From the Desk of Noxon

  Sweater Weather & Quills A fun journal to keep you busy during the cozy months For the Autumn at heart. Grab your trusty quill or writing instrument of choice and write! As the leaves change and tumble to the ground, think about those wonderful things which make you warm inside. Make this your happy place.  The journal includes two pages of prompts to get the creativity flowing and 100 blank dot-matrix pages for writing or sketching. Buy it today! Use promo code FALL10 to take 10% off today and tomorrow. Coil Bound Edition Paperback Edition October Challenge I am going to write and sketch in my coil bound proof copy once a day for the entire month of October. Can I do it after two and a half years of pandemic reduced creativity? Only the days ahead will tell. I'll check back in for a mid-month update to let you know how it's going. Believe me when I say that this oh-so-wonderful pandemic has put a damper on my creativity!

I found a series of prompts the other day, so I'm going to take a dive down exciting world of guided journaling.  Describe your Ideal Writing Sanctuary As someone who travels a lot for work which involves late night writing sessions in my hotel room and on various means of transportation like airplanes and trains—let me tell you, trains are anything but smooth rides while planes involve a certain restriction on personal space—I find the mere thought of a private little writing cove without interruption to be amazing. I am a child of the sun and also the woods. Growing up in beautiful California will do that to a person. My dream writing cove would have to be near the beach or in the forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Cabin in the foothills My dream cabin and writing retreat is tucked away in the woods, atop a hill overlooking the unknowing road below. Built during the days of the Gold Rush, it holds an aura of history—it has seen a lot as the decades pass. A cast iron pellet s

Image courtesy of archives.gov 21 years ago today a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks struck the U.S. Roughly 3,000 people lost their lives that day--let us never forget those who sacrificed and paid the ultimate price. I remember 9/11 vividly. I was stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. We were watching the events unfold on the tiny TV in our shop. At first we were confused. Why were those planes flying so low? And then the first plane struck. Shock and horror spilled over our faces as we realized what was happening. They hit the Pentagon. And then the brave passengers and crew on Flight 93 thwarted another attack. Things went swiftly into action on the base. We went from peaceful FPCON Alpha to Delta in what felt like a matter of minutes. I was put on the night shift to keep a watchful eye on our equipment and monitors. I remember the tears and the utter shock. It felt as though it had ripped our world in two.  Let us have a moment of silence in remembrance. Never forget.

 I am saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. My heartfelt condolences go out to her family and everyone who loved her (by which I mean the world). She was one of those iconic figures always present and always there-- a figure to be admired, and a figure who will be missed.  Hrh Princess Elizabeth in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, April 1945 Princess Elizabeth, a 2nd Subaltern in the ATS standing in front of an ambulance. Princess Elizabeth began her training as a mechanic in March 1945. She undertook a driving and vehicle maintenance course at Aldershot, qualifying on April 14. Newspapers at the time dubbed her “Princess Auto Mechanic.” - Vikki Hawkins ( A Princess At War: Queen Elizabeth II During World War II ) Noxon 

I've got a site and a book, so it's high time I said hello. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally release Sisters into the wild. It's been a novel in the making since 2015 (was that really 7 years ago!?). Perhaps the pandemic has something to do with why it doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I remember the long hours and everything that went into writing it like it was yesterday. I remember the documentaries, scouring the web for articles, and reading everything and anything I could get my hands onto.  I mean what would such a world look like in 1992 and beyond? It wasn't something I could just make up and sprinkle some big words around like they were icing. I wanted to know . I wanted to feel a different world and predict what might become of it.  How would people from different backgrounds react to fascism as it unfolded around them? Human beings aren't just caricatures dancing in black and white spouting what we want to hear. Nope. Humans creat