What’s in Your Pocket?

  By Maureen Bonatch 

As the seasons change, soon I’ll pull out my jackets as the temperature drops. Often I haven’t worn the jacket since the year prior, and for some coats, much longer than that. 

When I reach into the pocket I’m often in for a surprise. The items stashed there may tell a story about that season of my life. 

Nowadays, the items I find are rather predictable. I might find: 

• Gloves 
• Winter headbands 
• Extra quarters for the parking meter 
• Bags for when I take Scruff for a walk (One never can be certain how many to bring with Sir Poops-A-Lot.) 

This year I suspect there might be a mask or two tucked in the pockets. 

A review of my items may allow someone to deduce that I had a dog, and that I lived somewhere that had cold seasons. 

 Pockets Today vs. Pockets of Yesterday 

It didn’t used to be that way. When my twins were young and my pockets were the place to stash every odd and end the girls’ needed saved since they didn’t have a pocket—or they just preferred that I carry their things because in their opinion, that's what moms are for.

Usually there was barely room for my own items when I had to store all of theirs. 

Today is Collect Rocks Day. I don’t collect rocks. But when I was young, I thought I might be a rock collector. Mostly because I was sure I would find some nugget worth lots of cash while searching for fossils in the woods. Since this was before the Internet (gasp!) I’d study the piece of cardboard with sample rocks and photos of different collectable rocks. 

I didn’t get far with that collection, but in more recent years my daughters also thought they might become rock collectors. 

A Pocketful of Memories 

Last year I found a few rocks in my jacket pocket. If someone had discovered one of my jackets then they might have deduced that I was a mother of young children when they searched the pockets and found items like: 

• Rocks 
• Wads of gum or other candy wrappers 
• Plastic bracelets 
• Beads or marbles 
• Sticks 
• Small toys from the supermarket machines 
• Seashells 

It’s funny how a random item can bring back a time in my life, or a memory. 

Happy Cat Month 

September is also Happy Cat Month! If you’re looking for a magical story with a witch that can talk to her cat, Hexes, Highballs & Hockey should make you —and your cat—happy!

                 Get your Copy of Hexes, Highballs & Hockey Here

How can one tiny spell create such a mess? 

 Hi, I’m Marissa Hale and I’ve spelled up some trouble. You see, I live in Boca, Florida. Most of the time all the mishmash of paranormal play nice in the sandbox—except when it’s an ice rink. Of course I’d be the one to test the boundaries of the “no spelling” rule at the hockey arena when my friend, Grace, begged me to go to a game. 

My careless spell to conceal the nacho cheese disaster, which happened when a big blob landed on her treasured jersey, caused more trouble than the wrath I avoided from my hockey obsessed friend. 

 Due to the ridiculous rule, Grace inadvertently gets blamed and tossed into the arena’s jail for illicit magic…and I might have accidentally spelled one of the players. 

When I try to make things right, my sleuthing skills uncover secrets, and more trouble than I bargained for. I might need more than my chatty cat and charmed cocktails to solve this mystery… 

 What Would Your Pockets Say About You? 

Maureen’s first novella was a paranormal romance published when blogs were a new-fangled thing. She’s since changed her focus to writing paranormal cozy mysteries as M.L. Bonatch and urban fantasy as Maureen Bonatch. 

While she’s not busy writing or doing nurse-things, she’s a mom to her twin daughters, bicycling in the beautiful woods of PA with her hubby, doing the bidding of a feisty Shih Tzu, and dancing as much as possible. She believes music can be paired with every mood, laughter is contagious, and that caffeine and wine are essential for survival. 

 Visit Maureen's Website Here

When I'm not writing...

(yes that is my foot)

I went back to ballet this year after having 18 months off because the class times clashed with work (I'd only been going for a year before that but I'd become hooked). I'd always wanted a pair of red shoes (yes I know the stories, but I love red shoes), so when I saw a pair on line I jumped at the chance to have them.

I'm sure you'll agree they are rather amazing.

A couple of months ago I got my first pair of pointe shoes (not red, but it was still super exciting).

Also my feet... in 4th

3 things I've learned while en pointe

• Pointe shoes aren't excruciating, more pressure than anything.
• Pointe shoes are like avocados. Too hard, too hard. perfect! eh too soft...
• OMG the core workout from stabilising myself in the center. 

I did ballet for a bit as a kid (but had my lessons stopped) and only took it up as an adult because I was researching for In The Spotlight which has a ballet dancer hero.

Next year I'll be doing an exam because it's always good to have goals.

What hobby do you have that is something no one would expect?

trying something new: lead lighting

A few weeks a go when I was going to teach a writing class I stumbled over a lead lighting class in the same building. I’ve always been fascinated with lead lighting. It looks amazing and as a kid I had those kids which come with the metal frame and your pour in the glass/plastic pieces and bake in the oven.

Here was a chance to actually try lead lighting properly with glass and actual led and soldering and…I’m sure there’s other bits to it but I’m not up to it yet.

This week was my first class and while I had an idea for the piece, I had to turn it into a lead light design (like making sure the lead parts connect to the edge). With that done is was time to rummage through the beginner boxes of glass to find the colors and start cutting.

Now would be a good time to point out I hate broken glass. I cut my foot open as a kid at the beach and even now I won’t take my shoes off outside (If I were a heroine in a romance novel lead lighting would be me confronting my fears of broken glass in a non-threatening way).

The glass pieces rubbing against each other as I looked for blues and red was grating and I kept expecting shard to break off, none did. The cutting however was a challenge. Score the glass and snap it (that was fine) but then tiny slivers littered the work bench. Getting a glass splinter was a real risk.

I survived class one with only a small cut and no splinters. Next week it’s more cutting then somehow getting the pieces into the frame. I’ll share the finished product when it’s done.