Clicking Our Heels – Reflections on Being a Member of the Stiletto Gang

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Clicking Our Heels-Reflections on Being a Member of the Stiletto Gang

As we begin a new year as the Stiletto Gang, we took the time to reflect on what we each like best about being part of the gang. We also wonder what you, our readers, like best about the Stiletto Gang?

Barbara J. Eikmeier –  I really enjoy the community and how I’ve gotten to know the other gang members through their blog posts even though I’ve only met one in person.

Saralyn Richard – Getting to know other mystery authors who share the milieu with me. We are all different, but we share many of the same values and aspirations.

Dru Ann Love – I like the variety of genres that the group writes.

T.K. Thorne – The comradery of the group. We support each other in lots of ways. And the fact that being responsible to others lights a fire under my butt to write something for my day… sometimes even on my day, but I get it done.

Debra H. Goldstein – I value the friendship and respect we have for each other plus the way we support each other behind the scenes.

Lois Winston – The comraderie and support I receive from my fellow Stilettos. Many have become dear friends, some personally and unfortunately, others only virtually.

Lynn McPherson/Sydney Leigh – It’s the comraderie. Writers supporting writers.

Gay Yellen – It’s the camaraderie. We may be separated by geography and backgrounds, but we share a kinship that seems to deepen as we reveal more about our lives, our thoughts, and our common goal to write good books.

Donnell Ann Bell – I love that the Stiletto Gang members are a great support group. Whether celebrating one another’s joy, or commiserating over someone’s loss, The Stiletto Gang are a compassionate, intelligent, and talented bunch. I’m proud to be listed among them.

Debra Sennefelder – Being a part of a group of wonderful, supportive writers. Community is everything in this business.

Anita Carter (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – I love the support and camaraderie of other women mystery writers. It’s a fabulous community! And I find great books to read.

Mary Lee Ashford (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – What I love best about being a Stiletto Gang member is the camaraderie and support that the group provides. The publishing business is brutal and having a group of fellow authors who understand and care is priceless.

Bethany Maines – Being exposed to so many great writers!

Clicking Our Heels – Addressing Covid in Our Writing

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Authors are divided on how to handle the pandemic in their writing. Kathy Reichs chose to write a book that referred to it in past tense but played on its fears (The Bone Code), Elizabeth Strout embraced the emotional and behaviors it arose head on, (Lucy by the Sea), while Ann Patchett incorporated it by sly references as to why the family was all at home together (Tom Lake). Here is how Stiletto Gang members are addressing the pandemic/Covid in our writings:

Paula Benson – I have written two short stories that take place during the pandemic. In particular, I deal with families coping with the restrictions upon schools and businesses. The first story, “Covid Christmas Economics,” (here’s the link) had an eight grader struggling with home schooling and watching as his family’s restaurant had to make changes in its schedule. The second story, “Crossfire in the Crosshairs,” (published August 2023 by Dragon Soul Press in A DEATH IN THE NIGHT) had a single mother assassin competing with her ex-husband to take out a mark. As the story points out: “Assasinations remined essential services during Covid 19.”

T.K. Thorne – My current work-in-progress is a suspense novel, The Old Lady. It’s set just after the emergency phase of the pandemic, and my character lost her husband to Covid. Funny, at first I wrote “lost her husband to the disease,” but that sounded too impersonal and I changed it to “Covid.” I also notice I capitalized it, as I would a person’s name. I would not have written “lost her husband to Smallpox.”  I guess having lived through it, this one is personified and personal.

Mary Lee Ashford – As I’m working on the fourth in a series and it hasn’t been mentioned in previous books, I’m not addressing it at all. However, I’m also working on a new series and in that one, I am alluding to it but mostly as a part of our lives today post pandemic but with Covid still an issue. I think it depends on the type of book and the audience so I might feel differently if I was writing in a different sub-genre.

Barbara J. Eikmeier – As a writer I haven’t addressed Covid at all but as a reader I feel like a lot of books that were written during the stay home part of the pandemic are now releasing. I always read the author’s notes at the end and appreciate their sharing of their struggles to complete books while schooling children and sharing workspace with spouses or while working in seclusion.

Joyce Woolcutt – I have addressed it by cleverly setting my books before it started. Any new ones, afterwards.

Linda Rodriguez – I’m not currently, because my reading of the zeitgeist is that people aren’t ready to read about it yet.

Debra H. Goldstein – Other than a short story written from the viewpoint of a doctor with Covid for a Covid fundraising anthology, I haven’t had the opportunity to incorporate the pandemic into my current work.

Bethany Maines – During COVID and directly after, I did feel like readers did NOT want to read about it since they were experiencing it too intimately in real life.  However, as we have moved forward, I’m mentioning it as part of the background of my contemporary stories. For example, I might say, “During the pandemic was the only time traffic had been light.”  I don’t see any reason not to mention as we continue to deal with the fallout.

 Saralyn Richard – During Covid lockdown, writing a mystery novel was my salvation, but since I didn’t know what the future held in terms of life changes resulting from the pandemic, I chose to set the book pre-pandemic. In subsequent books I allude to the pandemic (the elephant in the room) in small ways, such as having a character explain why she didn’t host parties for a time, or having a character wear a mask. Since Covid has profoundly marked our generation, I feel it’s wrong to ignore it, but I also don’t give it full reign over my stories.

Lois Winston – Because I write humorous cozy mysteries, I made the decision early into the pandemic that I would not address Covid. My books are meant as an escape from the problems of the real world. In addition, although my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series is now up to twelve books, the series has spanned less than two years in the life of my sleuth and her family. Even if I’d wanted to shoehorn Covid into the series arc, it wouldn’t have worked.

Kathryn Lane – My Nikki Garcia mystery – Missing in Miami – has Nikki traveling to Cuba to investigate a missing teenager. I decided to include a minor amount of Covid in that book since the pandemic, like an unpleasant visitor, has stayed around way too long.

Dru Ann Love – As a reader, I prefer not to read about the pandemic, especially in detail. A mention that it happened would work.

Lynn McPherson – I don’t address it as I don’t like to read about it either.

 

 

 

Clicking Our Heels – Killing Our Darlings

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At some time, every writer has to kill his/her darlings. Here’s how different members of The Stiletto Gang deal with this onerous task.

Dru Ann Love – Luckily, I don’t have to deal with that, but as a reader, I’m not a happy camper when a main protagonist or favorite secondary character is killed. I’ve been known to stop reading a series because of that.

Debra H. Goldstein – Moaning, groaning, cursing, and almost crying, I kill my darlings. The only good thing is that the end they meet is swift.

Saralyn Richard – Killing my darlings (as in characters) is one of the biggest challenges I have in writing. Most of the time, my victims are characters I love dearly. (After all, I’ve created them to be exactly the way I want them.) One of my books, written in third person close POV, takes the POV character through some exceptionally rough times. I identified so closely with her that I felt every slap and sting. I kept telling myself that she would get through this–and so would I.

Donnell Ann Bell – I  don’t ever throw anything completely out. Call me a pacifist, but I have a draft file, where I simply imprison unused material. You never know when my muse might say, “Remember a certain passage? It might fit here.”

Robin Hillyer-Miles – Years of working as a civilian graphic designer for the US Navy helped me kill darlings left and right without a care in the world. (Though I do save them in a separate file, just in case.)

Gay Yellen – Sadly, I’ve had to toss two entire subplots in the upcoming book after I realized they weren’t serving the main story.

Barbara Eikmeier – I put them in a document file labeled “cut scenes” so I can visit them whenever I want.

Kathryn Lane – It’s still painful to kill scenes, characters, etc. but I’m getting better about it. I try to think about moving the story forward and that makes me realize (sometimes) when a favorite scene/topic/dialogue/character is not needed.

Anita Carter –

Lois Winston – I’m ruthless. If something isn’t working and can’t be fixed—whether a plot point, a character, dialog, or a scene—I cut it. If I think it might have potential in another book at some point, I’ll save it to a folder of orphaned words. Often, though, I simply hit the DELETE key. I’ve killed many a darling over the years and will probably kill many more in the years to come.

Lynn McPherson – That’s a toughie. I remind myself the goal is to have the best story I can write, so if that means someone has to go, I try to remember they served their purpose and got the story to where it is now.

Linda Rodriguez – I have a file on my computer that’s just called CUTS. I toss any cut paragraphs or scenes or chapters into this file, so they’re saved for later if I need them. I’ve never needed them for that same work, although I have sometimes rescued scenes or characters from the CUTS file to use in a different project.

Mary Lee Ashford – In general, I don’t have a problem with killing my darlings. If it’s not working, it’s got to go. However, there have been scenes that I’ve saved to an “Outtakes” folder on my computer because I knew they needed to be cut, but I really like them and thought they might have a use later on in the story. Or I thought that they could perhaps be reworked and be used in a later book. Over the years, I’ve found that those “darlings” are seldom useable, but it still makes me feel better to set them aside in a folder than kill them off completely.

T.K. Thorne – I deal with it by saving what I have and starting another version. That way, I can always go back to that “darling” and use it or pull from it.  I never do, but it’s there with gives me a sense of security. 🙂  In every case, so far, I have liked the fresh version better.

Anita Carter – I’m brutal. I don’t struggle with the delete button. LOL But when I throw out a scene or a fun sentence, I paste it into a “deleted stuff” Word document.

Bethany Maines – That is so hard!  I do save my deleted scenes in separate documents.  Sometimes I can work them in later, but sometimes that’s just what I tell myself so that I’ll actually delete them. But sometimes, the story changes and I have to pursue what is best for my story.  I do think that the more I write, the more callous I become to this problem. I think partially because I’ve become more of a plotter so that I write fewer scenes that require deletion.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – Killing my darlings kills me! I work with an excellent editor, and time and again, I’ve seen that her suggestions to kill those darlings have made the story better. I’m philosophical about it now, but still, it hurts.

Clicking Our Heels – When We Know Our Writing is Good

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Lynn McPherson – If it makes me laugh, I like to think it could make someone else laugh, too.

Gay Yellen – If it makes me laugh, or feel sad, or touches me in the way I want it to touch readers, I’m guessing it will work.

Lois Winston – Having previously spent more than a decade working for a literary agency, I will be the first to admit that not only does it take a lot to impress me, but that I’m my own harshest critic. It’s obvious to me when I’m coasting in my writing, whether it’s a sentence, a scene, or an entire chapter, and I’ll work on it until I consider it fixed. That which can’t be fixed gets ditched.

Kathryn Lane – I write, edit, re-edit. Then I leave it for a month or so and read it again. That’s when I know whether it’s good or not, but the ultimate proof is when readers like my work.

Dru Ann Love – If something I read is good, I shout it out on social media.

Donnell Ann Bell – If it moves me and propels me further in the story. If I keep tweaking it, the words probably aren’t the best fit.

Anita Carter – If I still find it interesting after setting it aside for a few weeks and rereading it with fresh eyes.

T.K. Thorne – I don’t like the word “good.” I focus on whether it “works.” That is happening if it moves me in some way, makes me laugh, cry, reveals character, moves the plot ahead, etc.,  and if the writing itself enhances these things or at least doesn’t get in the way

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I ask myself, does it elicit emotion? Laughter? Surprise?  If it does, even after several readings, then I’m satisfied.

Mary Lee Ashford –  don’t think I’m a very good judge of whether something I write is good. It’s so difficult to have perspective on your own work. If it’s making sense to me and I think it’s moving along, I’ll keep going. Then if it still makes sense or the scene/chapter seems to work when reread a day or two later, I decide that it’s good enough for my critique group and beta readers to read. After that it’s ready for the editor and off on its journey on to readers. Then when I hear from readers: that they enjoyed the book, that it made them laugh (or cry), or that something in the story resonated with them. I guess, it’s then that I decide maybe that the writing was okay.

Debra H. Goldstein – If the text writes smoothly from the zone rather than me struggling for a concept, I know the piece should be good, but I won’t know for sure until I get reader feedback.

Linda Rodriguez – Every once in a while, I’ll be immersed in writing something, and when I emerge, I’ll read it over and feel this little zing inside that tells me I’ve struck pay dirt. Doesn’t mean I won’t wind up doing a good bit of editing and polishing, but I know the heart of it is good. Usually, however, I don’t know until I’ve set it aside for a little while and come back to it with that cold editor’s eye.

Bethany Maines – I think there are two different kinds of good.  Is the writing itself—sentence structure, word choice, etc—of a high quality? For that, I can usually tell by how many junk words I have or haven’t used (very, really, just) and whether or not it makes me have an emotional reaction every time I read it. The second kind of good is whether or not the story itself is good. I have had ideas that are wonderful, but I don’t always have the skill to execute them to their fullest. Sometimes I have to wait until I feel confident to tackle those. I usually feel like those ideas are the ones that make me excited. But at the end of the day, I always feel like my writing probably could have been better, so maybe this isn’t my best question.

Barbara Eikmeier – My husband is often my first reader. He’s a tough critic so if he tells me he thinks it’s good I feel like it must be good.

Saralyn Richard – I need to have a vague sense that I have accomplished what I set out to do in each chapter that I write, but I don’t really know that it’s good until a reader tells me so.

Robin Hillyer-Miles – I think something is good if, after having it rest a bit and reading it, I feel emotional.

Clicking Our Heels – Distractions!

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Are you easily distracted? Is so, by what? Here’s what distracts us:

Robin Hillyer-Miles – Social media.

Saralyn Richard – Social media can take me off of a plot line faster and longer than anything else.

T.K. Thorne – Questions like this. Lol, just kidding. Other stuff on my computer—email, FB, trying to stay up with news, but really I think it is the desire to get those things “out of the way” before concentrating on writing.  Then somehow, it is nighttime. I need to work on that.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – Everything! I usually write in a room with lots of windows, and I am the Gladys Kravitz of my neighborhood. Every dog walker, delivery truck, or bicyclist catches my eye. But when deadlines approach, I have to put myself in “writer jail.” Writer Jail means a carrel in the library. No distraction = deadlines met.

Bethany Maines – Social media! Sometimes I’ll put my phone on Do Not Disturb and then move it further away from me. I also got logged out of Facebook on my laptop (my primary writing device) and have consciously never logged back in, which has saved me on multiple occasions. And yes, I could log back on, but I would have to go look up my password and it’s so much easier to not to do that. So laziness is working for me in this instance.

Kathryn Lane – My biggest distraction from writing is the research I do for my novels. Although it’s part of my writing process, I enjoy it so much that I over-research. And I know it, but it also motivates me to write.

Mary Lee Ashford – Hands down, social media and mostly Facebook. I so enjoy hearing what everyone else is up to and chatting with friends near and far. I love seeing people’s dogs and cats, hearing about their travels, or celebration. And then pretty soon an hour has passed. What I have to do is log on first thing in the morning with my coffee in hand and let myself be “social” for a bit. Then I have to move to a different device and get busy with writing. With a break for lunch or a water or coffee refill, I check in on what’s going on but I really have to limit my social media time to before or after writing.

Anita Carter – streaming a British mystery show.

Lois Winston – Life in general and a retired husband, not necessarily in that order!

Barbara Eikmeier – Sewing. I sew every day because I have a lot of sewing deadlines for my day job. If I wrote as much as I sewed I’d be a very prolific writer!

Debra H. Goldstein – Life. There’s always something unexpected!

Linda Rodriguez – At this stage of my life, physical illness and pain. It’s been different at other stages.

Donnell Ann Bell – At this point I can honestly say my 89-year-old mother. She’s in transition from her home into assisted living. I’m doing a lot of travel back and forth.

Dru Ann Love – Since I’m not a writer, my biggest distraction from working on my blog is being sick or having something more important to do.

Gay Yellen – My very patient husband and our life together.

Lynn McPherson – My big fluffy dog doesn’t like to be ignored.

Clicking Our Heels – Spring Cleaning

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It’s time to think about spring cleaning and what we might consider getting rid of. Anything you put at the top of your list for spring cleaning?

Dru Ann Love –  I do year-round cleaning, but with spring I do a thorough purging of items.

Donnell Ann Bell – Yes! Please! I welcome anyone who wants to come and help me.:)

Robin Hillyer-Miles – I spring clean after the biggest dump of pollen has fallen. I start with the back patio since outside is my favorite.

Saralyn Richard – I believe in “spring” cleaning all year long. The change of seasons isn’t as important as the act of getting rid of unused things. I start with cleaning out old emails, spam folders, and computer files.

Gay Yellen – Non-perishable food that has been neglected in the pantry either gets donated or eaten (at last).

Kathryn Lane – Spring cleaning? Never heard of it!

Lois Winston – Since we moved 800+ miles not quite two years ago, I took care of all my spring cleaning for the next decade when we got our NJ house ready to go on the market. The only items that made the move with us to TN were ones we routinely use. Everything else was donated.

Lynn McPherson – I love de-cluttering. The first thing to go is always clothing. I like to think donating things I no longer wear will make someone happy and give the clothes another run.

Linda Rodriguez – Winter’s clutter. I can’t clean if there’s too much stuff in the way.

Barbara Eikmeier –  I don’t keep most books I read so in the spring I donate a box of books to the Friends of the Library annual sale. Then I go to the sale and buy more books. Sigh.

Mary Lee Ashford – I love spring cleaning and generally approach it with great enthusiasm. Now, whether that momentum lasts or not is another thing. But in any case, the first thing that I start with is the master bedroom closet. Are there items that I thought I’d wear but as it turns out I just keep ignoring? If so, maybe someone else would love them and they go straight into the donation box. (Once the donation box is relatively full it goes to the car and I drive around with it in my car for a month or two, but eventually it gets to one of my favorite thrift shops.) From the closet, I move onto the bedroom and cleaning out drawers, washing and storing heavy blankets, etc.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I generally clean BCCO –  before company comes over. The first thing to go has to be the inevitable stack of mail order catalogs.

Anita Carter – I love spring cleaning! I tackle all the closets and end up making a few trips to the local donation drop-offs.

Bethany Maines – I do believe in Spring cleaning but usually that’s because I can’t take it anymore.  The first thing that has to go is all of my family’s accumulated crap. My crap is fine, but why are there so many bits of their things EVERYWHERE???

T.K. Thorne – I don’t believe in cleaning; I just do it when I have to.

Debra H. Goldstein – I’ve always been a sporadic rather than seasonal cleaner. I things seem like utter chaos or I’m in need of a distraction and can’t think of anything else to do, I clean my desk, drawers, and closets. Luckily, it doesn’t take much for me to things are straightened or to find another distraction.

Clicking Our Heels – Blurbing, Reviewing, Writing, and Reading – The Balancing Act

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Clicking Our Heels – Blurbing, Reviewing, Writing, and Reading – The Balancing Act

Authors are often asked to blurb or review books. At the same time, they often are working against deadlines or on schedules in terms of their own writing, pleasure reading, and lives.. The question becomes how to balance all of these things? Today, the Gang shares its thoughts on the great balancing act.

 Saralyn Richard – This is a hard question to answer, because I don’t do a very good job of balancing. Deadlines are game-changers, and they wreak havoc with my best-planned schedules for reading and writing.

Linda Rodriguez – I have to do a lot of reading for work, since I do editorial work and developmental editing. Balancing the books I read for those, the books I read to blurb, the books I read for research for current fiction and nonfiction work and any reading for pleasure is difficult. I do a lot of reading for pleasure in the middle of the night when I’m up with pain or other illness problems, so that’s one help.

Lois Winston – I don’t make promises. I always tell authors I will try to find time. Most of the time, I do, but this way I have an out if I’m too swamped. I don’t want to hurt another author’s feelings by making a promise I can’t keep.

Debra H. Goldstein – I set priorities and try to accomplish everything, but in doing so, I recognize that there are times personal desires fall by the wayside.

Dru Ann Love – If I’m asked to do a blurb, it’s usually a book that I plan to read for pleasure.

Debra Sennefelder – Writing always comes first. Then I’ll work out how to manage the to-be read books. When I’m asked to read a book for a blurb or review, I work it into my reading schedule. Luckily, those books are books I’ve wanted to read anyway.

Donnell Ann Bell – I’ve blurbed two books this year, so that hasn’t been that time-consuming, and I enjoyed both. I read for pleasure late at night, which means that I’m slow because daylight comes much too early.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I’m always honored when friends ask me to blurb their books. It means I get an early read! But it’s difficult to fit in extra reading with all the writing I do (and my three book club books a month) so it’s gotten too difficult to fit into my schedule.

Kathryn Lane – I feel honored when I’m asked to write a blurb. Reading the book is a pleasure, it’s writing the blurb that’s difficult! I’m still working on balancing my reading and writing activities!!

T.K. Thorne – I will only blurb a book I truly enjoyed. Funny, when I was working, I dreamed of being able to write full time. Now that I am a full-time writer, I dream of reading books for pleasure!

Mary Lee Ashford – It’s such a compliment to be asked and so hard to say no when you get a request to provide a blurb for another author’s book, especially when it’s an author whose work you admire. However, this is a case where I just have to be practical and really look at whether there’s the time in my schedule to read the book and write the blurb or review within the timeframe. If there is time in my schedule, I’m always thrilled to be able to do it!

 

 

 

 

 

Clicking Our Heels – Our New Year’s Resolutions

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Clicking Our Heels – Our New Year’s Resolutions

Every year, we make New Year’s Resolutions (or at least most of us do). This year, we are going to share our resolutions with you and have the courage to check back and report to you how we did later in the year.

Kathryn Lane – Balancing work and play, being consistent about exercising, and making time to relax.

T.K. Thorne – I want to spend less time on a computer.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I’m the worst about resolutions. My resolution is not to make any!

Mary Lee Ashford – 2022 was a big year for me as I retired after 32 years of working in local government. So needless to say, it’s been an adjustment year for me. In the past, I’ve always started the year with a list of goals – some work related, some writing related, and others more general and personal. This year my New Year’s Resolution is to slow down and take time to focus on the most important things.

Donnell Ann Bell – As I write this, I am really working hard at diet an exercise. (I’ll let you know how I’m doing by New Years. I have a book due!

Lynn McPherson – My New Year’s Resolution is to be more organized. Yes, it’s been on the top of the list before and I have yet to succeed, but maybe this year I’ll sort myself out. I also want to bake more. Cupcakes, muffins, and cookies. Fresh baked everything is my favorite!

Debra H. Goldstein – To relax and accept what I cannot change, but to go full steam ahead with the things I can control.

Barbara J. Eikmeier – I don’t make Jan 1 resolutions.  I use my birthday as my personal New Year and I do make a list of “goals”. They generally have to do with wellness but in 2011 I set of a goal of teaching myself how to bake pies!

Debra Sennefelder – I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I stopped that a long time ago. Instead, I focus on goals. Right now I’m in the process of working on my goals for the upcoming year.

Dru Ann Love – I learned not to make resolutions.

Lois Winston – I gave up making New Year’s resolutions years ago.

Linda Rodriguez – I’ve stopped making New Year’s resolutions. I do always try to take the last few days of year to do some reflecting over what has happened during the year and what I feel about it and also to look at things I would like to carry with me into the new year. So, rather than resolutions, I tend to set one or two guide words or phrases for the coming year, such as Peace, More Pleasure, Health and Strength, etc.

Saralyn Richard – My most memorable New Year’s resolution was made when I’d lived in Chicago for about three years. I promised myself I wouldn’t complain about the winter weather. (Complaining accomplished nothing, anyway.) What I found when I stopped complaining was that the winter months went by quite painlessly. I don’t live in Chicago anymore, but my resolutions are always based on that theme–I try to be as grateful as possible throughout the year, no matter what befalls me. Gratitude is my resolution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clicking Our Heels – Shopping for Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanza

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Clicking Our Heels – Shopping for Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanza 

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, or nothing, it is the shopping season of the year. Some of us are last minute shoppers, some shop all year round. Today, we explore our shopping styles and what, if we could tell someone special what we wanted this year, what it would be (hint, hint).

Debra Sennefelder– I start shopping for Christmas during the week of Thanksgiving. But I’m always thinking about gifts for family and friends all year long. I’d love to receive a cross pendant necklace in silver.

Lois Winston – I usually start thinking about holiday gifts at Thanksgiving. If I see something I know will be perfect for someone on my list, I’ll buy it when I see it. I don’t like being pressured at the last minute and would rather enjoy the holidays without having to shop ‘til I drop. As for what I want this year, how about world peace and an end to the climate crisis?

Dru Ann Love – Most of my family are adults so I tend to gift them something they need when they need it. If I want something, I tend to get it myself because chances are no one can afford to give it to me.

Kathryn Lane – It depends. I’m not a shopper so gift shopping can be difficult. If I see a perfect gift for someone, I’ll get it even if the holidays are months away. In other cases, I’m up against the deadline. For this holiday, I’d like a chip implant that would help my brain retain what I read!

Debra H. Goldstein – I’m a last minute shopper (gift cards and checks are me). My first thought for a gift is world peace, but I’d also like a) personal peace, b) a book contract on a silver platter, c) a month at the beach with family and friends dropping in.

MaryLee Salsbury Woods – Over the years, I’ve unfortunately become less prepared for the holiday so I tend to shop late. Thankfully the grandchildren are very good at creating wish lists so I have good options to choose from when I do get busy shopping. As far as what’s on my wish list, my family knows that what I value most is time together and one year they went together and planned a small getaway. Both sons and families, my husband, and I and a long weekend. It was just the best gift ever. So, I pick another one of those!

Donnell Ann Bell – I wait until December. With six grandchildren who are growing rapidly, I want to make sure their sizes are correct.

T.K. Thorne – I am always a last minute shopper and really hate the whole thing (except when I find something perfect!). So the rule now is only the kids get presents.  Takes some pressure off.  // What would I want?  The most precious gift is time, so I would ask for time with my husband having an adventure together somewhere beautiful.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I like a deadline, so I’m a late shopper. Shopping online has taken a bit of the fun out of shopping and if I shop online I promptly forget what I’ve purchased and end up with too much or too little. I’ve learned to relax and enjoy shopping close to the holiday, so I can enjoy the decorations and music. As far as what I want this year, it’s the same as always – I love books and things that smell good!

Lynn McPherson – I love Christmas shopping. I have very few people to buy for (my kids, husband, and two secret Santa gifts for extended family) so for me I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the lights, the sales, and the excitement.

Saralyn Richard – I’m not a great shopper. If I happen to see something that I think someone would like at any time during the year, I’ll buy it and put it away for the holiday. So many people on my list prefer gift cards to gifts these days. I understand their thinking, but (sigh) personally feel it takes some of the fun out of gift-giving and receiving. My favorite gifts are things that people I love have selected for me, and I can look at them and celebrate our relationship.

Barbara J. Eikmeier – I shop early then lose track of what I got for everyone and make a frantic last minute shopping trip only to discover I have bought duplicates! The one thing I always ask for but haven’t gotten (yet) is a complete detailing of my car including cleaning the dirt off the inside bottom of the doors.

Linda Rodriguez – Normally, I like to take care of my holiday gift shopping early, but I have noticed that during the pandemic I have been caught short and had to resort to emergency measures for my gift shopping, the kind I used to make fun of my brothers for doing.

Clicking Our Heels: Thanksgiving – Our Special Memories

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Clicking Our Heels: Thanksgiving – Our Special Memories

Thanksgiving holds special memories for each member of The Stiletto Gang. Some are personal memories of family, some of food, and some … well you be the judge.

 Donnell Ann Bell – Sweet potatoes. It’s the only time I make them because my husband doesn’t like them.

Lynn McPherson – Mashed potatoes. And butter. That’s all.

Saralyn Richard – My husband’s Uncle Hank was a master turkey-carver. He could get every speck of turkey from the bone without hacking the meat into shreds. He also prepared sweet potato casserole that was heavenly. Many have tried, but failed to replicate his Thanksgiving gifts.
Debra Sennefelder – I love Thanksgiving side dishes. Stuffing is my favorite!

Barbara J. Eikmeier – My mother-in-law always made a fresh cranberry salad with grapes, grated cranberries, marshmallows, and dream whip. It’s sour and sweet and oh so dreamy.

Linda Rodriguez – I am not a huge fan of the United States Thanksgiving holiday, since it originated in Pilgrims celebrating a massacre of a Native tribe that had helped them, but I just consider my Thanksgiving Day a continuation of the Cherokee traditional New Year which takes place normally in late September/early October.

Debra H. Goldstein – The only Jell-O mold I like. Between the nuts, cream cheese (?), candied fruit, cranberries, and other goodies stuffed into it, the texture and the color changed so I never remembered I was eating Jell-O.

Lois Winston – I’m a sucker for great turkey stuffing with gravy, but the stuffing has to cook inside the bird for optimal taste.

Dru Ann Love – When we were younger, we would go to my aunt’s house for T-day, but the best day was having Thanksgiving on the next day with my immediate family.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – My mother’s family is Italian so the holiday feast has always included an antipasti platter and lasagna in addition to turkey and all the fixings. I remember the first time my husband had Thanksgiving with my family – the surprise on his face when he saw the lasagna! He quickly became a convert and all these years later, I wouldn’t dream of a holiday without lasagna, too.

Mary Lee Ashford – In our family, Thanksgiving is the big family get-together with all of the immediate family. My brothers and their wives, their children, and grandchildren. When I was younger, I was the only one still at home as my brothers were much older than me. Because of that, I was much involved in the preparations for Thanksgiving and I have great memories of time spent with my mom making the pumpkin pies, mashing the potatoes, and stuffing the turkey. Because there are so many of us, we now do more of a buffet style Thanksgiving dinner with everyone bringing a dish to share.

Kathryn Lane – I’m a little non-traditional about Thanksgiving food – lamb roast is my favorite.

T.K. Thorne – A childhood memory—Tasked with bringing the Thanksgiving dessert from the downstairs refrigerator at Thanksgiving, I ended up with two chocolate pies flipped upside down on the floor. In tears, I told my mother I had ruined Thanksgiving. I will never forget her response. She plucked up a spatula like an Amazon grabbing her spear, marched downstairs and carefully scooped up the chocolate pies, (leaving the layer that touched the floor to clean later).  Upstairs, she arranged the pie mess into rough wedges on separate plates and covered each generously with whipped cream.  Nobody knew the difference.  So now, when a crisis threatens to overwhelm me, I try to channel Mom’s “warrior” mode.