It seems like 2007 arrived in a hurry. I wasn't expecting the last four weeks of the year to "melt away." The time passed so quickly that I didn't get all of my Christmas plans executed. I didn't miss wrapping or shopping. I missed stopping and visiting some of my friends. That would have been my gift to me - stopping by to have a cup of coffee and a chat and to make a special "Merry Christmas" for old times sake. I now resolve to start that sort of thing earlier next year.

Today was the day the entire family whisked away the decorations. Somehow it gave me the motivation to get planning new projects and scheduling the completion of a few things that got left behind in the old year.

I've read a lot about resolutions, but the only ones I made were to seek more, read more, and observe more. I've been involved interviewing interesting and talented Appalachian people for a series of articles that I'll use in a series of articles and possibly in a book. The old photos that I've run across from several archives have been amazing.  I've been amazed how most of these wonderful people lived up until the late 1940s with no electricity. Such inconvenience would be difficult for us to withstand. But throw in the fact, that all washing was done by hand, water was hauled in from a stream, and the heat was from a single wood-burning stove. Never mind the fact that all cooking was done on a wood cook stove. That brings me to my last resolution - give thanks every day!

I enjoy writing about things and people I love. That makes writing easy and makes life interesting. This is the year for several of my local books on Greensboro to be released. I'm also looking forward to having the Jack Tales come out. I'll keep everyone posted.

Drop by to read the blog entries. I've been running way behind lately because I've had too many writing deadlines for publishers. I finally had to slow down during November and December in order to have any family life at all. My little granddaughter turned three in November and I stopped to spend a little time with her. Then there was Thanksgiving and Christmas - friends and family.

Finally, I have Stories for Telling up and running. Each month will be a new story. These are meant to be good short reads. Teachers often have a hard time locating material that is less than book length to test student comprehension or simply use as a teaching device to help students learn to critique. Stories can be used for reading across the curriculum. Teachers may want to assign the story for students to "read and retell" or "read and rewrite".

Have a very Happy New Year and stay tuned to new and interesting features on my web site.