I didn’t buy much in the way of new clothes for a year. But masks? Boy, did I buy a lot of masks.

This is one of my favorites.

I enjoyed wearing it on our daily walks.

I’m enjoying not wearing it on our daily walks even more.

The Highlights Foundation campus is open again! I’m doing a 4-day personal retreat. I’ll have my own cabin! I’ll walk through the meadow! I’ll eat great food! I’ll read!

Oh, yeah. I will probably write too, because that’s supposed to be the point.

In all seriousness*, the timing is perfect. I’m at that point in revising that I’m not only searching for missing puzzle pieces, I’m smashing some of the ones I already have.

*Possibly a first for me. Savor it while you can.

Most important events of the last two weeks

1. Got to LA and Hastings-on-Hudson to see both sons and families.
2. Found great coffee places in both*

*Because how do you write without great coffee?

PS. That’s not me in the photo**

**Feel better now?

This is my son the actor/director/writer/singer’s* latest project.

https://www.michaelmeirsaltzman.com/bio

The rest of his website is pretty cool too.

*And a bunch of things I can’t remember, because my head is filled with pollen.

1. 2 dinners at restaurants (outside of course).
2. Ditto my favorite coffee/writing spot
3. No longer afraid when a maskless person walks past me
4. Made plans to see

For the first time since February, 2020, my husband and I had iced lattés on the plaza of my favorite writing spot. They had only one doughnut left, but who cares?*

Ok, maybe I cared a little.

Is there a truffle exception for Valentine’s Day? My husband gave me a box this morning. I’ve already eaten four. It’s only 2pm.

Yes, an agent actually asked me for the full manuscript a couple of days ago! She said my sample was great! Because I’m a writer, I’ve already shifted into the “Now she’s reading it and saying to herself, ‘what was I thinking when I asked for this?” stage But I’m not going to linger on that. Instead, I’m going to watch a video of a zoom session between a kitten, a lawyer, and a judge over and over again.

The suffering of millions—loss, illness, hunger—can overwhelm us, especially in this season. I offer a paraphrase of Norman Cousins’ words to a group of Peace Corps volunteers when they were about to depart for their posts. “Some days you’ll have 200 people in line for food and only have enough for 100. Help those 100 and be satisfied.” He knew that otherwise, they would be so frustrated, they would quit, and go home, and no one would be fed. Do something, however small, whether it’s giving $5 to a food bank or running an errand for someone who’s housebound, and let it empower you. Conversely, if you are one of those who are suffering, don’t be ashamed to reach out. You’ll be doing a good deed for those who help you

So I got a bunch of ♥️s for my Pitmad pitches Thursday. For those not familiar with it*, Pitmad is a Twitter writers contest held 4 times a year.** And if an agent or editor ♥️s your pitch, you get to query them and send a partial or a full of your manuscript, sometimes with a synopsis. And I was THRILLED, until I realized, I’ve never queried this before. I don’t have a blurb for my query. Basically, what I have for my query is “Dear (insert name of editor or agent here)” and “Thanks for your consideration.” I don’t have a synopsis yet. I’m going to spend the next three days writing them, and there’s a chance they’ll still be dreadful and about as interesting as a shopping list.

*Those 3 non-writers who follow me

**This is also true for those familiar with it.