Hello my dear ones. Most of you know that I began a full-time job last March. I work for a company that is part of AOL. And as you may well know about me, full-time work, life balance and my creative pursuits keep me plenty busy -- and plenty exhausted. In the time since I have blogged for you, much has happened. I began my job working as an editor for Relegence's Real-Time News widget that now appears on AOL's Welcome Screen (look in the lower right-hand column, input your zip code and through the magic of the internet, viola... news from your nabe or hometown appears!)  A little less than a month after I started there, I went out for coffee with my manager and her boss, Alf Poor, and during our fateful chit-chat, I mentioned my obsession with real estate. Almost 9 months later, Bright and Spacious was born. Yes, that's me and I would love for you all to visit me there to find out more about buying your first home; ways to improve your current home or apartment; the latest in fabulous design and architecture and tips; ideas and advice from real estate and design experts.

In all this time, I have never lost my passion for poetry and writing -- I just took a long break from blogging and I also stopped reading short stories and novels. I am sure you are thinking, what an odd thing for a blogger about books and writing and poetry to say. It is in fact odd, but I have a story to tell. Right about this time last year I began writing short stories which came as an amazing surprise and marvelous gift. Poetry was my first love and short stories, my second. I enjoyed poetry because it was quick, intense and after a page (or rarely, two) I was done. Short stories required more time, effort and what I can only explain as a more diffuse kind of creativity. Plus, I hadn't really written a short story in a very, very long time. I loved reading short stories, but they hadn't fit into my creative life. As I said, I was given a marvelous gift. The short stories started pouring out of me. I wrote quickly, intensely and beautifully well. My friend Kristen encouraged me, holding up a copy of Breece D'J Pancake's collected stories, she said all I needed were 12 stories to write book. A slender, beautiful book. So I continued to write my stories.

One night, over a glass of wine, I began to tell Kristen about my obsession with Bach's Goldberg Variations and Glenn Gould's two versions of the variations over a 26 year period. These had been put together in a two-CD set called A State of Wonder . I felt that there was a message about time and the effect of time's passage in the versions as well as the variations themselves. I just couldn't shake the feeling that they had something to tell me. What I couldn't see was glaringly obvious for Kristen. This was my book. Of course, that would mean 20 more stories, but my stories were brief, Kristen said, and I would still have a slender, beautiful book. I am almost halfway done. And I know where the stories are going. All I need is the time and the mental space to continue writing them. That's why I haven't been blogging or reading except for the odd New York Times article about real estate or fashion or the explosion of social networking.

That's been my year in a nutshell... I hope that you all have had an exciting year too. I am glad to be back here at Writers Lake and even happier to be planning the Second Annual International BRING A BOOK TO BED DAY! on February 28, 2009. So start thinking about what you'll be reading and start getting ready for bed. I'll be sharing more news for you soon! Until then, be well and enjoy!