W. C. Bauer, Christmas Eve
Despite the very best intentions, I tend to be slow in responding to my readers' emails. This is partly because writing books is an extremely slow process for me, and partly because of other demands in the business of being a writer, and partly because I'm disorganized and easily distracted. And so I mean to answer that same day or the next and before I know it, months have passed.
Yes, it's peculiar, but the writing process doesn't necessarily go more quickly and efficiently with experience, nor does maturity improve organizational skills. In my case, it's the opposite. Still, I do reply eventually—perhaps long after Patient Reader has forgotten about the matter altogether.
This is not a general reply to all the not-yet-answered messages. I only wanted to take a moment to thank you for being my patient readers and to wish you a perfect holiday season and a beautiful New Year.
Let's hope for peace. It would be such a splendid change, wouldn't it?
The image is "Christmas Eve," by W.C. Bauer, from sometime in the 1800s, courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.