My oldest sister’s family has been visiting from San Diego, and it’s been a real treat having them here for Christmas!  It actually snowed a bit on Christmas Eve and stuck, so they lucked into a rare white Christmas for these parts.  We had fun singing carols while my mom plays the piano, decorating gingerbread houses, and going out to play laser tag.  For Christmas my parents gave me a copy of Kij Johnson’s story collection, At the Mouth of the River of Bees, which they had her sign for me at a reading that I sadly missed because it conflicted with one of my classes.

Now I’ve been taking advantage of my school break to do some writerly things, including editing some of my stories and continuing to beta read a novel for a friend.  Earlier today a different friend introduced me to fellow speculative fiction writer Elizabeth Beechwood, founder of the Washington County Writers Forum, and a fun person to meet.  I’m looking forward to the second half of 2018, when I’ll graduate and finally have time to go to more writing events on a regular basis.