Solo Women at Home and Abroad: Happy Holidays!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, 2015

Holiday Greetings to friends and relatives! The year 2015 has been a mixed blessing for me. It started out with a serious case of the flu, contracted right after last Christmas, that I was fighting for a month or so, after which I was fighting the after-effects of the medications prescribed by my pulmonologist. I was sicker than I have been since being laid up in the hospital with pneumonia in my very early teens. Luckily I was able to sleep a lot, so I managed to meet social and church obligations and writing deadlines. I finally started feeling better in May, partly because I weaned myself off of most prescription medications.

This year I didn’t travel anywhere. I do plan a Christmas visit to a friend and former student, Susan Reynolds, a practicing physician in Hartsville, SC, who is serving as medical consultant on a book I’ve been working on for five years—with the help of some fellow writers and other friends. I think it’s about finished, and I want to submit it this coming year to agents and/or to small publishing houses. The title of the book hasn’t yet been settled. Initially, it was "Caring for your Body from the Outside In," then it was some version of "The Perplexed Patient’s Guide to Whole Body Health," and the most recent title is "Body Wisdom, Body Care." I’d be happy for any feedback on which title grabs you the most.

Sales of my two published books have flat-lined, partly because I haven’t been promoting them—partly because I’ve been so otherwise occupied, and partly because promotion just isn’t my thing. If you’re interested, you can find them on my Amazon site, which will be linked at the bottom of this letter. I have been writing, but nothing else is finished or published yet.

And I’m still organizing (yawn, yawn), and I’ve managed to sell two of the four properties I owned and have been renting. The other two properties will hopefully sell next year. That has been an enormous chore. Thankfully, I’ve had help from a wonderful real-estate agent and friend, Karen Abrams. Indeed, my friends have sustained me through this difficult year. Hopefully next year will be more fun and fruitful and I’ll be able to move ahead with some projects that have stalled. Everything takes longer than you think. That gets scary as one gets older.

My two daughter, Elisabeth and Briana—and their families—came to Charleston during the year, in August and November respectively. I posted some photos on Facebook. Briana made a fabulous dinner over Thanksgiving, and I’m still eating the leftovers! It was wonderful to see the children and grandchildren, however briefly. Without the RV, I’m just not traveling much these days, so now folks can come to visit me! I’m certainly grateful for the internet!

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful, and prosperous, and productive, and fun year in 2016!

Jo Anne

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00BH3326S

Photos and Events, 2015