Today is Halloween, so I wish you all spook-tacular fun!

This has been a crazy week for me, and today is no exception. I am frantically cleaning for a party we are hosting tonight.

I did manage to finish a read-through of my YA sci-fi rewrite. It holds up, except in one spot where I need to figure out how to fit it together around things I had cut out. So that’s good!

Since this week has been tricky, I am giving myself a treat by taking today off from blogging.

Although since that means I have to go clean the bathrooms, I guess it;s not much of a treat, LOL.

It’s a cloudy, rainy day here, so we are in for a wet and wild Trick or Treat tonight. Everyone enjoy their holiday and stay safe!

So yesterday was 9/11. Anyone above a certain age in America, and in many countries around the world, knows what that means. A day of horror and grief as terrorists attacked America, flying commercial airliners filled with passengers into buildings. The day the Twin Towers of Manhattan became twisted rubble, the Pentagon lost a side, and a plane full of heroes plunged into a field.

That was 18 years ago. Almost a full generation. I remember it like it was yesterday. The horror, the pain, the tears, the rage, the grief. My daughter is 9 years old. She’s in 4th grade. This is the first year they really talked about it in school. Honestly, I don’t know how the teachers do it, as I know they all feel the same emotions I do when I think about it.

My daughter came home and started asking questions about my experience, but it soon turned to the events themselves. She was very impressed with the people on Flight 93. “They didn’t fight to save themselves, but to save other people.”

And we talked about why the Towers eventually fell, and why they didn’t right away. We talked about why the firefighters and other first responders kept going back in for more and more people even as the likelihood of structural collapse rose.

We discussed why the terrorists targeted the buildings they did (“Why didn’t they crash into the Statue of Liberty? That’s a symbol of America.”). The heart of our military and the heart of our business sector. And why they attacked America and not other Western countries.

For all that we talked, there were some things I did not tell her.

• I did not tell her that people jumped from the Towers rather than burn to death.
• I did not tell her there were babies on Flight 93, and likely on others.
• I did not tell her that even today people who were at Ground Zero are dealing with the illnesses contracted from the toxic debris.

I did not tell her because she is only nine, and there are some things she doesn’t need to know yet.

Some things I wish I could un-know.

So instead, we talked about other parts of 9/11.

• The rescue dogs that patrolled the debris searching for survivors.
• The motley flotilla of boats that raced to Manhattan and ferried people to safety.
• The generosity and compassion of Canada as they took in flights full of frightened and bewildered Americans.

We talked about those things, because that was the progression of the day: Horror. Grief. Pain.

Hope.

Hope for a better future—a future I see in the face of my daughter and all of the current generation. We will never be able to fully transmit to them the terror of that day.

But we can give them the hope.

Lady Liberty’s torch shines on, and they are the ones to carry it next.

This past weekend I wrapped up my event schedule for 2018 with the New Jersey Association of School Librarians’ Conference. I was only able to be in the Authors’ Alley for one day of the three day conference, as usual, but I enjoy putting in an appearance.

Sunday was a misty day, not a great beach day. This was the first year the conference has been in December, so I got to see the conference center decked out for the holidays. Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I love the decorations (although nor before Thanksgiving, please!).

For the first time in my 4 years attending the conference, I was on the upper level of Authors’ Alley. It was a bit warm up there, so we propped open the door to the balcony to get the cool ocean breeze swirling in. We had a good view of the ocean from up there, when the fog lifted enough to see it. The waves were large and I could have watched, mesmerized, for hours.

NJASL holds a special place in my heart. It was the very first book event I did after my book The Witch of Zal came out in 2015. I was terrified, but my friend and tablemate Donna Galanti showed me the ropes. Plus, all the librarians are enthusiastic and interested, and that love of books is infectious. NJASL is one of my favorite events, and I hope to perhaps be on a panel next year to expand my experience there.

I have heard that the NJASL 2019 will be at a different location, so onward to new things for all of us! I will be back next year.

So it’s Thursday. And there’s supposed to be a post. But there is no post because this week has been one thing after another, and I didn’t even realize it was Thursday until this morning!

Between several firestorms that popped up this week, and family obligations, and Halloween…well, it’s Thursday and there’s no post.

I never used to know what the kids meant when they said, “I can’t even.” But after this week…

I. Can’t. Even.

Next week I should be back on track.

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween!