11/13/25 – Why waste a good headache? Try flying during a government shutdown!!

Hey there happy reader!

I had a great time enjoying California, with picture perfect weather and a whole lot of play time with my assistant #1…

I made it home from Los Angeles, but not without a whole lot of nail-biting! 

Surviving the anxiety of travel is not for the weak at heart – especially with the added bonus of a lack of air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown, which thankfully seems to have a shot of being resolved by the time you read this.

I was lucky. 

My flight left on time, but I was pretty nervous as we took off and then landed. I kept thinking about Rebecca Yarros’ book, “In The Likely Event.”

In this story, a young couple meets on a plane. She’s a nervous flyer; he’s calm and tells her that the most dangerous time on an airplane ride is the first three minutes and the last nine minutes. Of course, their plane crashes.

I won’t tell you more because it’s a good book and I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I guess I shouldn’t have read it just before flying myself! Happily, we took off and landed safely. Now if they only could have worked the jetway at JFK, maybe deplaning would have gone smoothly too!

I am currently in the middle of the November writing sprint. 

I mentioned this last week — it’s a terrific and motivating way to help writers keep on track. You log in each day and are held accountable for a certain amount of words as you move along with your writing project.

It’s truly helped me get ever so close to the finish line for “Below the Horizon.” I really think you’re going to like this book. It has a little bit of everything – history, romance, suspense, and a twisty ending. As soon as it’s done, you will be the first to know!

And if racing to the finish line with my work-in-progress wasn’t enough, I’m also planning to host family for Thanksgiving. 

What’s that old adage? “If you need to get something done, ask a busy person?” Truer words were never spoken, lol! I work on my novel in the (shortened) daylight hours, and menu plan at night! When my friends ask about which shows I’m watching, I just laugh. I’ll catch up in the New Year, I’m sure…

What about you? Are you planning to cook this Thanksgiving? What’s the one dish you must make or there will be a family uprising without it? For us it’s clearly sweet potato pie… I’ll be peeling those tubers for hours!

I hope you aren’t freezing wherever you are – we had our first snow shower here in the northeast this morning. If it’s cold outside, you can always curl up on the couch with a good book! Just don’t read one about a plane crash if you’re traveling this season!