Letters to the Moon....

2 016 has been a troubling year for many. Several friends of mine have lost multiple friends and family members this year. For those who have not had any personal losses, there have been multiple celebrity deaths this year. Many of those losses have felt extremely personal. Florence Henderson. Alan Thicke. Gene Wilder. Alan Rickman. Muhammad Ali. Harper Lee. Rene Angelil. Pat Conroy. Nancy Reagan. Gary Shandling. Patty Duke. Doris Roberts. Elie Wiesel. John Glenn. Zsa Zsa Gabor. Carrie Fisher. Glenn Frey. Bobby Vee. Merle Haggard. Leonard Cohen. David Bowie. Prince. Carrie Fisher. Her mother Debbie Reynolds the next day. Many have had their fill of this year. These celebrity deaths have cut to the quick. While many have never met the celebrity in question, their deaths can be just as traumatic as when a loved one passes away. Celebrities become a part of our lives. We can tie them to special moments in ours. When we learn of a celebrity passing, someone whose work meant a lot to us...

The holidays are upon us. Now is the time of year when kindness and generosity abound. We give thanks for all we have been given. We donate both time and money to worthwhile charities and organizations in need. Three years ago, I completed a year of giving, when I gave monetary donations to worthwhile charities throughout the year… http://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-year-of-giving.html This year I made charitable contributions sporadically.  I thought I would share some of the charitable organizations  I made monetary donations to this year.... *The Matthew Shepard Foundation Last year I shared on this blog my experience at learning about Matthew Shepard’s merciless killing… http://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2015/10/matthew.html The murder of Matthew Shepard is a hate crime that has had affected me like no other. Matthew needs to be remembered. His killing needs to be remembered as well. As one of Matthew’s classmates, put it, “...the hat...

I finally got my Christmas shopping done. I am normally one of those people that do their Christmas shopping early, finishing in June or July, well ahead of the Christmas rush. I used to love to shop throughout the year, to find just the perfect present for everyone on my Christmas list. I used to love having Christmas gifts purchased months in advance. I say I used to love it because I have not purchased Christmas gifts all year round for quite some time now. Now that I am a publisher, I look at the calendar year in terms of publishing an upcoming book, which takes months of time and effort and planning. I pick a month as a goal to have my cover art done, another month of the year to have the draft of the book done, and a final month as a publishing date. Before I know it, the book is published, it is suddenly Christmastime, and I have no gifts purchased. When December rolls along, and when I realize that I have no Christmas gifts purchased, that realization sends me into...