This has been a hectic year. My second memoir, Untethered, was published on July 17th—my grandmother’s (Mummy’s) birthday. I hosted six teas in the garden and raised over $2,500 for Bellingham at Home. A big thank you to everyone who attended. I also had a book event in my garden—it was packed—and I sold almost all the books I had in stock. Thank you to all who bought a copy and for your positive comments since.

Another exciting moment was my event at Barnes & Noble, where I sold many more of my book Untethered. After that, I took a two-and-a-half-week trip to England to visit family and friends. It was a good trip, but I was glad to return to my own bed and my dear dog, Henry.

I also received an unexpected payment for an ongoing editing job, which was thrilling. Two more things happened after that. I submitted a story, A Special Event, about my fortieth birthday party and the important role my three children played. It was selected for the 2026 Whatcom Writes anthology, Family: Formed, Found, and Chosen. I’m honored and excited! And lastly, this week I spent two hours with a group of seniors at Cordata Place, helping them record memories of their childhoods. It was very interesting and a lot of fun. 

WRITING

I’m not one of those writers who sit down each day and write for a set amount of time. I admire those who do. When I try, I let myself become constantly distracted.

Inspiration comes to me randomly. Sometimes I ruminate for days before a prompt or chapter topic pops into my head. Sometimes I wake in the morning with a sudden thought and start writing immediately. Sometimes it’s something a caller says—or doesn’t say—or even a small piece of news.

This morning I woke with an old rhyme in my head, which made me smile. I was remembering a different December: I was a child, it was a sunny day, and my grandmother—whom I only knew as Mummy—was making bread in the kitchen, something she did almost every day. My grandfather was still in the bedroom getting dressed but came out when Mummy started singing:
“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat.
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do;
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, God bless you!”

I feel happy remembering this. My grandparents would do a little jig in the kitchen, turn and sing, “What is a boomp between friends?” then turn back-to-back and go, “Boomps-a-Daisy.” It always ended with Mummy flicking her tea cloth at Daddy and saying, with a stern voice but sparkling eyes, “Shoo, git out of here and let me get on with my work.”

Another example was waking the other morning with a scene in my head. I turned it into a poem.

Morning Walk

I step through the open door
into damp, saturated air.
Time to walk Henry
down the wide trail
toward the water.

Along the ebbing beach
I gather stones, smooth and cold.
Henry lingers—
sniffing, circling, lifting a leg.

Thin rivulets of fresh water
thread from the cliff to the shore,
blending with the salt
before vanishing into the waves.

BLUE BOTTLES WRITING STUDIO – PROMPT

Our next prompt is a story about Determination. Here is a sneak preview to my piece of the first two paragraphs.

A Story of Determination — Elizabeth Jane Pryce

In the summer of 1986, when I first visited America with my three children, it was before my final divorce decree. I had added the children to my passport and gone to the American Embassy in London, where it was stamped with a multiple-entry visa valid for ten years. After the judge awarded me sole custody, I needed to get passports for each child to show I was willing for them to travel back to England if their father paid for their visits.

I placed my passport—with the children’s names and the visa—along with the check, forms, photos, and birth certificates into a large envelope and put it in the mail. Although I lived in London, the instructions were to send everything to Glasgow, Scotland. Applications involving children were often processed there, so it didn’t seem unusual.

That’s it for today – if I don’t get back to writing before December 25th – Have the best holiday you can, enjoy family if you have any, and carry hope and joy in your heart for the days to come.