I was thinking about the debate the other night and it reminded me of a scene in my yet to be published novel, Bitter Sugar. Jacques, a Cajun, and Marcus, an army deserter,  are having a discussion.  
 
“We Cajuns figure most disagreements can be settled while drinking beer in a pirogue in the bayou. If they can’t come to a verbal agreement, they arm wrestle.” 
Where is this going? “Tell me more, Jacques,” encouraged Marcus. 
“See, the man who loses at arm wrestling gets tipped over the boat. Then he gets to grapple with an alligator. How’s that for a real loser? So most men, unless they have chicken shit for brains, figure they’re better off solving their problems before it gets to arm wrestling. Alligators sure ain’t much for talking.” 

My friends, this is from my unpublished novel, Bitter Sugar. It’s a conversation between lovers: Fawn, a slave, and Marcus, an army deserter before the Civil War. I woke up thinking about it and how appropriate for these uncertain times. Perhaps it will speak to you. Gotta love the birds!  Love to all, be safe and Carpe Diem. 
 
                                                                                                ***

     As if attempting to diffuse the emotionally charged situation Fawn mused, “Mae Liza says that life constantly changes a person. Every day it’s a new person in the same old body based on what happened the day before. Sometimes it’s a good change. Other times, it’s not. But regardless, every day when the sun comes up, the birds sing.” She paused and bit her lip. “One might even sing while the day is still dark.” She turned toward him and touched his arm. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
     The soldier was confused and sat waiting for more of an explanation.
     “You see, birds don’t care about what happened the day before. The new day allows them to start all over again and their songs remind us to do the same, to start over. That doesn’t mean that we forget what happened, all the sadness or heartbreak, sometimes we can’t. So, the birds sing for us when we’re not up to it.” She leaned back on her hands. “So, when the sun comes up, I wait to hear the birds welcome a new adventure. They’re singing little songs of love, of healing, of anticipation, whatever we want to call them.”
     “And that stray bird that sings while the day is still dark?” Marcus asked.
     “That one sings of hope.”

Yours truly at The Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, even Vigo Mortensen were there. Alas, they missed meeting me! 🙃 I was hoping to make some contacts with a film agent for A Reindear Tale. Didn’t happen, so, just enjoyed some great and not so great movies with good friends.

​PS - Word on the street: It’s harder to get a film into Sundance than gaining admission to Harvard. Who knew?

Happy New Year, everyone!  I caught a nasty virus at Thanksgiving and missed nearly the entire Christmas holiday season.  Better now. Hooray!
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I'm so excited to be participating in the upcoming author panel, "So You've Always Wanted to Write a Book?", sponsored by Best Self Atlanta magazine. The event is at the magazine headquarters on W. Wieuca Rd. So, if you are in that area on Wednesday, January 29, from 6-8pm, please consider stopping by to hear my other writer friends and moi discuss the agony and the ecstasy of publishing.  Lite bites and bubbly will be served, plus a chance to swap a book with a fellow participant. Bring a second book to donate to a women's shelter.  What fun!
 
Soon, I'm off to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, taking a treatment (animation film synopsis) for my new Christmas story for kids, A Reindear Tale. It's about the year Santa's team was all female.  What? You didn't know Santa has a different team every year? This particular year the lead is Ruby, a Russian reindeer from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, who gets lost. Santa's elves find her, along with her pesky "friend", a wolf she names Vulfie. As you can imagine, the male reindeer are not happy, and they seek to sabotage the entire Christmas Eve delivery. Great fun. Sundance is a chance to network, network, network. Wish me luck. Will let you know. 
 
I appreciate your support so much.  Wishing you all the best in this new year - health, love, peace, and happy surprises. 
Rosemarie  
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​Check out the other panelists below, and stop by to meet us!​

​Happy Thanksgiving y’all, especially to our military who are far from home and eating an MRE (meals ready-to-eat) while being ever-ready to defend all we hold dear. I am thankful for you!

A Holiday Special - purchase your copy (copies) of My Dog, Me at a special price of $9.00 with free shipping (eat your heart out, Amazon).  Contact me at rosemarieperry@hotmail.com to order. Thank you in advance.

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Received this note from a mom, "​Hi there! Here's a picture of Javi, my 4th grader, reading your book. He said 'Mom, this is really good!' :) 

The only thing better than a boy and a dog is a boy reading about a boy and his dog!

​Forty three of the eggs are accounted for in museums or private collections. Seven were missing until one turned up in a pawn shop in the midwest.  Hmm, there's a story here.  Think I'll write it.  Yeah, more research. (more vodka?)