Sunday Reflection: Writing Again for NaNoWriMo

It's November! Feliz Día de los Muertos! Happy Diabetes Awareness month! And if you're participating, Happy NaNoWriMo! As you've probably guessed by the picture to the left, I am participating this year. It's been a while since I did so, but the words are finally flowing again so I decided why the hell not. I'm hoping to end 2020 with a completed book or two to add to my published page next year.

This year's NaNo offering will be a sequel to Lunchtime Sex, tentatively titled Dinner for Two. I actually already started another book in this series that I thought would be the sequel but I guess it's going to be book three now. We'll see which one gets finished, edited, and covered first. That one will most likely be titled Breakfast in Bed (see the theme there?) All three are part of my Sophisticated Women series, which is an older woman/younger man series of forty-something women getting their groove back and the twenty-something men who help them with that groove. They are erotic romances, and definitely have HEA endings.

Being Hispanic, Día de los Muertos is a holiday I've always been aware of but don't technically celebrate in the traditional way. My mother used to create an altar every year but I never have. My son expressed an interest this year but it was too late to make one. However, this is definitely on the list of to-dos for next year. To anyone who is celebrating with an altar, post pictures! I love to see the creativity that goes into celebrating our loved ones. Mine will probably be mostly about my maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather. I also have two cousins I'd like to honor. Do people include their pets? This year I lost my beloved cat Cheetoh and years ago I lost my dog Baby who was seven years old. I think they both deserve a place on my altar.

November is also Diabetes Awareness month which is important to my family, too. My seventeen-year old son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age seven, and my husband and I have been diagnosed with type 2 in the years since. As a family we strive to do the things necessary to stay healthy and support the efforts of organizations like JDRF. We usually participate in their walk every November. It's going to be virtual this year and I'll admit we did not sign up for the first time since my son's diagnosis. With everything going on in 2020 I just didn't have the mental bandwidth to handle the fundraising efforts required for that endeavor. Though it makes me sad we won't have a sign with his smiling face this year, I knew it was too much to ask of my family, friends, and myself. Here's hoping 2021 will return to normal.