Even though it was a small group of five--me, my friend Hal, my son Jason and his girlfriend Monica and her son Jack, Thanksgiving was finally a family affair at our house instead of Hal and me celebrating in restaurants as in the past. Jason, the gourmet chef made a non-traditional meal of exquisite salmon and side dishes worthy of the best 5 star restaurant.
It made me think of all of the huge family meals we had back in California when all of the older generation were still with us. Depending upon the year, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were always anywhere from 20 to 30 people. The biggest challenge was telling the various people different times so they would all arrive around the same time. My Mom was always at least half an hour early. My cousin was about an hour late. My sister-in-law and her family could be as much as two hours late and then there were the friends. A math challenge. Five people is much easier. Not only that, but now I'm the older generation and so many of those wonderful people are gone.
My latest book, Watson Falls, a suspense novel involving a small, remote town in Washington state with a deadly secret will be released on December 9 in Kindle and Paperback. Look for a Kindle promotion. This is the first book in a new series, Mack Peters Mysteries. Mack's business is modeled after that of a man I met many years ago. A very clever guy who made millions and hardly worked at all. When asked what he did (this was back in the 70's) he simply said, "I go to my mailbox and collect checks." Things have changed a bit. Mack gets direct deposits. You will love how simple his business is.
Looking forward to booking several more appearances in 2025. The first one is on my website under the Appearances tab. The Authors and Artists Fair on January 25 at Clark County Library. My son Jason will also be one of the artists exhibiting his work.
