FAQ 12 Hoarding:
Thoughts about Possessions and Hoarding
January 2019
Before, Murder@ the Black Mesa Cafe, Book 1, Minerva Doyle had lost everything she owned in a massive tornado that hit on a beautiful summer's day in Joplin Missouri. Sometimes it takes losing tangible possessions to realize the most important thing in your life are your family and friends.
After watching Marie Kondo on Netflix and reading her book-
In my novel, Minerva's friends, Marshal Charles Dubois and his wife Sunny had to start over with the clothes on their back after a devastating fire on the Mogollon Rim wiped away everything they had worked for their entire married life. Sunny escaped with the kids and pets but not much else. They started over in Black Mesa.
Read how Minerva helped the two Steven sisters, Deborah and Loretta, clean up their mother's hoarder house. A massive chore awaited Minerva when she helped the daughters of the murder victim, Mary Steven. Did the twin nurses save their mother or did they have anything to do with the elderly woman's death? Read Murder@ the Black Mesa Cafe to find out.
Read how Minerva helped the two Steven sisters, Deborah and Loretta, clean up their mother's hoarder house. A massive chore awaited Minerva when she helped the daughters of the murder victim, Mary Steven. Did the twin nurses save their mother or did they have anything to do with the elderly woman's death? Read Murder@ the Black Mesa Cafe to find out.
In real life, I went through the horrible Rodeo Chediski Fire in Northern Arizona. My husband had taken the truck full of what we could pack during the early morning hours. After the Apache Police gave me notice to evacuate, I had one hour to pack the rest what I needed. I looked around my house if I could buy it again I left it. Even all my books! I took the dogs, a few precious handmade quilts, important papers, my grandfather's paintings, and photos on a flash drive. I tied a white rag on my front door and I left it unlocked.
In my rear view mirror, I saw a cloud of fire and ash rising in the sky behind me as I drove up the mountain to Snowflake, Arizona. I had no regrets. I've started over from scratch too many times. I realized the most important possessions are family not things.
"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"!
How does this stuff entrench itself in my life? Doing the Marie Kondo "Tidying Up" process, I started with my clothes. I don't have too much trouble with clothes although I did give away two bags. I loved the whole folding clothes into neat little packages. Once you get the hang of it, easy to keep up. I kept the joyous things.
I now spend time writing instead of caretaking stuff I dislike. All warm, fuzzy and cozy now. In the winter I use my bedroom as an office. (Trying to save money on the heating bill.)
The large white barn, 24'x50' - 2 stories, where my writing studio is located, is too big to keep heated in the winter. especially when it's close to 15 degrees above zero outside. I keep the bathroom pipes from freezing with a heat lamp, or a hen house heater depending on how much electricity I want to use. The barn is well insulated and finished off as an office. It stays around 40 degrees inside even in the coldest weather.
I'm hibernating this winter. Writing every day, and enjoying my life with all my children, grandchildren, great-grand children, and living at home with the adventures of a two-year-old and a five-year-old.
Now available in ebook ($2.99), paperback ($9.99), and Large Print ($14.99) USA Amazon.
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"All my possessions for a moment of time." Elizabeth 1 Queen of England
"Treasure your relationships, not your possessions." Anthony J. D'Angelo
"Your peers will respect you for your integrity and character,
not your possessions." David Robinson
"A free life cannot acquire many possessions because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs." Epicurus
Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul." Democritus
"When I was in college, my parent's house burnt down and took a lot of the possessions I grew up with. That's probably one thing that made me realize material stuff is not really that important." Rick Riordan
Murder@ the Black Mesa Salon
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I'm finishing the final version of Murder@ the Black Mesa Salon Book 2 in the mystery series. Organized my current book notes, Murder@ the Black Mesa Salon. I tend to write things that pop into my head in green 5 section color-coded spiral bound notebooks. I have big green binders for outlines, character studies, scenes, and research. If you would like to know how I get my ideas check-out my storyboards at :
Murdered Lovers who disappeared 20 years ago
discovered in a lake.
Book 2 - Murder@ the Black Mesa Salon, 45K.
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