Halloween Do-Over

I have always loved Halloween. There's the dressing up and becoming - if only for one evening - someone or something other than your day-to-day self. And there's the candy aspect. Though, as a sugar addict, that bit is a sharp, double-edged sword.

I'd done so well this year. Candy kept safely miles away at my sister's house. Only delivered today - the 31st.

Yet, with hours still to go until the trick-or-treaters come knocking, and me alone in the house, well . . .  the big plastic sack of 155 assorted mini candy bars (why 155?) somehow sprung a leak.

I shall say no more. What's done is done. The bell can't be un-rung, the milk un-spilt or Pandora stuffed back inside her box.

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Here are two posts from 2017, the year I made myself very sick on a 120-piece sack of assorted candy bars (a nice even number, right?) that had also somehow sprung a leak in the week leading up to Halloween. I must have written these before I poisoned myself on sugar.

Superheroes: Halloweens Past - about kids, grandkids and a much-younger me - becoming He-Man (Master of the Universe), Captain America and a "glamour" girl, respectively. Here's a taste:

When he dons his costume, my grandson gets that proud, strong-man glint in his eye. He squares his narrow shoulders and plants his feet.
"Who are you?;" I ask.
“I’m a superhero,” he says.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m a good guy.”
“What do good guys do?”
“They don’t be bad guys.”

Deck the Art With Giant Spiders - about trick-or-treating back in the day, 1960s San Francisco, in the Sunset, blocks from the beach and the zoo. Here's a taste:

"It was a mystery how quickly my candy disappeared. I never remembered eating that much. It wasn’t until I became a mother and inevitably found myself raiding my children’s candy stashes, that the likely truth dawned; my older sister must have had better hiding spots, ones our mother never found."

I also contributed to this anthology in a series on the Seven Deadly Sins from Pure Slush Books. This volume is devoted to Gluttony. My piece bears the title, "Hi, My Name Is Dorothy, and I'm a Sugar Addict."

Available on Amazon for Kindle and as a paperback. 

"Its been said that sugar is as addictive as cocaine. And unlike cocaine, it's legal, cheap and plentiful. If you're a user, you don't have a little bit of heroin, a little bit of alcohol or meth. It's no different with sugar. Given the right combination of supply, time and privacy, I will consume every ounce I can lay hands to, and I'll do it sickeningly fast."

Dorothy Rice in Gluttony: 7 Deadly Sins Vol. 2

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And, if by any chance you're hungry for more sweet writing about sugar and the damage done, it's a major theme in my new memoir, GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK. Available at finer stores everywhere. Not really, but you can find it online at Amazon, Small Press Distribution, Indie Bound and Barnes & Noble.

If you can't bear the thought of bringing one more physical, space-consuming object into your home, ask your friendly librarian to order GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK for you! As a small press author with a teeny, tiny footprint in the literary landscape, I would be ever so grateful.

​And seriously, the book is a good read - funny, sad, all of the feels and none of the fat. And I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. Trust me on this.