Forward Hope!

 

December 2022 Blog

Preparations: A Haiku

Getting ready for

Another year, hopefully

Better than the last.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(11/30/22)

 

Actually looking forward to a year better than the last three years. Well, one can only hope.

Had a great NaNoWriMo month, so that helps in the hope department for next year. Writing always makes me feel better.

Okay, I haven’t done real well in the publishing department this year. I did much better writing and editing. That means publishing should be a breeze this next year. That’s one of my big hopes.

Also hoping for an end to pandemics and wars. But that may be too much to actually look forward to. Then there’s the outside hope for an end to gun violence and mass shootings. I realize that may be just beyond the reach of hope.

I plan on spending a lot of time this coming year all by myself in my own little worlds of my own design. I should be most happy there.

I may have to take some time off to have cataract surgery. I’ll find that out in January. I understand that is a relatively routine procedure now – not at all like I remember people having in the 80’s. It was not an easy thing then. But I’m still not looking forward to it. I’m not fond of anything that takes me away from my first love – writing.

And I’d better get to that writing. My characters are even starting to invade my dreams. And their worlds right now are more preferable to mine. Except maybe the Castleweaver, Eldreth, who appears more in nightmares than in pleasant dreams, but then that is his wont. Maybe he will win out. I could use the chance to get some horror off my mind. Eldreth is a great way to vent.

Detective Sam Rock is standing here with his arms folded. Okay, I’ve got to get his sequel out so I can write the third one in the series and explain how he got kicked off the force in the first place. He swears it was not his fault. I believe him.

So, I have a lot to look forward to. It’s onward and upward. Next month will bring the New Year. Hope we can all ring it in with cheers and happy bell ringing.

In the meantime, feel free to check out my eclectic selection of books on Amazon. There may be something there you have yet to enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next month, read and write to your heart’s content. It certainly makes my heart feel better.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter (yes, I still Tweet) and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements. They will be forthcoming:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

It’s now December, the last month of the year. Thirty more days and 2022 is gone. See you next year.

 

 

 

 

 

Life in Limbo!

 

May 2022 Blog

Stasis: A Haiku

Time was “Limbo” was

Just a dance; of late, it’s been

The state of our lives.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(4/30/22)

It’s like waiting for that other shoe to drop. You know it’s gonna...  Whether its war or  pestilence, something is going to happen. I’m so tired of holding my breath, waiting for those things. I think it’s time to raise the bar and get back to something  like normal – like going to restaurants and movie theaters. Maybe just going out and having fun, maybe writing and editing and publishing like I used to.

Okay, maybe it’s  not just the plague and horrifying  news. Maybe it’s also that I’m getting older and more tired. Naps lately are sounding really good.

I guess I thought I’d just sail along through my golden years with the same energy and enthusiasm I’ve always had.

It’s not happening, and I feel the need to conserve what energy I do have. I’ve tried making lists and schedules, but it’s really hard for me to stick to them. Perhaps if I scheduled nap time in there, it would be easier to stick to.  But then I would probably just nap more.

So I guess I’ll keep muddling along until something clicks and I feel better and have more energy. Then I look forward to writing up a storm or two.

Maybe I’ll even get my ducks in a row. Heaven knows they’ve been paddling in circles for too long.

If you feel you need some relief from the doldrums or the news, feel free to check out my eclectic selections on Amazon. There may be something there you have not read yet.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. Enjoy what respite you can find in your lives.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

 https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Spring has sprung here and Summer is following close behind. It’s going to be a hot time. I’ve already fired up the air conditioners.

 

 

 

Cheers To A Happier New Year!

 

January 2022 Blog

Season’s Supplication: A Haiku

I would not only

Pray for world peace, but health for

All this time of year.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Hopefully, we have rung in a happier New Year. We are certainly celebrating the world over. Hopefully, that will not come back to bite us in the end.

We deserve an end to the pain and suffering and dying of the last two years. And I am so tired of the isolation. I would love to hug somebody, see the smile on an unmasked face. At the moment, it seems like only a far flung dreams, and we are mired in an unending nightmare.

I should have written tons on my manuscripts in the year just past, but the inspiration has been little and more than a long time coming. Yet I persist and I will publish what I can this year.

When I do write, I love it because for the time I’m writing I am wrapped in a world where I have the control. I determine who is happy and who is miserable. I decide who lives and who dies and when and how. Even the weather is at my command. Oh, the power! I can feel it even just writing this. It’s wonderful feeling.

But, then I put the pen down and I’m back in the real world, wearing a mask and trying not to touch too many surfaces anywhere.

I haven’t been to a movie theater in two years. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to a restaurant in that time also. My shopping is limited to Walmart, the local grocery store, and Office Depot. The rest of my shopping is on line. Amazing how much you can spend with one click of the finger – and what you can find on Amazon.

We have not had a winter here yet. I’m sure we will have some bad weather in the next few months. We certainly could use the moisture. We’re already considered in drought conditions for the year ahead. Sounds like we are in for another grassless, flowerless summer. More hot and dry times ahead.

Actually, I’ve not heard much encouraging news about the upcoming months of the year we just embarked upon. All my hope is based on the belief that we’ve had enough, and we deserve better – much better.

I guess that makes me somewhat optimistic, which is not a trait I have an over-abundance of. “What could possibly go wrong?” is one of my favorite questions, which serves me well as a writer. It’s amazing what problems I can dream up. Unfortunately, life has thrown in its own answers, and they have not been pleasant.

I’m planning on spending more time with my pen and paper this year. Hope I have enough of life’s memories left that I can keep my writing interesting. I’m certainly not planning on making many new memories anytime soon.

I guess I’ll just hunker down and keep a low profile in the real world. I thank the internet gods for the ability to connect with people all over the world at anytime of the day or night as long as the power doesn’t go down – there’s that “What could possibly go wrong?” again.

Guess I’ll post this and get on with finding dastardly situations to embroil my heroes and heroines in. Smiling at that thought. Writing horror is good.

Here’s hoping again for a brighter and better New Year. Maybe I better light a few candles and say a few prayers.

Happy New Year to one and all!

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, this month we can recover from the holidays and next month will find us looking forward to a less restrictive spring.

 

 

 

 

 

Departure

 

August 2021 Blog

No Way: A Haiku

It may seem I’m not

Getting anywhere, yet I

Will not go nowhere.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Stubborn, aren’t I?  As August starts on another rainy note, it also brings an upswing in Coronavirus cases again. My mind has grown tired of living in fear of its own life. I would have peace from this global hell of man’s creation.

I would have surcease of constant sorrow. I would have freedom from constant fear of death, either of mind or body. It also wouldn’t hurt to have freedom from the constant restrictions imposed in the battle to fight this pandemic for over one-and-a-half years.

I would have an end to it all.

I had a dream about nothingness last night and woke up with the tune and words to The Beatles “Nowhere Man” running through my muddled mind. Hence the above Haiku. In the dream, I was choosing a morbid dark-hued cloak with even darker symbols which I don’t remember clearly except for a dark maroon star (and I’m not even sure of its shape).

I also chose a pliable blue mask of a freakish cat face. It all might make a great horror novel some day, but I have no clue what any of it means.

     But that idea will have to wait until the completion of my many other projects . When will that time come?

Sooner than later, I promise. Starting today, I have promised to write every day. At least until the end of the year, if not forever. So far, such a pledge has worked well for me. I’ve posted at least one Haiku a day every day since January 1, 2014 and a blog on the first of every month since January 1, 2017.

So, next month’s blog will herald the progress I will have made during August. Should put me close to the end of the Sam Rock sequel. Would love to publish that by the end of the year, lest I publish no new book this year at all.

Other than that, there’s not much new in my world. Hard to have new experiences when there’s little you can go out and do, even with some of the restrictions being lifted. And sad to say that I’ve gotten used to not going anywhere and not doing much.

You’d think that I would  enjoy the isolation and write and write and write. But I always seem to run out of time or find some way to put I off until a tomorrow that seldom comes.

I so need to get beyond that and get back in the habit of writing ever day. It’s the only way I’m going to get things done what I need and want to do.

And to do that, I would best leave undone that which would waste my time – easier said than accomplished.

But, since I prefer not to be a “Nowhere Man”, I will give it another shot.  We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how far I can get.

July has also been brutal. Looking for so much better from August. Here’s hoping.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Also, please feel free to visit me at my Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

 

 

Raining on My Own Parade

 

June 2021 Blog

Brass Ring: A Haiku

Happiness is a

Lifelong pursuit without a

Lifetime guarantee.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

I have never been a happy-go-lucky person, but I’d like to think I have had some fun in my life. Lately, it seems, “I’m getting too old for this sh*t” has become my theme song.

I am sitting out in the sunshine between storms writing this. The sun’s warmth feels wonderful, but the re-gathering clouds loom ominously. Kind of like a metaphor for my life now.

Truly, I feel I am in a race against time to pour my remaining words out into the ether. And I seem to be losing that race.

I have no one to blame but myself. I just don’t seem to be up to the challenge anymore. “That which needs to be done” always seems better done tomorrow than today, even though I realize tomorrow is not a given and today needs to better embraced.

But then, this has been my theme for quite a while, hasn’t it? I’m beginning to wonder if I can change. Perhaps I’m afraid the if I complete things (or even a thing)  that will be the end. Foolish,for sure, but still within the realm of real truth.

I’d like to prove myself wrong about this. If for no other reason, than I am happiest when I am in that world of words and nothing else can penetrate – no undone task, no upcoming responsibility, no worry, no care...

See? There I go happily into that world, even with the clouds looming. Wouldn’t even care if I got rained on right now. (Okay, getting wet would not be a real great idea.)

Seems rain has become a theme lately. Besides posting that lead-in Haiku on Twitter the other day, I also recently posted:

Cloud Burst: A Haiku

It rained upon my

Parade of words today; they

Lie in turgid pool.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Guess I’m really not fond of storms and wet weather, even though any moisture  is appreciated when you’ve lived in drought conditions for so long.

But enough about today’s flood in my front and back yard. Let’s talk about the torrent of words not flowing from my drought-stricken mind.

I keep thinking that maybe if I didn’t have so much to do (actually no more than anyone else) and less stuff to worry about (actually have less than a lot of people), I could concentrate more on my writing.

Well, that seems like a no-brainer. Did I mention interruptions? Someone just dropped a text message on my phone. Now I get to worry about who and what the message is. I can’t stop and check right now, because I‘m outside. I also can’t see my screen when I’m outside, but I don’t want to stop and go inside, let my eyes adjust to the dark and either check the message or lose it as I do frequently, and this isn’t even a Smartphone.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, the year is almost half over, and it has pretty much gone the way of the last one. I  pretty much still don’t get out much and don’t get anything done.

Every time I sit down to write or edit, I have to re-gather my papers and my thoughts. It’s far too long between sessions. It’s a good thing the I have a running synopsis now of what I have already written, so I don’t have to go back over the whole manuscript. But every such stop and start is time-consuming and not the best use of the time yet allotted to me.

I’m happy that Steve Hamm is now narrating my first “Black Oak” novel, so I have that release to look forward to. But any other releases are strictly up to me, and so is the advertising campaign I need to start working on.

I need more reviews for my books on Amazon, so I’m going to be heavily promoting that in June. Any of my readers, who have enjoyed my books, if you can, please post a review to Amazon. People do tend to pay attention to those, and I could certainly use a boost – you know –  like the Experian Cow on TV – BOOOOST!

Okay, I’m smiling now and the sun is still shining . I guess I’ll wrap this up before my parade gets rained on again and go and check that message I got.

Have a great June! See you again come July!

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Also, please feel free to visit me at my Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

 

Happier New Year 2021

 

January 2021 Blog

Hard to raise a resounding cheer replete with mask and gloves, but here goes.

 

Happier 2021: A Haiku

The clock has struck, and

I have held my breath too long;

My cheer is silent.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Happy New Year! I am imploring 2021 to do better by us. It’s predecessor was such a cruel, deviant monster. It would be difficult to survive two such years in a row.

I know nothing has changed overnight, but there is hope on the horizon for better days ahead. I’m actually looking forward to getting a shot in the arm. Also, looking forward to less daily chaos surrounding us all. The sooner, the better on that front.

After things settle down, I’ll look forward to finishing at least two novels this year, along with a couple of Haiku chapbooks.

Sometime this month, the Audible version of “The Seasons of Sam Rock” will be live. I’m  listening Steve Hamm’s upload now. It sounds great! He really brings Sam Rock to life. Would love to see him star in a Sam Rock movie someday. I’ll settle for him doing the audible for the Sam Rock sequel now titled “The Secrets of Raven’s Roost: A Sam Rock Novel”, if he’s available. I like to dream big.

I’m also dreaming of a healthy world at peace. I’m thinking that is not so far-fetched with the changes coming this month. We can only wait and see, but the signs are encouraging

Maybe I’ll be able to concentrate more on my writing this year. There is so much I need to catch up on that’s been so difficult to do this last year. I spent way too much time worrying and waiting for the worst to happen. Maybe this year is my year to anticipate the good things left in life.

I’ll also look forward to going to a restaurant and enjoying the company of others. I’m even looking forward to getting in a car and going somewhere to enjoy the scenery and the people. And, although I don’t like crowds, I’d love to attend a gathering of people and not have to worry about coming in contact with someone with something I might get that might kill me. Oh, and I’d like to see a movie at a theater with popcorn and everything.

I ‘m hoping this New Year finds all my friends well and safe. It’s been rough for all of us. We’ve all gone from crisis to crisis with barely a chance to breathe in between. May we all find the inspiration to follow our dreams instead of reliving our nightmares on a daily basis.

I will try to maintain a positive attitude for this coming year. I’m planning on getting everything organized and clean and neat and tidy. Okay – now I’m getting into resolution territory. I hate doing that, because there’s always so much room for disaster and failure.

So, I’m not making any hard and fast resolutions this year. I’m just going to do the best I can, which is really the best we all can do.

I’ll be happily reading and writing and editing and publishing to my heart’s content. And I will be encouraging my writer friends to do the same, so all our reader friends out there can continue to follow our journeys and enjoy themselves.

So, again, Happy New Year! Cheers to a much better 2021!

Hard to believe that I have eleven books published, All are available on Amazon for your pleasure.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. Look forward to the best of the coming year. I have a feeling...

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, all were able enjoy some holiday festivities, and we can look forward to enjoying our lives even more in the coming months. Let’s keep the faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakes Alive!

 

September 2020 Blog

Egads! Oh, my goodness! What a year this has been, and it isn’t over yet.

 

Sakes Alive: A Haiku

Amazing – how long

You can hold your breath waiting

For that other shoe.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

You just know it’s going to fall; you just don’t know when.

We may just yet survive the year 2020; I’m just not sure how we’re going to do it.

It’s been a toxic year for so many reasons. It’s been hard not to get burned in one way or another.

Fires are raging both literally and figuratively. Besides the devastation of the wildfires raging in the west and the Amazon, we have people raging out of control across America. And then there’s the pandemic. Haven’t seen much control over that lately, either.

In the midst of all of this, we are trying to live and make a living. Both of which are becoming more and more difficult to do as time goes by.

So who has the wherewithal to sit and read? Or to even write? Some of us do, and some of us must.

To that end, “Global Warning” will be published in September. I wish I could say it will take our minds off of “things” for awhile, but that’s not what it’s designed to do.

It’s actually designed to make us worry about one or two more things –  the “Climate Crisis” we have been ignoring since the pandemic hit, and just maybe  the current acidic political climate.

While we are ignoring the above, we are close to registering what may be the hottest summer in history, with the hottest day (130 degrees F) ever recorded in Death Valley, California. Epic storms are devastating our land with their winds and their deluges. (If only we could put that water to good use, dousing the over 500 wildfires raging in California alone.)

And then there’s the “Climate Crisis” among people. We can’t hug, we can’t shake hands. We can’t even breathe on one another. We are, however, in the wake of the lack of niceties, becoming far more hostile toward one another, unforgiving and intolerant. This may be the most devastating crisis of all, and will surely need to be overcome before we can accomplish other needed changes. At this point one can only hope for the best – literally – as it seems we are not in control of our own future. If we were, I would like to think that cooler, more intelligent heads would prevail.

But I digress from announcing the release of my latest Haiku collection. I plan on announcing its release date on my weekly Twitter chat forum, #CelebsForSmallBiz. We’re live on Fridays at 2:00 PM MDT.       It’s in the late evening in the UK from where it originates.

If you can’t catch the chat, I’ll also post it on Facebook once it’s cast in concrete (or relatively so). Look for it on Amazon around the 22^nd of September, maybe with the coming of Fall.

In the meantime, please be well and please be as kind to the people and the animals and the earth all around you as you possibly can. Kindness matters more than ever now.

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off of things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, next month will find us all on the mend and on the upside of this thing, but that’s what I said last month, and it didn’t happen. However, I am still hoping...