A quick story … my paternal grandma died when I was in first grade. Her name was Sophie and while I can’t remember a lot about her, I remember that she was fiercely kind and that she loved A&W Cream Soda. And she smoked cigarettes. So we’d have tea parties with grandma where we’d drink cream soda and we’d “smoke” cigarettes with her. (OK, maybe I’m making that last part up, but I swear that we mimicked her …)
So, I get nostalgic whenever I see candy cigarettes, erm … sticks! Nostalgia hits whenever I see candy sticks in the store. So when I was editing the other day, I poured myself some coffee, ate me some candy ciggies and man … they tasted better when I was six years old. My kids loved them though, so … Grandma’s still in my heart, even if she’s been gone for a terribly long time.
Pictured … me and three fierce writer women that I love. On Saturday, J. Lynn Else, Meg Hafdahl, K. Bird Lincoln, and I went on a road trip where we hit wineries, bakeries, cideries, and we even went on a hike. We all write from different genres, but these women helped me weather the pandemic and I’m grateful for their friendship and our camaraderie.
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Reading: I finished “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter. It’s a good book, but it’s one that I’d encourage a person to get from the library. (It’s a renter, not a buyer.) Still reading Hallie Ephron’s “Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel” and Nikki Dolson’s “Love and Other Criminal Behavior.” I started reading Dennis Lehane’s “Mystic River” and am letting the words sink in.
Writing: Querying, writing the new piece, and marveling that my weekends are filling up. I have a glut of proposals due in my day job, but after that I think I’m taking a few days off to work on some fiction. Hopefully I’ll make up for poor word counts then.
Sending love through the screen to you!
– Shelley
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What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.
michellekubitz 
My dad smoked like a chimney till the day he died, and he used to buy us candy cigarettes, too. We definitely mimicked him, though now I am ardently anti-smoking.
Still…when I saw some of these at a store last month, I couldn’t help picking up a couple packs for nostalgia’s sake (though I missed the ends being “lit”). They were definitely better-tasting when we were kids, but Miss Tadpole seemed to like them. 😊
Oh man – I forgot how they were “lit” at the ends! And now I can totally see it!