NEW YEAR—NEW NEWS!

New years is not my favorite holiday.

To me it seems arbitrary to have a big raging party for the beginning of a new year. Seriously, what really changes on January 1?

And as we’re still stuck in pandemic times—which I hereby designate PT—even less has changed. We faced more of a retreat into our homes with the rise of the Omicron variant this month.

“I worked patrol on New Years for five years. I learned to hate it.”

Detective Jimmy Ruiz in Swift Horses Racing

Last year on New Year’s Day, I posted a photo of a decorated loaf of banana bread with 2021 on it. It looked tasty, neat and somewhat hopeful.

This is the loaf of sourdough I baked on New Year’s Day this year:

It exemplifies how a lot of us felt at the end of 2021: bloated and rather uncertain.

For 2022, as we come up on two years of PT, I’ve decided to take advantage of the continued homebound-ness of my life to make some changes. I’m ramping up my writing, with a third book in the Ruiz-Grasso Silicon Valley Murder series, tentatively entitled The Tree of Poison.

As you can see, I will be busy. I’ll also be leaving my job teaching high school English at the end of the school year to write full time.

This is bittersweet.

I will miss teaching so much. I’ve taught for seven years, and I’ve met some amazing students. Teaching at its best is a learning experience on both sides, and I have learned so much doing it. As I’ve taught literature, I’ve learned to take it apart, examine it and appreciate it. I’ve learned what makes a story great—and I intend to apply it!

As I’ve taught literature, I’ve learned to take it apart, examine it and appreciate it. I’ve learned what makes a story great, and I intend to apply it.

So the sad loaf above doesn’t exactly represent my feelings for the year. I do have hopes and I am more certain now of what I want to do than I have ever been.

Best wishes for a happy 2022!