Dear Santa

I survived my solo Sunday. I don't know how well I did because it didn't feel right, but people said it was good. The whole experience is a blur. That was my first time singing a solo in a church service, and it's a big church that was pretty full. I wish I could get over this fear. I have zero fear of public speaking, just singing. What I need is a singing Toastmasters, a way of getting used to performing in front of people on a regular basis in a supportive environment. I got over the public speaking nerves by doing lots of speech competitions in high school, but there aren't a lot of regular opportunities to sing in front of people.

But now I can relax and enjoy the holidays. I just have to wrap gifts and pack to go visit my parents. My shopping is done. My house is mostly clean. I was even able to have company this weekend when I had some friends over to help me eat all those sweets. I recovered from the arduous solo by spending the day with a book I needed to finish before it's due back at the library today. I checked it out, then found out it was a sequel so had to go back for the first book, and now that I've finished both, I'm not sure it was worth the effort, but it fell into the category of market research. I have one more book I need to read this week, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get through it, not because of anything to do with the book itself but because the last person who checked it out must have been a heavy smoker. The book reeks, and my eyes burn when I try to read it. I was smelling smoke and looking around my house to see if there was a problem, and then I realized the smell came from the book. And this is after it's been sitting out for a couple of weeks. I'm glad I didn't leave it in my backpack, or I'd have had to throw the backpack away.

Now that I've bought my gifts for the year, I though I'd make a wish list for myself. These aren't my usual gift requests (mine were horribly practical), just things it would be nice if the universe could provide for me.

Dear Santa,

I have been a mostly good (does boring count as good?) girl this year, so I would like you to bring me:

A contemporary fantasy book that involves a mingling between real-world elements and magical elements that isn't overly dark and doesn't involve vampires and that isn't essentially a noir-style "detective" novel. Basically, I'd like something kind of like my books that I don't have to write for myself.

Some fun fantasy books. Not necessarily comedies, just not overly dark and heavy. Maybe some adventures where the Fate of the World isn't at stake. Something like a USA original series, but with magic.

A really good romantic comedy movie that's well written and acted, the kind of thing that makes me laugh and cry and where I feel good at the end. The hero has to be a grown-up, not an overgrown fratboy clinging to his Peter Pan existence, and the heroine can't be an emasculating shrew. I want to feel good about these people getting together, to believe they really are falling in love (without the crutch of a montage set to a pop song), and to believe that they will make it work after the ending.

For a change, none of my favorite TV shows are teetering on the brink of cancellation, so I don't have to make any requests in that department, and my schedule is pretty full there, so I don't need to ask for anything new. I guess my request for TV is that you remind the writers that not every show needs a romantic subplot, no matter what some of the more vocal fans and prolific fanfiction writers seem to think, so they don't have to force one just to make some of the fans happy, and playing will-they/won't-they games seldom works to make anyone happy.

That's all I'm asking for right now. I won't even get into asking that publishers will want to buy the kind of books I write or that a movie based on one of my books will go into production. I just want these few, simple things.

Thanks, Santa. Love, me.