It’s been scarcely three weeks since I sent you an update, but with the holidays nipping at our ankles like a rabid Chihuahua, I thought I would send it a bit early this month. I really haven’t added that much since last month, I’ve spent a lot of the last few weeks grading papers and trying to finish up the semester for my students. Yet, I did manage to add a couple of items.

There is only one new poem this month, Pain Affirming Life. It’s a short poem that came about around the time of my birthday. With that fateful day being in December I sort of get ambushed by the trio of the impending end of the calendar year, the end of a semester at work, and the end of another year of life. Endings usually make me reflect, needless to say, I was in a reflective mood a couple of weeks ago when the muse struck.

A new addition to the Writing Life blog is a short story page. Between grading essays on the US involvement on World War I and preparing final exams, I found time and inspiration to write Hello won’t kill you. It’s my first attempt at short fiction. Please read it and let me know what you think.

I was pretty excited about writing the short story, and was even more pumped when I found a new friend on the internet. We met while admiring each other’s poetry on Myspace.com. Jaime Jeffries is an outstanding poet and writer. I urge you to take a look at Jaime's blog, she writes with a depth of emotion and honesty that I admire. She’s never met me, yet she took the time to act as editor and help me put the story in readable form. I told her that so long as she’s willing, she’s my official editor. Her help was invaluable and any shortcomings that remain are all mine.

Remember, I always appreciate comments, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you like or what you don’t like. Just click on “comments” at the bottom of every item on the blog. I've added a few of the comments I've received at The Poets Workshop, perhaps you might be inspired to leave a few comments yourselves. So, take a break from holiday shopping and bring a cup of coffee and read a bit.

Enjoy the holidays...stay sane.

Technorati Tags: age, friendship, love, poem, writing

Tags: age, friendship, love, poem, writing