If you’re looking for something to read, The Black Magus by Autumn Rain is free for the next few days! By the way . . . I didn’t forget. So, before I disappear off the face of the planet for a couple of months, here it is: The Black Magus By Autumn Rain Available as a free Kindle download May 1-5 via The Black Magus — By Autumn Rain
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Safer at Home Order Journal #4
Dear Kids, I haven’t written to you for a while because there isn’t actually much to say. Days pass, nights come and go, cases rise, deaths rise, small changes to flatten the curve are made as necessary, we listen to our mayor speak almost every day at 5:15pm. Oh, well, we just received the masks Dad ordered because now we’re all encouraged to wear masks when going out and all essential workers must also wear them (your dad is one, if you’re wondering). There are days when I don’t even seem to remember there is a pandemic going on, that it isn’t abnormal to be stuck at home. After all,…
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Technical Issues?
A few very lovely followers have commented that either my blog isn’t showing up in the Reader or clicking over from email hasn’t been working. I’ve tried playing around with my settings, but I’m not sure if it’s done anything helpful (other than completely confuse me). So, to make it easier for readers to access my posts, I’ve created a home page that displays almost all of the posts I’ve published over the past 6 weeks (almost all of them because I don’t want to put my more personal posts like my Safer at Home Journal right in front). It’s not pretty because I’m hoping it’s temporary. It’s accessible simply…
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Safer at Home Order Journal #3
Dear Kids, There’s a big ship at our port right now. It’s a big floating hospital that’s usually docked in San Diego or out on humanitarian missions around the world. They’re saying it’s the first time the USNS Mercy has ever directly served the US. It’s supposed to be here until September, and we’re hoping there’s a chance we’ll be able to take you to see it. It’s not here to take care of coronavirus patients, but to provide relief to local hospitals by taking on all non-coronavirus patients. We a little over a week into the safer at home order and two weeks into school from home, and cases…
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Safer at Home Order Journal #2
Dear Kids, Don’t worry. I’ll slow down on writing these for you because, by now, you know Mom likes to write and ramble and I know you probably think you have better things to do. Ahem! Video games are not better things, unless you’re older than I think when you’re reading this and work in that industry, in which case it might be more important because you have to make a paycheck. Anyways, an interesting peek into how your mom thinks when you’re only 2 and 5? Don’t look at me and call me crazy. It just struck me today that our days under the safer at home order and…
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The Bloggers I Love: Moms Edition
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been sharing some of the bloggers I adore. First I talked about the absolutely beautiful and authentic souls I’ve had the great honor to “meet” here. Then I shared some writers/authors and book reviewers I enjoy every chance I get. Now it’s time for me to share some of the mothers I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, this was a bit harder to do as mom bloggers have a tendency to vanish from the blogging world, so, even though I enjoy a number that have come and gone and come and gone again, I’ll just be sharing the ones who post more often. I Didn’t Want…
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The Lily Cafe Digest #6
This Digest comes during my week-long blogging break, so I hope you understand why I’m not allowing comments. As it’s also Thanksgiving week in the US, I’ll be spending my time with my family and away from this blog and email as much as possible. The past 9 weeks have been full of changes and reflection. I posted 17 book reviews and was delighted to host my first author, Jeremy P. Boggess, and his nonfiction book Taking Action for a Better Tomorrow. I’ve also been baking up a storm. In addition to writing down 5 ratio recipes, I baked muffins, quick bread, and custard using their respective ratios and learned how to…
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Everyone Has a Story
Whether a bit of non-fiction or a piece of fiction, everyone has a story to tell. Whether writer, author, or neither, everyone has words to share. The Lily Cafe is a small blog, but I’d like it to be a place for anyone with a story. I can’t guarantee thousands of people will see it, but I can guarantee an audience. If you have a story you’d like to share or a guest post you’d like to write, I’d like to invite you to visit the Submit page. Sincerely, Kat
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It’s Not Just Children Who Stare
Whether you have kids or have found yourself around them, you know the stare. They can’t seem to help themselves as they stare intently at a stranger. Sometimes it’s unblinking without the hint of a smile. Sometimes there are a few blinks and a partly open mouth. And, no matter what you do, they won’t turn away, won’t smile, won’t say a word. They just stare. My kids don’t do this often, but it’s still a bizarre experience. But it’s not just kids who have mastered this stare. Or perhaps adults have simply remembered how to do the stare. That’s right. Adults. People older than my kids and people older…
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What I Could Have Used After My Miscarriage
For 26 years I lived a very happy, very stable life. I excelled at everything I wanted to, and even did well at the things I didn’t care about. I had, and still have, wonderful friendships. I never had a bad romantic relationship or devastating breakup. Other than the early losses of grandparents and gains of little siblings who stole my mommy’s attention, I was blessed with a very emotionally stable life. Until I was 26. When I lost my first pregnancy. When the women around me had successfully gotten pregnant and given birth or were happily expecting. My husband and I were devastated and crushed by our loss. Emotionally,…
