It's Been a Long Time!

So where have I been? I've been writing. I'm in a very productive phase, working on a three-book series and two stand-alone books, all romances, of course.

Finishing the second book of the series left me drained, but not as sad as I get when I've decided that I've said all there is to say about my main character. That is what makes it so hard to end a book -- that separation anxiety we feel at the end of a school year, the loss of a friend.

But with the series, I carry multiple characters in the books -- and they are lobbying for a fourth book already. I'm a tough task-master, though. I've been telling them three books and done -- I think.

Being drained of strength has another effect on me -- I get hungry for foods I can't have, not because of any health concerns, but because many of the foods I was raised on are no longer available -- at least on a budget. Today I am craving Neufchatel cheese with strawberries blended into it -- on hot buttered toast. Maybe that is why I insisted on getting pickle-loaf at the grocery store today -- it's not olive loaf, but it's okay.

One of the great treats of my childhood was toasted Hershey-bar sandwiches. Mom had a sandwich press long before they became the standard equipment they are in kitchens now. We got a whole box of Hershey bars just before Christmas every year, and on bitter cold days, the sandwiches would be waiting for us when we got home from sled-riding. Now, they are but a memory.

I wonder what my kids will jones for when I'm gone. My monkeybread? Maybe.

I think I'll add food in the questionneir I fill out for my characters.