Thank you so much for visiting and commenting, Leslie. I really appreciate it! What was her last book you'd read? I'll be reading Tar Baby soon. She writes beautifully and with an edge. I love it. I also checked out your list - I'll be glad to read your take on those classics! Thanks again!

Miamia, thank you so much... :)

Nancy, that is exciting. I know you all are very proud of him. Just knowing he's embarking on a sequel proves his determination to get their continuing tale out. It's wonderful he's got you to help him. I agree, you've got to convince him to let them tell him what they're doing and where they're going. I guess it may be easier to help him concentrate on one character at a time at various intervals and then see how some of them or all come together within those stages. Can I find his book online?

Hi Zetta! Thanks for visiting and commenting. Great to hear from you! Isn't he just the cat's meow? (I guess it's hard not to fall into cliches with him! :) ) That is just so cool about your sister and my mom's name! Wow! She was one of the best actresses too, without a doubt. Thanks again!

Hi Kelly. You're right, it's less painful to let them tell me, so I'm letting them. After I typed up my post here, I felt much more free and I started moving along. Whew! Thanks so much for visiting and for your encouragement!

Hi and thanks so much for visiting! I hope you join in and share your list!

My pleasure and thanks for visiting!

Hi Writinginflow and Jean! Thanks for visiting and commenting. I really appreciate it! @Writinginflow, I think after I read Absolom, Absolom! I'll jump into A Wrinkle in Time . Been on the TBR for sooo long! Good luck with Hugo! I tried to read that ages ago; I may tackle at it again, since I now have more patience. LOL @Jean, I've read quite a few by various authors on the list, so I've been anxious to get to their other works. This is a great push. :) Thanks for recommending The Hours. The book is on my list too! I haven't yet seen the movie, since I promised myself I'd read the book first. Great cast, I know, so I don't want to miss it. Thanks again!!

Thanks, Ali! This is a super way to force me to get to those books, so... thanks for the challenge! I've checked a couple of other lists posted on your site and it's good to see what others are reading, too. I'm so excited! Thanks again!

Hi Beverly and thank you for your comments. I am grateful that you read this. Thank you too to your family for their service. They need to know how much we appreciate them. My family's service has meant so much to me, and so have they. I pray those no longer with us know that. I don't think I really, really came to understand it until I got much older. Not saying that I took it for granted, it's just that I never put it into a lot of perspective until later. I am thankful that I have. Thanks again!

Hi Melinda! I also want to thank you for sharing this event with me a while back. I'd noted it on my calendar and here we are! Whew! :) I know I'll be diving in around midnight tonight. I'll jump in the sprints next week. So glad you let me know about them. I just sent you a friend request :) Are you doing the kick off tonight as well? Thanks again!!!

Hi Dawn! You pointed out something very crucial and I realize that I overlooked clarifying it in my post: that we are always reading... I, too, can get lost online reading a great blog and magazine articles (online and print). It will take minutes away from me. In this case with my post, I was thinking about my need to be curled up with a good novel (preferably, still for me, in print) - be it a classic, one I've always wanted to read, or something I stumble across on the latest list or from a goodreads friend. I have just begun to read such ebooks on my phone Kindle, though I find I simply prefer turning the paper. The great thing about the internet is that regardless of what information or fiction we receive, we are reading it! I love it! Thanks for visiting and sharing!

I try to always keep my notebook on hand, but if I don't I'll resort to the back of an envelope or sheet of paper to scribble thoughts and chapter segments. The worst part of that is clipping them together and going through them when I need them. I hold on to them religiously until I realize that I don't! Thanks bunches for letting me know about Evernote. I'll look it up and let you know.

Thanks for commenting, Brenda! I'll tell you, it has definitely been an interesting ride! Even though I've changed the main character in the rewrite, the ending is still pretty much the same. Going into this story with my group, I was definitely the anti-outliner. I am typically a pantser, so the outline is still not easy for me to follow. That experiment did make me realize just how important the setting of this story's ending was to the whole thing, though. I didn't know what everyone was going to be doing and where they would be at the end until I'd written it out. Now, I am enjoying the process of watching unfold to get there. Thanks again!

Hi Brenda! Thanks much for visiting and commenting. I agree - I simply cannot imagine life without reading. Jefferson said it best: "I cannot live without books"... yep, pretty much sums it up!

Hi there!!! Thanks bunches for visiting and sharing! Even though some are still boxed away and I grabbed the ones I figured I'd get to quickly, I'm still saddened. I want those - yes - babies home. Thankfully, I'll bring the rest home in a few months. Would you believe I just bought my first Kindle book a few weeks ago? I used the app on my phone. I still prefer print, but I couldn't believe how easy it was to whip that book out anywhere. It was an amazing process! LOL! I'd been very, very resistant, but this particular book was only available in Kindle form and I'd been looking forward to the release. So, I got it. Good book, too! I don't know if I'll make it a habit. Time will tell. I still need a book in my hand. Thanks again for commenting!

Thank you so much, Valerie! Yes, as maddening as it is, it's so funny to also realize just how real these folks are! So glad you visited!!!

Hey Anissa!! Thank you! :) Now I can even see it coming together! What a relief!

Thank you! I appreciate that! A very good friend of mine recommended Mama Day to me recently and I'm grateful. Such lovely, lyrical work. I'll post a review later... Thanks again, Joe!

Hi Ms. V!!! Glad to hear from you. Happy New Year! Thanks so much for visiting and your encouragement! Means a lot. I've got an upcoming article coming soon... :)

Hi Melinda! Thank you so much for commenting. I love the wisdom of our older generation, don't you?! Just what she said is precisely the point! Thankfully she pushed you away from explaining, too. If I kept thinking about it, my characters wouldn't even be real to me and that would have been a whole new hurdle to deal with. We are to share them as they are and as they speak. So yes, if they have to cuss, then a-cussing they will!

Hi Julie. Thanks so much for your post. The NaNoWriMo plan is the biggest and I'll admit the most questionable one I'd thrown out there, but if I prepare for it instead of letting November jump on me as it did last year, I may just be able to squeeze it in. Since most of my plans this year are basically following up to what I'm working on now, I feel I can tackle them. Make the resolutions you want to make. They're yours and don't worry about whether or not you reach them this year. Just concentrate on getting them done, period; and you will! Thanks again for commenting here... and Happy New Year! :)

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your comments. Our group founder's suggested that we have a book launch in March. We started the process in February and with this plan, we'd complete a great feat of completing our novels within about a year. With various online tools at our disposal to self-publish, we would have our works edited, proofed, submitted for publication and out before the end of March. It's a great motivator, but as I've discovered, I'm not ready for it in that capacity just yet. Thanks again!