Three Years

Three years ago today, my uterus was carved out of my body and disposed of, I hope, in some ghastly manner befitting the staunch troublemaker it was.

Life has been inestimably better since saying goodbye to ol’ Ute. So, today I raise a glass to the empty spot in my abdominal cavity and thank the good Lord for the void.  

Until Monday…

Chloe

Post-note: Travel day tomorrow. May your Sundays all treat you well, my friends.

Behind the Garden Gate Lies a Barren Soul

A long time ago, in a season far, far away…

I planted a tomatillo seed.

Actually I planted 15 of them. Five have survived to adulthood.

Two are now carving a life out for themselves in the sweltering humidity of north Alabama. Apparently they are loving it there as reports continue to surface that they have bunches of husks popping up, readying themselves for tomatillo glory.

Three survive here with me in northern Florida. “Survive” being the key word since they certainly aren’t busy tomatillo-ing it. Oh, they are huge and sprawling and very artistically branched. They even are prettily dotted with little yellow blooms all over the place. Yes, they are beautiful.

However…

*cue the violin*

Between all of their fine branches and sculptural stems only one, lone, solitary tomatillo has been born. And yesterday she was ready to be picked.

So picked her I did.

She now sits on my kitchen table, neither of us knowing quite what to do with her now that she is here.

What does one do with a single tomatillo?... (Hey, wouldn’t that make a great title for a children’s story? I can see the illustrations now. We could call her Tituba and give her a backstory full of… * dog growls at me in warning*… Pardon, the author in me was showing again. And the very last thing this author needs is to start another project. So, as you were, everyone. Carry on.)

Bottom line: my tomatillo plants are barren once again.

Beautiful but barren.

*sighs heartily*

Perhaps my uterus-less-ness has carried over into the tomatillo patch? I bet there’s a scientific study to be had there. The effect of hysterectomies on husked plants.

I’ll notify Harvard right after I work out Tituba’s sordid past.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

No Uterus? No Problem.

The tomatillos live!

I have returned home to Tallahassee and I have found a garden bounteous and brimming forth with mirth. It’s absolutely amazing!

Pictures will no doubt follow in the coming days. (Sorry, but when you follow a uterus-less blogger with no little ones running about from her pre-uterus –less days, you run the danger of plant pictures being showed off proudly from time to time. Please just grin and bear it… well, at least that’s what my dog does when my Mother Nature kick gets a little out of hand. *lol*)

As predicted, I got zero writing done on the long car ride down from Alabama.

Not a word.

Not a syllable.

Not even a stray letter found paper.

I should be frustrated.

I should be guilty.

I should be downtrodden and fed up with myself…

Well, I’m none of those.

I’m home.

All parties got here safe and sound.

And…

The tomatillos live!!!!

Let the choirs, sing, baby!

*grins gloriously*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

Allowing Giddy to Trump Pity

On a morning when I expected my latent self-pity to crawl and scrap its way up through all the really superb stuff I’ve been blessed with, I am instead surprised to find a grin riding high upon my face.

Care for an explanation?

My pleasure.

First off, the expected pity was to have come from the fact that it is Mother’s Day and I will never be a mother. (Having your uterus cut out does that to a girl. *smirks*)  The planned for pity would have only been brief and tiny and relatively easy to swat away, but it should have been there.

But…

A giddy grin arrived instead in the form of an email from Dreamspinner Press.

I just received a whole set of promotional images for the release of “Ravenscar” next month. (You remember our joint effort of writing a short story against the clock in the early February? The little 10k story that could? The little story that did? The story that will be published by Dreamspinner in June as part of their Mended Anthology? Yep, I’m talking that one.)

I’ve got 2-sided postcards, bookmarks with a bleed, a Facebook Timeline banner, a small web banner and thumbnails.

Wow!

Freaking wow, right?!

Forgive my utter enthusiasm but with Writhe still stuck in a cover queue at Ravenous, this promotional package for little “Ravenscar” has just thrilled me.  My first experience with working at Dreamspinner has been a phenomenal one so far, so please pardon this spate of giggles.

Speaking of which, here’s to wishing you all your own cache of chuckles this Mother’s Day!

Until tonight…

Chloe