deal with the “Big Mystery,” Prairie takes on the role of primary caretaker to Dot for her physical care, and to orphaned Liam as familial continuity. Prairie and Dot haven’t seen each other in twenty years, not since Dot first found her to rehabilitate Em after a life-altering car crash. Their friendship grows as they spend day after day confined to Dot’s upstairs bedroom.

Meanwhile, secluded on the other side of the property, lovers Em and Eve dutifully tend to Dot and Waverley’s problem. They’re also still adapting to being parents. Two weeks earlier, upon her untimely death, Fiona left her not-quite-three-year-old son to Em to raise as her own. Em, too, is mourning Fiona, her long-time soul mate. No one but Em truly understands why their bond was so deep. If she has her way, they never will.

Love, tragedy, humor, heartbreak; adventure, mystery, and danger all deliciously intertwine in this fun, yet heart-tugging installment of The Em Suite. Though Dot in the Weeds is part of a series, it is also a story that firmly stands on its own.”

The final stretch…

We are in the final stretch before publication! The story is complete, and all that’s left are the finishing touches on the cover and interior design. It’s been a double-edged sword getting this long-awaited project ready to market. Much needed surgery on my injured shoulder has given me time off from my “day” jobs, but typing one-handed, oft times through a pain or pain prescription induced haze, has cut that time immeasurably. Ah, but it could be worse, and during this season of thanks, I am, indeed so very thankful I have the ability, though hindered, to carry on. My goal is a 1 December 2018 release of the paperback edition. Backcover blurb to follow within the next days. Stay tuned!

 

The Em Suite

The Em Suite

Magnhild Press Presents

The Em Suite

On Friday, May 13th, Prairie Fire, Book 3 of The Em Suite, will be available for sale exclusively on Amazon.com. Beginning today, Book 1, The Incredible Transformations of Alice Hollywood, The Em Suiteand book 2, Mackenna on the Edge, will both have special offers to encourage readers to read them prior to reading Prairie Fire.

While all three titles can be read as standalone stories, they really were written as a continuing story; rather, as interconnected stories.

Alice Hollywood will be offered as a free download for the next two days to anyone. Mackenna on the Edge will be offered in a price countdown campaign with a beginning price of $.99 and concluding next Tuesday at its normal selling price of $2.99.

Magnhild Press does not have any plans to offer any discounts on Prairie Fire for the foreseeable future. If it happens, it won’t be until mid to late 2017.




The series revolves around Mary-Mackenna Martín, also known simply as Em, thus the title of the series, The Em Suite. Though the individual titles of Book 1 and Book 3 are named for specific characters, they are but supporting characters to the overall continuing story of Em.

In Book 1, Alice Hollywood, we are introduced to Em and seemingly where her story begins, with Alice being the catalyst of Em’s personal development. Book 2, Mackenna, jumps seventeen years after Book 1, with glimpses back in time as Em deals with her grief over the passing of her parents and unresolved issues from her past. Prairie Fire fills in some of the gap between Book 1 and Book 2, and concludes with a peak into Book 4, the in-progress Dot in the Weeds, projected for publication in 2017.

While the series begins in 1976, it spans into the 1990’s and even careens back into the 1960’s. For readers in their late forties through early sixties, this series will be a trip back to a familiar time. For younger readers, The Em Suite will give you a peak into segment of the past that your parents, grandparents or older friends experienced. When there were no cell phones, computers, voice mail, DVRs, Twitter, Facebook or anything remotely familiar in our current modern lives, and yet, we managed to survive.

Exclusive to Amazon.com, readers who are Amazon Prime members can take advantage of their membership by borrowing one title a month. Members of Kindle Unlimited can borrow any title any time for a monthly fee.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Djuna Shellam’s video blog HERE.