Baking with the Grandchildren

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I love spending time doing things with my grandchildren. Playing games, walking, talking, even plotting stories are all activities we’ve enjoyed sharing. But one thing they always request and are eager to do is help bake something. Cookies, mostly, but sometimes cakes, breads, or rolls.

The reward at the end of the process provides at least some of the motivation for their interest, but they do also enjoy the measuring, stirring, and mixing as well.

Breaking eggs into the bowl is a skill I teach them.

One of my most treasured moments happened many years ago, when my oldest granddaughter was in grade school. She told me one day that she was working on a baking project with her class when the teacher asked if anyone knew how to crack an egg into the bowl without smashing it. Granddaughter volunteered, telling the teacher that her grandmother had taught her how to do it.  {Proud Grandma Moment}

Last summer when two of my grandchildren from England were visiting, we did the requisite batch of cookies, but the older of the two enjoyed it so much, she pitched in to help me make several other things, including some sweet breads and a big pot of soup for the family.

This holiday season included several baking sessions. We introduced my two-year-old great grandson to the fun of it. He helped in a couple of different ways. The pictures above on the left show him helping spoon flour through the cover into the mixing bowl.

He also helped us decorate sugar cookies, having a grand time sprinkling colored sugars over the unbaked shapes. We found a nice hack to let him have fun without the danger of his dumping the entire container of sugar onto the tray.

We took one of the empty bottles of colored sugar, with a sprinkler top, and put small amounts of the crystals into, letting him shake that over the cookies. He enjoyed it and we didn’t have to worry about two-inch mounds of sugar on each.

He shows signs of enjoying the process as much as my other grandchildren have.

Christmas, the Noise, the Chaos, the Joy

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I realize it’s been a while since my last post. The holidays aren’t conducive to keeping up with a blog, but I’m trying to get back in the rhythm!

It’s over now. The gifts have been unwrapped, the cookies have all been eaten, the guests have left, and quiet reigns in the house. I’m working on packing up the Christmas things, then I’ll do a thorough house cleaning.

The pictures and the memories remain.

It was a good Christmas, even a great Christmas. So many people gathered here. Both of my daughters and their husbands and children, some with significant others of their own. Only my son and his family were missing, but they live in England.

On Christmas morning, we had 17 people in our living room for a time.

They didn’t all stay for dinner since some of them had obligations to other sides of the family. Still, eleven were gathered around the dining room table.

I feel remarkably blessed that all three of my children have remained friends and get along well with each other, and their children seem to be following the same pattern.

We shared a number of thoughtful and delightful gifts, though as usual, and as it should be, the children got the lion’s share of the loot. My daughters handled a lot of the cooking and baking for the mega-breakfast and big dinner. Others pitched in to help with clean up and set up.

I’ll remember most the joy of the children at receiving some delightful gifts – things they wanted and things they didn’t know they wanted; the quiet conversations and the noisy ones; the occasional raucous laughter; some lovely church services with family; trying out the children’s new games with them and playing some old classics with the adults; and most of all the atmosphere of love and warmth that filled the house for a few days.

Practicing Gratitude

Karen McCullough Posted on by

It’s that time of year when we’re reminded o be grateful for all the gifts we’ve been given. It seems to me a great idea to stop and take time to bring to mind all the good things we have. But I prefer to try to practice gratitude year-round.

I approach it not as an emotion, but as an exercise. It’s something I do rather than something I feel. At least once a day I remind myself of the many good things I have. When I get down or am tempted to feel sorry for myself, I make it a point to bring to mind the positives in my life.

It isn’t always easy. My life isn’t all bunny rabbits and roses. I’ve had plenty of disappointments, personal and professional. I’m an author, writing fiction, which all but guarantees that there will be plenty of soul-crushing events. Rejections, bad reviews, publisher issues, poor sales—if you’re a writer trying to get published or stay published, you’ll have plenty of experience with these. However many stories you’ve had accepted, awards you’ve won, glowing reviews you’ve garnered, there will likely be more of the bad things. You can’t afford to dwell on them.

Among the many things I’ve been blessed with personally are a wonderful husband and a great family. Not that it’s always been smooth sailing. There’ve been crises, arguments, times when money was desperately short, some ugly health issues. I’ve had periods of depression and felt helpless at times. But my children have bloomed into wonderful people and they’ve provided many grandchildren that I adore.

I have a warm house, plenty of food on the table, transportation plus the freedom to go wherever I want, and decent health (despite some ups and downs, including Long Covid). Those are a lot more than many people in the world have. Compared to many I live like a queen.

And while I may not have any kind of bestseller status, I have had a number of books and stories published. I’ve won awards and been a finalist for quite a few more. I’ve had decent reviews on most of my books.

Wait… One of my books (Falling for the Deputy) actually was an Amazon bestseller in an obscure category for a couple of days while the book was on sale. Good enough. I’m grateful for it.

The Necessity of Being an Eclectic Writer

Karen McCullough Posted on by

At the end of November, I’ll have stories published in two different anthologies and those two stories are about as different as they could possibly be.

One is very short (42 words) and is included in the “Mystery” section of the 42 Squared anthology, though I’d call it more of a crime story, and a pretty cynical one at that.

The other is a Christmas story featuring several child-age ghosts and a suburban couple who lost a child of their own. I would call it a feel-good sort of story, the kind people love during the holiday season.

I’ve never been good at sticking to a particular genre or type of story. I’ve written romance, mystery, fantasy, paranormal, and romantic suspense stories over the course of my 20+ years of writing, and those range in tone from sweet and laid-back to taut and tense.

In these days, it’s not a good career move to write whatever your muse suggests (unless it keeps suggesting the same thing over and over). Consistency is the key to building readership, experts in publishing tell us. Give readers what they expect from you, based on stories they’ve read before. Not the same exact thing, but stories in the same genre, with similar themes and characters.

Readers do seem to love series, watching a few favorite characters grow and develop while meeting new challenges and reaching new goals. I understand because I like them, too. And I’ve written one series with the same central group of characters, The Market Center Mysteries. But I can’t do it all the time. My brain rebels and goes on strike because it wants to do new and different things.

To keep the words flowing, I try to vary my writing, doing a paranormal short story here, a fantasy novella there, and a different genre of novel between the ones in my mystery series. I’m slow to get series books out and my readers never know what to expect next, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to maintain my writing for as long as I have if I didn’t.

My Favorite Time of the Year

Karen McCullough Posted on by

All of the seasons have their good points—even winter, though admittedly it’s my least favorite. Of them all, Fall has my heart. In North Carolina, spring is great but lasts about three weeks before diving into summer. Summer heat and humidity wear out their welcome long before the season moves on.

Fall brings a welcome cooling trend, clearer, less humid air, beautiful swathes of color on the trees, a last burst of bloom from the roses, and, of course, the holidays.

Halloween and Thanksgiving are delightful, each in their own way. I’m not into dressing up myself, but I get a kick out of seeing the kids in their costumes. Our home’s location means we get quite a few Trick-or-Treaters. Plus, I love decorating for Halloween and fall. Orange and yellow leaf swags drape my mantel, sharing space with glittery pumpkins and a big batch of orange flowers.

Thanksgiving takes us to visiting family and time together as well as a meal replete with so many favorite foods. And we can all benefit from meditating on all the things we have to be grateful for.

Through it all, there’s preparations for Christmas. If you know me, you know I love Christmas. Decorating, baking cookies and other goodies, shopping for presents, even cleaning the house in anticipation of visitors all make me happy. For me, it really is “the most wonderful time of the year.”

Two Short Stories in November Anthologies

Karen McCullough Posted on by

(I don’t have final cover designs or order links for either yet)

Holiday Hijinks Series
Haunted Holidays		 42 Squared
42 Categories with 42-word Stories
“A Little Christmas Spirit” “Being in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time”

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Holiday Hijinks – Haunted Holidays

A long-running series of themed holiday anthologies. This year the theme was Holiday Hauntings. I’m thrilled that my story, “A Little Christmas Spirit” was accepted. A woman who lost her own child helps the ghosts of other children celebrate the Christmas they never had. Due out November 29th.

* * * * * * *

42 Anthology

I believe this anthology is due to release on November 24th. This is the wild idea: 42 categories of stories, each with 42 stories, each story exactly 42 words long. The titles are also exactly 42 characters. My short is in the Mystery category. In keeping with the spirit of the thing, here are the first 42 characters (excluding spaces): “After the truck hit its rear bumper at 40 miles per h”

Goodbye to Baseball

Karen McCullough Posted on by

The Major League Baseball regular season is winding down, but we haven’t quite finished with it yet. Closer to home, for us, the minor leagues have finished their postseason championships.

My husband and I try to make it to as many games as possible of our hometown Greensboro Grasshoppers, the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We’ve now said a mixed happy/sad goodbye for this year.

The last game we attended was on a Friday close to the end of the season. The team won with lots of action and great plays. An appearance by Miss Willie Mae Mays, bat dog extraordinaire, spiced it up. A grand fireworks display closed things out for us. The Hoppers had a very good season, going 75-55 for the season and ending as the South Atlantic League North Division champions. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round of the playoffs, going 1-2.

I enjoy watching major league games on TV and occasionally going to a game, but, honestly, minor league games have a lot to recommend them. Cost is probably the biggest difference. Ticket prices to a local game are far less than for MLB teams. A good seat behind the first or third base dugout costs about a third of the price of a nose-bleed-section seat at a big league stadium. Not to mention the cost for parking, food, beer, and even souvenirs is far less as well.

Because the stadiums are smaller, you can be much closer to the action. No binoculars needed to follow the ball. Food lines can get long on days that draw crowds, but being the second or third person in line is more common.  And the options may not be as extensive as at larger parks, there are still plenty of choices that include the standard essential ballpark fare of hot dogs, nachos, pizza, peanuts, popcorn, and Cracker Jack.

Another advantage for us is we can be home from the ballpark in ten minutes, seven if all the traffic lights co-operate.

We’ve taken visiting family members to games on several occasions this summer and we’ve always had a great time.

But now Fall is here. Pro Football has started. It’s time to put away the summer clothes and get out the sweaters and coats.

Thanks to the Greensboro Grasshoppers, players and staff, for a wonderful summer and great memories.

Back to the Real World – Writing Update – August 2024

Karen McCullough Posted on by

I’ve spent weeks getting ready for visits and visiting with family. Those were weeks where my only writing consisted of working on blog posts and doing a few critiques. And it’s true that I did fit in writing one short story. Now I need to get back to the serious business of writing novels.

Unleashed for Murder is at 31,000 words of an intended 75,000, or just under halfway. I’m working on reading through what I’ve written to refresh my memory. That should let me roll into the second half with some momentum.

I’ve made a few edits as I go through, but so far, the structure is holding up. I can’t say I know how it will all resolve. I rarely know exactly how any story I write is going to work out at the halfway point. I have a few ideas about what’s going to happen next. Maybe I know who the murderer is. I have a suspect. But I won’t be surprised if that’s wrong.

More than once in the writing of a story I’ve found that the person I thought would be the villain turned out not to be. That’s one of the things that keeps me writing. And I hope that it makes the story more exciting for readers, too. We’re both eager to get answers.

Visitors from England, 2024 – Part 8: Their Return to England

Karen McCullough Posted on by

Normally, visitors’ departure isn’t much of a story. They get in the car and go, or we drop them at the airport, pausing for a last quick, goodbye hug.

This time, though the adventures didn’t end when we left them at the airport in Raleigh. We got a call at ten-thirty that evening from Joe. Their plane had not taken off and they were now stranded for the night.

We’d worried that there might be problems with them taking off, since Tropical Storm Debby was drawing closer. However, the issue had nothing to do with weather. Though they didn’t know the details, they were told there was a security incident.

Their flight had boarded a little late but not terribly so, but then they sat on the tarmac for a long time. A very long time. Eventually the plane returned to the gate where, apparently, someone was escorted off the plane by police. For reasons unknown, though possibly due to difficulty locating the baggage of the person removed, the pilot announced he was cancelling. However, American Airlines later said they were just delaying it for 24 hours.

The line at the American service counter was hundreds of people long and it was late at night. Did we have any suggestions for what we and they should do?

I briefly considered driving to Raleigh to pick them up. My husband quickly convinced me that was a bad idea. It was an hour’s drive each way, neither of us likes driving in the dark, we were very tired, the outer rain bands of the tropical storm had moved in, and we’d each had a drink.

Instead I got on the computer, found a hotel near the airport, and called right away to reserve a room for four. I got very lucky. The desk clerk told me the very last room the Holiday Inn Express had was one with a king bed and a pullout sofa bed. And they would send a shuttle to the airport to pick them up.

It worked out about as well as it could have for them. They got to the hotel a little after midnight and were able to get some sleep. Meanwhile the storm had moved in, bringing heavy winds and rain all morning and into the afternoon before moving on.

As promised, American did reschedule their flight for that evening, so they hung around the hotel for the morning, then headed back to the airport and re-checked in. Fortunately, the weather had calmed by then.

Although it was slightly delayed, the plane did take off this time, and they arrived safely home the next morning. We miss them. A lot!