RELAX!!!

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 1 Comment

Happy 2026!

There are plenty of reasons to kick 2025 to the curb ~ heinous politics, health issues, book not published ~ but we also went to the first protests we’d ever participated in, made enjoyable use of our annual passes to the Discovery Cube, saw our friend, Robb Tracy, in THREE live shows, and walked thousands of steps at a nearby lake and at Knott’s Berry Farm. The Husband retired this year and that’s been an adjustment for both of us (I retired in 2022) but the freedom of not having to schedule around his job has been awesome. In short, 2025 coulda been worse so I’m grateful to make it out fairly unscathed.

Yeah, I’m a few days late to the New Year Party but it’s okay, especially since my word for this year is…

R*E*L*A*X

I come from a long line of worriers. Tension, upset, and worst-case scenarios are woven tightly into my DNA. I spend my days with my shoulders up around my ears and my nights dreaming of journeys not taken.

Doubt, imposter syndrome, and fear of failure after honest and very hopeful critiques in October ground my writing progress to a near halt. I celebrate typing one full sentence these days ☹ Such is the life of a writer…

And on a day-to-day basis, I find that I’m so often in Red Alert Mode.

Besides regular ole responsibilities around the house, I worry about:

Has everyone, including felines, gotten their meds?

Where do I have to drive today and what’s parking like?

What appointments and/or reservations do I need to make or get us to?

What bills do I have to pay? (Have scammers stolen all our money????)

These aren’t difficult or terribly demanding but the pressure I put on myself is ridiculous.

So, this year, RELAX is the word and the mantra for me.

Already, I’ve invoked the mantra whenever I feel my blood pressure and shoulders rise. I don’t want to go through my day unsmiling, tense, and just waiting for the next catastrophe (that’s 9 1/2 times out of 10 not catastrophic at all…).

I need to notice the joyful things, the things that make me laugh besides memes on Instagram, the things that bring calm to my life. I need to light candles again, and move more, and concentrate on doing things out of love, not some misplaced sense of perfection or duty, to either my loved ones or my readers.

I need to chill out, let tomorrow come tomorrow, and enjoy life with The Husband moment by moment.

Relax… relax… relax…

Aren’t cats relaxing?!

Any words or plans for this year? Let me know in the comments.

And just relax, man!

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What Mare Read in 2025

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This year I read 79 books/novella’s, down quite a bit from last year. I spent a lot of time during the late summer and fall editing the book I’m writing, so that obliterated a chunk of my reading time… When I decided to do another revision on the book, all those hours spent on editing seemed like a waste, but I learned a lot about my own writing foibles, so not a total squandering of my time. The revising continues…

I keep lists of books I want to read everywhere ~ one on my phone Reminders list, one on the phone Notes, plus an Excel spreadsheet ~ LOL! The Reminders list is titled B&N and comes in handy when Barnes & Noble runs their 25% off pre-order sales, which are almost as exciting to me as the Scholastic book sales at school many moons ago. I love the anticipation of getting a new book in the mail weeks or months later ~ it’s always good to have something to look forward to! 😊 The 25% preorder sale is on now until 1/1/26, for B&N Rewards members.

I ran through the two Barnes & Noble book journals (See the 2024 post) I used to record and review the books I read, so I bought a pretty notebook (below, right). The journal only allowed one page per book, with specific information to fill out and a star rating system ~ not much room to write my thoughts. Since the notebook I’m using now is just simple, lined pages, I can write as much as I want about each book without squishing my writing and sometimes adding sticky notes. Loving the freedom! YAY!

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A Christmasier Christmas Than Usual!

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 2 Comments

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Happy Thursday for those who don’t! And thank you for your service to anyone who has to work today!

Welcome to the last of The Five Blogs of Christmas!

The few things we’ve done for Christmas in the last bunch of years have mainly been performative – I insist on a fresh wreath inside our front door for the beautiful smell and our annual trek around the crazy Christmas light neighborhood (Click here full post). Holiday music isn’t allowed until after Thanksgiving. Our only stab at decorating is a tiny pink tree that keeps its ornaments year-round.

But this year, I started the music on November 1. And a four-foot tree, woven with white lights, charmed us at a thrift store. All it needed was Hector, my 48-year-old furry angel topper (Click here for full post), so I thought.

But I found a few ornaments in a closet, one especially dear to my heart – Santa’s list, bought when we were first married, includes both of our names!

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Holiday Movie Recommendations

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The fourth of The Five Blogs of Christmas is all about the movies.

I’ve been watching Christmas movies all through December, some new, some vintage. I’m leaving out the ones I gave less than four stars, ‘cause I sure can’t recommend duds! And remember, just like holiday books, it’s okay, even encouraged, to watch seasonal movies all year long!

Champagne Problems  2025

When Sydney is sent to Paris to secure the purchase of a prestigious family-owned champagne company, she spends an uncharacteristic night with a French book lover. Of course, he turns out to be the son of the owner of the company. But it’s not an advantage as she competes against a tough businesswoman, a German businessman (who gives a very different perspective on Die Hard, which is seen as a tragedy in Germany), and a sweetly flamboyant rich guy who loves the product and doesn’t want to see it ruined by new owners. Through a series of events meant to show the father who would be a better custodian of his legacy (the son, Henri, is not interested in taking over) and rich, emotional subplots involving the loss of his wife, Henri’s mother, this movie rose above others for me. Not only was there chemistry between the male and female leads, but every character, including the butler, the concierge, and a very cute dog, meshed in a way seldom seen in rom-coms. This movie has it all ~ good writing, great characters, and a satisfying Happily Ever After.

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The Annual Holiday Lights

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 2 Comments

The third of The Five Blogs of Christmas is all about the lights and sparkle!

December is my least favorite month. The pressure of gift giving, which has dwindled to a precious few but can still induce anxiety. The constant bombardment of holiday sales, sales, sales/buy, buy, buy! The carb loading. The general expectation to be merry. And for the last few Decembers without The Mom, who adored Christmas, it’s painfully emotional.

But this dread of December isn’t new. Over a decade ago, I sat myself down and thought about what brought me holiday joy when I was a kid. And I remembered that touring neighborhoods of crazy Christmas decorations lit up my spirit like a cozy fireplace. Since then, nearly every year, we pick up our fave seasonal drinks (The Husband ~ Hot Vanilla, Me ~ Peppermint Hot Chocolate) and stroll around the Eagle Hills neighborhood in Brea (CA), to renew our Holiday Spirit and walk off those mini mince pies and Christmas cookies.

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A Little Holiday Reading

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The second of The Five Blogs of Christmas is all about the books. Who doesn’t love a holiday romance?? Here’s a few I’ve read in the last few months, with additional recommendations in links below to past holiday reading fun.

Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon   Matthew Norman

I cried through the entire first chapter. Then I belly laughed through the second. Grace lost her husband to cancer in January, then she and her kids, Ian and Bella, adopted a dog on the way home from the funeral. Henry lost his wife in a plane crash in January and he hasn’t returned to their home in 10 months. Their mother’s scheme to get them together for a ridiculous, obvious meet cute. With the theme of holiday movies for each chapter, they grow closer in some ways, largely, in the beginning, because they understand completely what the other is going through. But Henry bonds with Ian, who’s trying to win an art contest at school. Bella’s a little harder to crack, like her mother. Both have near misses with other people. And they gradually begin the process of coming back to the real, painful world. There is so much honest, real chaos in both their lives, that the other makes better. Matthew Norman writes about the messiness of relationships, both romantic and platonic, with such ease. I highly recommend all of his books!

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Gingerbread Houses at The Cube

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 2 Comments

Holy Moley! It’s been two months since I posted! Well, life been lifin’ and writing has been on the back burner. Seems like I owe a few posts, so here is the first of The Five Blogs of Christmas.

A few weeks ago, we visited the Hilbert Museum to view their special Christmas art exhibit. The artworks were challenging to photograph due to the glass protecting most of the paintings but here’s a selection of the ones with the least glare. They were all beautiful, though!

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Mazes and Hay Rides and Pumpkins, Oh My!

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I’m always looking for new experiences nearby, here in Southern California, so when I saw a listing for the Tanaka Farms Hana Fields pumpkin patch in Costa Mesa, we had to give that a try. Jurassic-themed corn maze? Tractor hay rides? Pick your own pumpkin? And get to hand feed goats? Yes, please! Except for feeding goats, I’d never done any of those things, at least in recent memory.

We got our tickets for nearly half price on Groupon. I didn’t even know that Groupon was still a thing, but, Yay! We picked a day in the middle of the week and lucked out with a beautiful, clear sky and mild weather. If you’re in the So Cal area, it’s open till November 9.

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Happy Fall, Y’All

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 2 Comments

Thought I’d do a little catching up on the ole blog.

Here we are at the No Kings Rally last Saturday, October 18. Yup, we were part of the 7,000,000 patriots marching for the rights and dignity of this country.

On the writing front, I got a batch of beta reader feedback and now I’m pausing work on the book to complete the reader magnet, which details my main character’s spiritual origin in regards to seeing ghosts. I need to clarify in my own mind what her reasons are for finally engaging with a spirit before I can deepen her story at the beginning of the full-length book. So now, I’m looking at a 2026 publishing date… But it’s all good. I really want to bring you the best book possible!

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Hilbert Pastels and Watercolors

~ GrayMareWrites ~ 2 Comments

Not much to say—just wanting to add a little beauty to your day!

But first, before our trip to the museum, author and creative writing professor David Sandner spoke at our California Writers Club this Saturday. He specializes in weird – a word popularized from Shakespeare’s Weird sisters, taken from the Anglo-Saxon wyrd meaning fate or destiny – and has written several historical fantasy and sci-fi books. His talk about adding weirdness and fantastical elements to our writing was interesting but he was much more animated during the Q&A session, especially when he discussed the historical aspects of his book, His Unburned Heart, based on the true story of Mary Shelley’s determination to retrieve her husband, Percy Shelley’s, heart from his publisher after his cremation. Speaking of historical accuracy and understanding, he also talked about the fact that, until a few hundred years ago when capitalism and democracy collided to challenge humanity, people did not have any discernable control over their lives. Capitalism allowed people to break out of their predestined roles and caste systems to become entrepreneurs and move up the ladder of wealth and respect, and democracy gave them the freedom to have a say in the way their leaders governed over their everyday lives. 

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