Tag: Tough Times

Ringing in the New Year with Tough Times Ahead #WednesdayWords #Excerpts #Memoir

Christmas was a relatively simple affair compared to Thanksgiving. My uncle and aunt offered to come over on Christmas Day and bring chili. We had no out−of−town relatives visiting, just me, Bill, Dad, Grandma, and my uncle and aunt. It was a nice, quiet holiday. Bill and I rang in the New Year by watching Casablanca.

The past few months were tough at times, but we finally settled into a routine, and I could do most tasks associated with Bill’s care without thinking or worrying too much about them. Bill had recently started outpatient physical and occupational therapy, and I hoped he would develop the strength to do more on his own. However, as we snuggled together in bed after the movie, little did we know what lay ahead.

***

Note: the above is excerpted from my memoir, My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds. This, along with three of my other books, is ABSOLUTELY FREE as part of the Smashwords end-of-year sale. Hurry! Today’s the last day. (Please see below for details.) Thank you for reading and happy New Year!

 


Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

My Books Free from Smashwords This Month

 

I’m pleased to announce that Living Vicariously in Wyoming, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me, The Red Dress, and My Ideal Partner are available as part of the Smashwords 2025 End of Year Sale! This runs till the end of the month. Click here to visit my Smashwords author page and download these books ABSOLUTELY FREE! Happy reading!

 

New! Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories

Copyright 2025 by Abbie Johnson Taylor

Published independently with the help of DLD Books.

 

The scene shows an isolated barn off to the right in a snowy field, probably shortly after sunset. The foreground is a mixture of white, blue, and brown shades. Behind the barn is a line of dense, dark trees, many of them evergreens. The sky is the pink one sometimes sees at sunset, and a full moon hangs above the treetops to the left. The title is in plain black letters against the sky with a white glow behind them. The author’s name is in white letters near the bottom of the cover.

Image Description written by Leonore Dvorkin of DLD Books.

 

As defined in the first story, living vicariously means living your life through someone else’s. You’re invited to live vicariously through the lives of the people in these stories. There’s the lawyer who catches his wife in the act with a nun. A college student identifies with a character in a play. A young woman loses her mother and finds her father. And a high school student’s prudish English teacher strenuously objects to a single word in her paper.

In Wyoming, as in any other state, people fall in love, and sometimes relationships are shattered. Accidents, domestic violence, prejudice, and crimes all occur. Lives are torn apart, and people are reunited. Ordinary people deal with everyday and not–so–everyday situations.

The 25 stories in this collection, most of which are set in Wyoming, are about how the various characters resolve their conflicts—or not.

 

Click here for more information and ordering links.

 

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