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October, Without A Chill In The Air

Hello writers and readers!!!

I am extremely thrilled to be the Writer-In-Residence for the month of October. October is one of my all-time favorite months because you can sense the anticipatory change in the air. There is certain stagnancy to the summer that drags me down, but come October, I awaken from my stifled summer-slumber. Those who know me well know I’m admittedly one of those wack-nuts who love the rain, the snow, the chill. I come alive in the blustery autumn.

At this very moment, here in Northern California, it is predicted to be 100 degrees today by a woman in the Post Office parking lot and I’m about as un-thrilled with her prediction as one can possibly be.

October should be chilly. I should be wearing a scarf, boots, and stepping deliberately in puddles. I should not be dreading t-ball practice this afternoon in oppressive heat.

Lately, as most of us are aware, there is much yackety-yack about global climate change. While 100 degrees in October isn’t all that odd in Northern California, for people like me, born and raised in Wisconsin with fond memories of freezing our little pirate-clad bodies while trick-or-treating, this heat can be disconcerting.

Is it normal or isn’t it?

Lately, I’ve been interested in how all this global yackety-yack shows up in fiction, especially short-short “environmental” fiction.

I’m thinking about fiction that is not-preachy, but more or less a side-angle of exposing the possibilities of change going on here on our wee-little blue-green-lush-little earth.

I’m especially intrigued by fiction that yet maintains a sense of hope. (The Road depressed me enough, and although I think of it as one of my all-time most memorable novels, frankly…. it is October and I’m not in the mood to be depressed.)

Or, hey, how about our earth in terms of sharp and funny?

I’ll be discussing and featuring work of authors whose fiction fits into my October-Ever-Changing-Earth-grand-scheme-o’-things and maybe a bit of fiction by S. Freele.

In the meantime, stay cool.

Stefanie

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