M. E. Tudor

I haven't gotten much done with my books this month. My life is still a chaotic mess, but I've been reading and listening to music more than I have in a while. I was so thrilled to see Tracy Chapman perform her classic song "Fast Car" with Luke Combs, who has made it a hit for himself. I had hoped they duet would happen after the song became so popular again and it was an amazing performance.  Tracy is another songstress who touches my heart a lot when I'm thinking about the changes going on in my life. In fact, during previous changes when I was first coming to terms with my lesbianism, I was listening to Tracy's CDs " Telling Stories " and " New Beginning ." I feel that my life is headed for a new beginning and hopefully that will mean more telling stories for me.  I'm still plugging along on my next YA lesbian romance, but it's been slow going. But, I have been reading and I would highly recommend this book by fellow lesbian fict

  114341264   ©   Andranik Hakobyan   |   Dreamstime.com Welcome to a new year, my friends. I am very happy to see 2023 in the rearview mirror. 2023 was a lot of things for me. I learned a lot about myself, and I'm not happy with who I have become. I have become a very unhappy and angry person. Part of that is because I feel that my life has been spiraling out of my control for a long time. Taking control meant making major changes that I have been afraid of making. But sometimes, you have to make painful changes for your mental health and happiness, and that's what I'm doing.  I dug out my Melissa Etheridge CD Your Little Secret  , and I've been listening to four of the songs from it on replay for the past few weeks. Those songs are: I Could Have Been You, Shriner's Park, Change, and  This War Is Over.  Change , in particular, speaks very strongly of where my life is right now. The lyrics that strike me the hardest are: "And so it goes, this, too, shall pass a

Today is the beginning of NaNoWriMo 2023, and I've decided to work on a new YA romance this year. It has been almost two years since I published a new book! I can't believe how time has gotten away from me, but I've started about five new projects in this time period, so my goal for 2024 is to finish at least three of them, including the YA romance I'm about to start.  I had been torn about finishing a book I started during Camp NaNoWriMo in April or starting a new story. The story I started in April may not have 50,000 words left, but if I finish it next month, I can get it out to readers before the end of the year. Yes, I realize that is an overly ambitious goal, and that's why I decided to work on a new story for NaNoWriMo and start editing the book I started in April.  Yesterday was Halloween, and it was my partner's birthday. She turned 65 yesterday, and I adore her. This year has been a wild ride, and I'm learning to handle the ups and downs better. T

  224183155   ©   National Library Scotland   |   Dreamstime.com The above picture is from air raid damage done at one of the hospitals of the St. John's Ambulance Association during one of the World Wars. This picture is a pretty good reflection of the way my life looks right now. One big jumbled mess. I just posted the post I wrote in Colorado at the end of May. I wrote that post before my life, and my daughters' lives imploded.  I have not written more than a few pages since the first part of June because life has been so screwed up. I haven't been able to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time to work on my writing business. I'm completely unfocused and having a really hard time cleaning up the mess that my life has become. Things are slowly starting to calm down, and I'm praying that by the end of August, I will be able to sit down and finish one of the two stories I've been toggling back and forth between and get something published this year.  I h

I'm writing this post from beautiful Elk Meadows, a small community in the mountains above Ridgway, Colorado. This picture is the view from the house my daughter is renting for the week. She comes to Colorado every summer to get her sons, who live with their father in Montrose, Colorado. She usually stays for a week and visits with her cousin who lives here in Ridgway. I come with her just about every summer, or at least every other summer.  I lived in Elk Meadows and Ridgway with my ex-husband back in the 1990s, when my girls were still little. It's a beautiful small town. Paradise really. But, like the Eagles say in their song The Last Resort, "Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye." The town is getting bigger, and the cost of living here has gotten out of reach for a lot of people who have lived here their whole lives. It's really quite sad. I miss seeing this view every day, but I wouldn't trade it for my Kentucky home, where the love of my life, Rosa,

  This is a picture from my backyard from a few days ago. I love how green everything is. You can't see them, but honeysuckle vines are blooming on the back fence row. They aren't as fragrant this year, which is a bummer, but they are still pretty.  Last month I mentioned my friend who had been diagnosed with dementia. I wanted to let you all know that she is in a very nice memory care assisted living facility and doing very well. Her doctors have found a medication combination that keeps her from having illusions and feeling very good. That has been super good news for everyone who cares about her. On a sad note, a sweet lady who was my friend and the aunt of two of my grandchildren died of liver cirrhosis. We knew she was having health issues, but no one had any idea how bad things were. She went to live with her youngest brother, the boyfriend of my youngest daughter, and the father of my youngest granddaughter. Within a few days of moving in with them, my friend went to the