Happy 2023, Everyone!
It’s been ridiculously long since I last posted.
2022 was a rather big year for me. I sold my house in Arizona and moved cross-country with my dogs back to New York. But not the City this time; I moved to Rochester, up in Western New York. I was offered a job as an appellate attorney in the Monroe County Public Defender’s office. This is very similar to my old job in New York City. I’d thought often of moving back to NYC since leaving it in 2011, but since living in LA and Phoenix where I became accustomed to space and became mom to two dogs – one rather large – it just didn’t seem like I could fit back into my old lifestyle in my tiny Manhattan apartment very easily. So, when several friends moved to Rochester, I came to visit and fell in love with its charm, its history, its proximity to beautiful nature, and its affordability. Plus, for a small city, it has a pretty thriving arts scene. There are many museums and art galleries – this one is a favorite, a small arthouse film theater, two playhouses, a gorgeous music hall with a world-class philharmonic orchestra, a lovely ballet company, and an African-based modern dance one. It just seemed like a good fit.
So in January 2022 Sofia, Irina, and I moved, right after a pretty big snowstorm dumped quite a bit of snow in the area no less – hadn’t seen any real snow in 10 years, so that was an experience! I bought a sweet colonial in historical Swillburg, and spent much of the year fixing it up, acclimating myself back to my job as a criminal appeals attorney, and exploring my new home. I visited Toronto (about 2.5 hours away by car), my old neighborhood in NYC (about 5.5 hours by car, 7 by train), and took multiple trips to various beach parks on Lake Ontario and in the beautiful Finger Lakes region (about 45 minutes to a couple hours away depending on which lake you visit). The Finger Lakes soon became one of my favorite summer destinations, with gorgeous lake views, many, many wineries, and a couple of farm sanctuaries, including a new one, which made its own cross-country trek this year from California. At top is a pic is of me at Dr. Konstantin Frank winery on Keuka Lake.
I am loving my new area, and my new/old job. I am lucky to have a great boss that understands that writing briefs is an art form, which makes me feel fulfilled in my day job, something I haven’t experienced in a very long time. It’s also good to be back in the state in which I am barred to practice law, so I can do side work on behalf of animals and their protectors. I promptly joined a state bar association’s animal law committee and am helping organize panel discussions on animal law.
Now that I am finally settled, I am returning to my creative writing. I had to take the past year off from my WIP – a paranormal cozy mystery series set in a cat cafe and adjoining dog bar. It had been set in Sedona, AZ, but I’m so inspired to write about my new home, I am working on relocating it here. I’m hoping to release it later this year, with two other books in the series to follow shortly.
I am so very thankful to everyone who has enjoyed my writing, written reviews of my books, joined my newsletter, and continued to follow me on social media for the past several years. I haven’t produced new fiction in a while, and I am so grateful to readers who have stayed with me. I wish everyone a wonderful 2023 filled with lots of engaging reads!
