Just last year I decided it was time to put an end to 'arts and crafts' shows that I had been participating in for several years. When I was painting exclusively (not writing at the time), I participated in the outdoor "Artists in the Park" shows, lugging E-Z Up tents, panels, tables, a vast assortment of originals and prints and a number of other items to spend the day, after a 2 hour drive, hoping to sell enough to cover the cost of the space I paid to rent. If I didn't have the help of my husband, I never would have done this alone. Just a few years ago I decided it was time to be done with outdoor shows. You hoped for a nice day and if it rained and decided not to go you were out the $$$ with no chance of trying to recoup the cost.

I was recently asked to judge a "Paint a Puppy" Contest, an event that was part of my town's Old Home Days. It is a fun event, sponsored by Rotary, and includes free cake and ice cream for all the residents who come to see the paintings.

I'm currently working on a new collection of literary short stories. The characters are based on people I knew in my past. I came from a lower middle class family with a father who was a postal worker and my mother was a housewife who worked at a variety of blue collar jobs, as they used to be called. Basically that means no formal education is needed. This is where I came from and these are the kinds of people I met and worked with in several of my early jobs. And now, looking back on those days, these are the people whose lives are the most interesting to me if only because they lacked the knowledge and experience to carve out for themselves a more meaningful and prosperous life