Of podcasts and giant can-openers…
Now that we are in our second (third? fifteenth?) winter of our discontent, I have been struggling to find things to do. Perhaps you have too, what with the cold temperatures and icy sidewalks forcing many of us to remain inside. Luckily, a couple of things have fallen into my lap recently that have helped me to shake off some of the winter blues.
First, after writing about how I enjoy women’s podcasts I was invited to participate in one! Sherry Knowlton (author of Dead of Autumn and other Alexa Williams novels) and J.M West (author of the Carlisle Crime Cases series) are two authors from my publisher Sunbury Press who host a podcast called Milford House Mysteries. We chatted for half an hour about life and books and writing. When I’m writing, I don’t normally think about the process of writing so it was challenging to step back and think about how I write and then voice those ideas out loud. It was also interesting to feel a part of the larger writing community. You can listen here.
Second, I seem to have acquired a part time job! A friend that I worked with at Curves asked if I was interested in working with her at a local meal service company. It’s called What’s Cooking! and it produces an amazing number and variety of meals from a small commercial kitchen. It’s fun to be a part of, especially since I’m used to my small-scale home cooking. There are full size sheet pans with parchment paper in perfectly fitting sheets covered in golden brown, roasted potatoes. There are cans that take two hands to lift and the full upper body to crank around on the giant can opener, as well as weighing and measuring tasks, and opportunities to mix big quantities of ingredients in pans the size of my sink at home. Most importantly though, there is conversation and the company of others, which is a real treasure in overly quiet times. Here’s a link to What’s Cooking!
Having something to do, feeling useful and engaged makes a huge difference these days. And of course, if you’re looking for something to read on a quiet winter afternoon, you can find my new book Seeing in the Quiet here. If you enjoy ebooks and participate in Kindle Unlimited, all of my books are available there!
