Sunday Morning Tea: Dec. 18, 2022

Good Sunday morning and welcome to my front porch for Sunday Morning Tea!

For the uninitiated, Sunday Morning Tea is my virtual writing salon, where we talk about our writing goals and projects while sipping on a hot cuppa tea!

The holidays are upon us, so today I’m drinking Harney & Sons Holiday Black Casket Bourbon (not an affiliate link) while I wait for my homemade eggnog to age in the fridge.

Yep, that’s right. I made my own eggnog. There was a time when the thought of consuming raw eggs absolutely terrified me. But I’ve always wanted to learn how to make this holiday custard, especially because I’ve been drinking the nonalcoholic version like water every Christmas since childhood. And with inflation and the store-bought stuff costing nearly $7 for half a gallon, there was no time better than now to try.

Although you can “cook” eggnog, I’m too afraid I might curdle the eggs. And besides, the alcohol makes the raw eggs safe to drink so…

Load ‘er up and take a gulp!

Have you ever noticed that the cool design elements of the block editor don’t always display correctly in the WordPress Reader? I noticed it on a recent post. On my actual page, it looked just how I intended for it to, but in the Reader, it was nothing but jumble. It kind of sucks to see all the effort I put into creating a visually pleasing post be reduced to disorganized confusion, at least for folks who only read posts in the Reader.

And it’s really ironic that the same company that gave us the block editor also gave us a Reader that doesn’t support it.

So should I stop playing around with the block editor, knowing that whatever I do won’t show up in the Reader? Or maybe the real question should be how many people only read my posts in the Reader? Me, I like to visit people’s pages, unless they’re overstimulating or difficult to navigate or read. But I guess it doesn’t really matter where or how you discover a post as long as you’re still able to connect with the creator, right? But I don’t ever want anyone to think I don’t care about how my blog looks, because I assure you, I do.

Okay, I don’t know where that rant came from. That is not what this post was supposed to be about. I actually wanted to talk about New Year’s plans.

Yes, I know Christmas is in a week. I’m skipping it, because… bah humbug!

Things tend to be pretty quiet on the blogosphere in these last two weeks in December as everyone gathers with their families for these holidays. It’s during these quiet times that I attempt my most ambitious blogging challenge ever: The Lost in the Twilight Zone Marathon!

Many a New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day I am rapt in front of the TV watching The Twilight Zone New Year’s marathon on SyFy. The Rod Serling creation has greatly inspired my writing, especially in recent years, as I feel lost in the Twilight Zone sometimes when I look at what’s going on in the world today. So last year, I started the Lost in the Twilight Zone Marathon on my blog to coincide with the television marathon. From midnight New Year’s Eve to midnight New Year’s Day, every hour, on the hour, I posted a new Twilight Zone-inspired story.

Do you want to finally beat writer’s block? Challenge yourself to write 24 stories in 24 hours (technically 25). Trust me, it works.

It was quite the feat, and some of my favorite stories came in the wee hours of the night, though I’m not sure how many people actually read them. You either muted me by hour five or you were too drunk out of your mind at your own New Year’s Eve party to read something that’ll make you think, or maybe you weren’t even aware, because, again, who’s blogging on New Year’s Eve??

Well, I am. I have nothing better to do, really. And I have 2.5 years of no writing to make up for. So I’ll be right here, with my boozy eggnog and The Twilight Zone playing on my TV in the background supplying me with inspiration.

Unfortunately, I’m not as prepared this year as I was last year. Last year around this time, I had the outlines of at least the first 10 stories written up and half of those stories mostly written.

This year I have two.

So I have a lot of planning to do if I don’t want to be racing against the countdown clock, even if no one is online to read…

What New Year’s traditions, writing or otherwise, are you planning to partake in this New Year’s? Will you join me in watching (and reading) the Twilight Zone marathon? Which episodes are you looking forward to seeing me adapt?

—Nortina