A Reflection 0n 2015

 

2015 - It's Melting Away

The end of 2015 is upon us and as usual most of us reflect. This past year has not been my most difficult year, fortunately. 2013 was, and although the pain of loss my family and I experienced that year has not left us (it never will), I have surprised myself by managing to carry on -- to smile, to laugh, to fret, to care, to create, to love.

            I am delighted to have published my fourth book this year, and although I wish I could sell more copies, am pleased with the outcome. Go With The Flo is a mystery, and that fact in itself surprised me. When I began writing this novel, I had no intention of creating a murder mystery. My characters, Flo (Florence) being one, took over though, and yes, I had to go with the flow. It is amazing, but sometimes my characters seem to know where I’m going before I do.

            With the help of Publish Pros, I have a wonderful, new website. Check it out at www.jdechesere-boyle.com if you have a moment. All of my works, along with several reviews are highlighted there, and I’m happy with the result. The site also will take a reader to my blog, and, yes, I enjoy blogging, although writing a short piece sometimes takes a back seat to working on the newest novel.

            This past year has lent itself to good things: major home improvements, long walks every day, a great deal of reading and writing, cheering on the Giants and the Warriors, several lovely vacations with my best friend (my husband), an alarming encounter with two black bears in the Sierra (thank goodness they weren’t that interested), connections with friends, old and new, and a few, though not enough, wonderful days with our family. We have experienced loss as well. Our beloved, 16+year-old, $4000, one-eyed cat died in my arms of a heart attack and our precious Chocolate Lab/Brittney died of lymphoma, both within five weeks of each other. Their deaths were difficult, to say the least. Our memories of our fur babies are sweet however, and surprisingly allow us to move forward.

            Putting the home front aside, I feel compelled to say that I am increasingly disturbed by the world in which we live, a world that seems to have gone awry more than ever with violence, racism, extremism, political spectacle, and intolerance, the consequences of which are mind-blowing. Even “friends” on Facebook take insensitive jabs at others without being concerned it seems, about repercussions. While I believe enough is enough, I am not so naïve to believe that any of these issues will disappear in 2016, but, in my own, little world, I’ll do my part, and really, wouldn’t it be nice to see an altering in the current, negative ripple effect?