Journal December 21

I woke up this morning at 4 am, turned on the computer, only to discover that it is wicked psycho cold again, -11 degrees Farenheit. It's supposed to creep up to about 5 above later. We'll see. I have that swallowed some sand feeling in my throat, so in a bit here I am going to have some ramen with extra cayenne and garlic as that tends to help.

Last night I started working on a "trailer" of sorts of No Sensible People. I started it in PowerPoint, and I should be able to transfer it to Moviemaker when I have a draft done. It's nothing fancy, just shadow clipart photos with quotes to the book in a slide show with "Epona's Wild Daughter" by Gypsy Soul as the background music. Very low budget. Okay, no budget. I haven't really used Powerpoint outside of "training" mode so it's fun to get to play with it. I haven't used movie maker at all, but my son has, so he may be able to help if I get stuck. It will take me a bit to put it all together.

I still have my eHow articles to write. I need to earn about $2 to reach the $10 threshold by the end of the month to get a payment in January, which means write  and promote. If anyone is interested, all my articles are here.

Gretchen Lee Bourquin is the author of the novel No Sensible People. It is available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com

I am supposed to go to a solstice party later. We'll see. I also have laundry. It's quiet. Still only 5 am. Kids won't be upfor hours. I'm going to make that ramen. Look at my tree. I have it plugged in until sunrise. It's barely 6 feet, full enough, but not too full, simple garland, white lights, and my Rudolph guys.

It's going to be a good day.