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My next book is out to two first readers. The novel that I’ve been writing on and off for twenty years. The book that was inspired by three friends, but I hesitated and then stalled because I was afraid it was too close to their lives, and I didn’t want to embarrass them. My book about my impressions of a time in my life that I shared with three people in a small town in Northern Arizona. I waited so long that all three of them are dead now. I miss them in my life, and I have been released to write anything I want – some personal history mixed with a huge dose of imagination and sprinkles of fantasy, misconduct, and romance.

Rob Brezney said, “What needs to be preserved isn’t the exact form but the living spirit” in this month’s FreeWillAstrology email newsletter. It is the spirit I worked to capture, the spirit of the thing that wouldn’t let go of me, that insisted on being written.

I will not look at the manuscript nor will I do anything to change it, while I anxiously await feedback from my trusted readers. I won’t write at all. I will read and clean the house and make SoulCollage cards and visit with friends and take naps. Just live my life and not write. Except for this. I am writing about not writing.

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July 2, 2026
Tomorrow is my birthday. Somehow, when you’ve had as many birthdays as I have (this will be my 81st), celebrating one day a year seems unnecessary and redundant. It’s a been-there-done-that event that doesn’t have to be repeated. Presents are also unnecessary. I don’t need any more stuff; I have plenty. So much, in fact, that I need to get rid of stuff.

I guess I sound like a prickly curmudgeon, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. I appreciate my life every day, not just on the day I was born. I celebrate the sun rising, the moon moving across the night sky, the cacti and succulents that struggle to survive in my garden, my access to creative endeavors, my wonderful circle of friends and family strewn around the world. And I welcome Isabelle Audrey, my first great-niece. Now that’s something to celebrate!

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January 9, 2026
Changing Plans on the Fly

Last year, I facilitated a workshop at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans called “Collage Yourself into a Story.” This was the description:

“A lot of writers have difficulty finding their next story. Maybe you have an idea but not the characters, or conversely, the characters are haunting you, but you don’t know what to do with them.

Participants in this workshop will find inspiration, tap into their intuition, and exercise their imaginations using simple SoulCollage® techniques combined with writing exercises. Absolutely no art experience is necessary, and all supplies will be provided. Please bring something to write with, your willingness to learn new techniques, and your enthusiasm to explore a new approach to an old problem.”

I prepared the workshop, created a short PowerPoint presentation, gathered examples of my cards, and amassed a pile of images cut from magazines that I organized in a folder. It all fit nicely into my luggage, and I stowed it in the closet of my friend Adam’s house, where I was staying, along with the outfit I had chosen for the day.

That morning, I packed my computer and double-checked that the thumb drive was in my purse. Adam and I walked briskly to the meeting place, where I waited until the room was empty before going in and setting up with the help of an A.V. person. That’s when it hit me. I had forgotten my folder of material and examples in the closet. Oh no! What was I going to do? I quickly decided I could do it with some magazines and went to the gift shop to buy some. They had no reading matter except some pricy children’s books. I wasted precious time trying to convince the manager to lend me the books for a short time, and that they would be returned unharmed. He said no.

As I walked back into the room, I saw participants slowly trickling in. I had exactly five minutes to shift gears and develop an alternative plan. Originally, people were going to choose two images from a pile of curated photos I had cut out. Instead, I came up with the idea that objects in the room would become their images.

An example of a SoulCollage® card with one background and one foreground image

First, I presented the concepts of SoulCollage® using a slideshow, and then I had them look around the room to choose one object as a background and sketch it on a piece of paper. It could be anything in the room. Then they selected a foreground object and sketched it on the same sheet of paper, relative to the first image. The writing exercises had three components: Why did you choose those objects? What message does the drawn image have for you? And then they shared in dyads. We had time for a few people to share with the whole group.

In the final few minutes, I admitted I had to change things up because I’d forgotten my file, and I asked for feedback. I heard that the workshop was inspiring and useful, and that the exercise grounded them in the space. One person said that they never noticed all the little details in a bland conference room before.

What I had thought was a complete disaster turned out to be an opportunity to invent a new way to conduct a SoulCollage workshop. That’s what I love about teaching – I learn a lot.

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November 1, 2025
Adobeland becomes Camp Saguaro

The familiar trip on the winding road over Gates Pass, through the saguaro forest, and past the Desert Museum took us to the gate of Camp Saguaro, a seasonal campground in the beautiful Sonoran Desert. This is the site of the former Adobeland, the women’s land that inspired my novel, Desert Haven. A place I have visited many times in the past.

Adobeland had been sold, and the distant relatives who inherited the property had no interest in preserving its history. Honestly, it was a mess. Structures had fallen into disrepair, and tons of discarded junk cluttered the acreage.

Kim and Michelle had been staying in the nearby Gilbert Ray campground and fell in love with the area. They went looking for some acreage and happened upon the land formerly known as Adobeland. They bought it knowing full well that they were taking on a tremendous challenge, but they had the vision and the means to transform it into a charming campsite. Three years later, after cleaning, clearing, building, and respectfully restoring anything that could be salvaged, they should be very proud of their accomplishment.

I was stunned by the transformation. It was hard to get my bearings because familiar landmarks, like the abandoned bus with prickly pear cactus growing from the wheel wells, and the underground kiva with a caved-in roof and packrat nests, were gone. Anyone who had visited Adobeland in the last few years and mourned its slow demise would be amazed.

In addition to six camping sites, there are two rental structures available. Flush toilets, hot showers, laundry, gathering spaces, a fire pit, a dog park, and the mercantile, where you can purchase Desert Haven, are some of the amenities.

They are open from October 15, 2025, to April 4, 2026. You can book your stay at HipCamp or call or text them with any questions at (520) 609-2624.

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August 28, 2025

Writing Inertia v. Writers Block

When does a long break from writing a novel become writer’s block? Months of producing nothing but negative self-talk and doubts: I can’t do it, it’s too complicated, I don’t have time, who cares about my protagonist anyway, the concept sucks, I didn’t really want to write another book anyway, maybe I’ll just write short personal essays instead . . .

Countered by a few attempts at positive talk: Just do it.

It wasn’t enough to get me back on the page.

My last novel was a challenge, but this one is harder. I think it’s because I love my quirky protagonist, but I can’t seem to make her shine. She deserves so much more than I have been able to provide for her. Plus, the plot is twisty and I lost some of the threads, so I got discouraged.

Anne Lamott’s advice from Bird by Bird followed me around every day of my hiatus – Just write the first shitty draft. She says, “The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.”

Easier said than done. I felt that if it was all over the place, I wouldn’t have the energy or skills to corral all those words into a coherent narrative.

So how did I break through the alleged block? I opened the document with the last version of my 50,000-word manuscript and scrolled to the last page. I read what I had written. Then I put my fingers on the keyboard and started to write. I took a leap of faith, hoping that words would form and something would flow. I didn’t know what to expect, but at least I didn’t interfere with the process. Just do it.

Lamott also said, “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” That rings true for me. The plot took an unexpected turn, and characters surprised me with their antics. I happily went along for the ride.

Here’s the oddest part of this journey. After suffering through the first draft, I look forward to draft number two. It’s the opportunity to work out loose ends and deepen the characters and their relationships. I know that as I write the new version, more ideas will pop up, so the third draft will be even better than the last. At some point, I’ll share it with my writing buddies for feedback, which will provide me with even more information.

This is the same process I experienced when writing my previous books, but I didn’t remember. Maybe it’s like childbirth, the actual pain recedes when you rejoice in the birth. It seems my memory failed, and the metronome kept ticking on the side of “this book is trash.” How could I forget the joy and exhilaration of shaping a book from first shitty draft to “the best book!”

I don’t like to think that I experienced writer’s block, which sounds so concrete. I would prefer to consider it as a form of writing inertia or inactivity. Everything was intact, I just didn’t have the umph to push through. Until I did.

*The Writer’s Metronome meme by Carrie Turner Writing and Editing

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October 28, 2024
Penelope the Weaver

(My guest column for Soul Songs, the online KaleidoSoul newsletter)

There are threads weaving through my life. I visualize them as multistranded, multicolored strings that form a pattern known only to itself, tying together seemingly unrelated experiences, people, and places, and emotional responses into a unique and colorful cloth. As Seena Frost said in SoulCollage® Evolving, “a ‘hand-crafted life ‘” (is) a life that is consciously assembled from pieces that you yourself select and craft together.” That resonates strongly with me.

Named Penelope at birth, I have lived up to the definition of my name, “the weaver.” I began my creative journey as a visual artist and collager. I became a weaver of rugs and clothing before my career turned to restoring Navajo rugs. Twenty years ago, I founded Odyssey Storytelling, a monthly performing arts event that weaves personal stories into a unique form of entertainment. I wanted to share what I had learned from that experience, so I turned to writing and wove words into a nonfiction book, The Radical Act of Community Storytelling: Empowering Voices in Uncensored Events. In my latest book, a novel called Desert Haven, I interwove fifteen short stories into an interconnected narrative. And the next book I am writing now is a cozy mystery where I must tie up all the loose ends.

There is a theme here, and to me, it all leads up to SoulCollage®.

My sister, Susan Plummer, introduced me to SoulCollage in 2016, and four years later, I signed up for a Facilitator Training. Unfortunately, it was canceled due to Covid, but I was able to join the first international Zoom Facilitator Training with Mariabruna Sirabella in November 2020.

My meandering path of unrelated skills and creative expression is the foundation for my SoulCollage® practice. My desire to recycle and reinvent meshed perfectly with the SoulCollage philosophy and methodology. What could be better than turning bits and pieces into a story and trying to make sense of it?

I use my cards to understand the connective threads and themes that run through my life. I’ve been journaling since I got my first diary when I was eight years old, so it seemed natural to draw a card from my deck every day as a prompt. I ask the card to tell me what I need to know. And I always get an answer, sometimes surprising, sometimes reassuring, and sometimes disturbing, but I always trust it.

My journal is on my computer as a password-protected document. I like the tidiness of it, so I started another journal, this one exclusively for my SoulCollage deck. Each card is numbered and entered chronologically, and I include a scanned photo. When I do a reading in my daily journal, I copy and paste it into my SoulCollage journal under that card. This way, I have a running account of the different messages the cards have for me, depending on where I am in my life.

Occasionally, I organize small SoulCollage® workshops, and my focus has been on the intersection of writing and SoulCollage – how one enhances and reinforces the other. If I get stuck in my writing, I create a card to access information from a different part of my brain and move forward with new insight. I love sharing this method of moving beyond what I think I know to what I don’t know that I know.

My cards about writing can be in any suit. Whether personal, global, or communal, each card adds to my understanding of how my private creative process is interwoven with universal truths and the wonderful community of SoulCollage®.

The two cards I am sharing with you today seem to be flip sides of the same coin.

Muse with An Attitude
I made this card in a “Getting in Touch with Your Muse” workshop that I presented in 2022.

I am one who channels the Dolly Partons in your life. I am a powerful diva role model. I am one who demands and receives respect. I am one who is comfortable in the spotlight, and I have a serious sense of humor. I am one who feels my power. I am one who takes up a lot of space and demands a piece of the pie.

Imposter Syndrome
This card is part of my “fear” series where I name and make a card for things that scare me.

I am the nasty voices in your head that lie to you. I am one who performs on stage, makes visual art, writes books and articles, despite brain fog created by the snarling beast. I am one who feels the fear and does it anyway.

Contact me if you want to know more about SoulCollage or to schedule a workshop for your group.

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September 4, 2024
Who is Your Favorite Author?

Last week, I read from Desert Haven at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Tucson to a lively group of listeners. I invited questions from the audience, and the conversation was unpredictable and fun. But one question stopped me: Who are your favorite authors? I shouldn’t be surprised because it is not an unusual ask, but for some reason, I’m never prepared to answer it.

I stammered and said, Virginia Wolff, because she is my shero and I love how she gets into her characters’ heads, jumping from one to the next with ease, allowing the reader a glimpse into the world they inhabit. Nothing much happens: a family plans a trip to a lighthouse, and everything unfolds internally – fears and hopes, relationships, and possibilities. But when Virginia wants to write action, she moves with great finesse, creating characters who effortlessly swirl through time and gender. I love her intensity and clarity.

A friend took this photo of me and look who is peeking over my shoulder!

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August 18, 2024
Humor Me

I think this meme is funny and has a lot of truth in it, but I have come to realize that not everyone has the same sense of humor as I do. It’s possible that some people could be offended by it or not get the references or the irony. Writing funny may be fun for the writer, but it doesn’t always hit the mark for everyone.

My sense of humor began in Queens, N.Y., when I was born to secular Jews who raised me and my sister on puns, which were considered the height of hilarity. Plays on words, surprises, and twists were the expected fodder for entertainment. Jokes were never at the expense of anyone (other than maybe Phyllis Diller talking about her husband Fang.)

I like silly and sweet too:

I laugh at the unexpected and enjoy the cleverness of a jokester. That must be why I love being in a state of wonder at magic shows. If someone can point out the extraordinary in a way that I didn’t see coming, I’m with them all the way. Like political cartoons from my friend, the brilliant former editorial cartoonist David Fitzsimmons, who pierces to the heart of the matter with a twinkle in his eye. Anyone who loves Tucson will understand this rivalry with the overgrown hotbox to the north.

His insights are timeless and strongly apply to this election in 2024.

Is that funny? I think so in a cringy way. To me, all humor contains a whopping heap of truth. Maybe that’s why we laugh — because we don’t expect the teller to be honest and tell it like it is.

(VOTE!)

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July 29, 2024
Procrastination is My Friend

I saw a meme on the internet that said, “If you’re having a hard time getting started on a project, simply start a second project, get it to a critical point, then use the original project to procrastinate work on the second, now more stressful project. Repeat as needed until the universe disintegrates. “

I agree with all of that, but I would change the last sentence to “repeat as needed until you have completed the projects.”

This captures my strategy for getting the most out of life as a creative being. It’s why I always have multiple projects going at any time—writing, sewing, cooking, visiting—and each one uses a different part of my brain or body. When I get stuck in one, I move on to another and allow my subconscious to do the work for me.

I no longer think that procrastination is the thief of time, as I was told. I think of it as a way to gestate and let my inner knowing float into consciousness. And once it does that, it’s my job to get to work.

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July 18, 2024
Desert Haven goes to Alaska

My friend Andy Moore, maker of gorgeous videos posted on his YouTube channel, Andy’s Treasure Trove, recently took a cruise to Alaska, and here he is reading a story from my book, Desert Haven, to an Alaskan resident:

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June 18, 2024
Senior Pride Storytelling

I was the emcee at the 20/20 Vision: Looking Back and Looking Forward 20 Years of Southern Arizona Senior Pride storytelling show on June 15. I told them, “Storytelling is a way to connect with diverse and different people that you may not meet in your everyday life. Because people are telling stories from their lives, they may be amazing, messy, enlightening, disturbing, profound, and entertaining. Our storytellers have guidelines, but they are uncensored.” Then the first storyteller took the stage and told a side-splittingly funny story about a dildo and a roller skate.

Five tellers shared their heartfelt, compelling, real, queer, moving, and enlightening stories. After the show, the whole audience walked two blocks in 106-degree heat to HighWire for free drinks, cake, and lots of mingling. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and I was thrilled to combine two of my passions: Senior Pride and Odyssey Storytelling.

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June 7, 2024
Book Reviews Matter

In honor of Pride Month, I invite you to pick up a copy of my new novel, Desert Haven. If you have read the book, I would appreciate you posting a review on Amazon. Here are five rules of book reviewing: (adapted from a meme by Alethea Kontis)

You do not have to purchase the book on Amazon to leave a review there.
You do not have to read the whole book to leave a review.
Reviews can be as simple as, “Loved this one so much? Can’t wait for the next!” They don’t even have to be spelled correctly.
Authors need reviews on Amazon to get better placement in the algorithms.
Algorithms are not reading and grading your reviews. They just look at the numbers.

Please take 5 minutes to leave a review today for an author you love. It really does make a difference.

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March 30, 2024
Desert Haven Book Release Party

May 7, 2024. That’s the official release date of Desert Haven and you can preorder the book here or get the ebook right away. If you are in Tucson, please let me know if you’d like to be invited to the Book Release Party on May 5, and I’ll send you the details.

I had the honor of reading from Desert Haven at the Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival in New Orleans last week. It’s a subdivision of the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and attracts writers and readers from all over.

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January 24, 2024
I Love Rattling Good Yarns

I’ve been too busy to blog because Ian Henzel and I have been deep into the editing process of Desert Haven. Ian, managing editor of Rattling Good Yarns Press, an independent publishing house specializing in LGBTQ fiction, history, and whimsey, has a keen eye and ear and has helped me get the book ready for publication in April. And, importantly, we have a similar sensibility.

Here are some excerpts from his 2023 Holiday Letter:

“This year, we ask you to support independent LGBTQ+ presses like Rattling Good Yarns Press. All you have to do is watch or read the news to see how the tone has changed. Book banning is rampant, and state legislatures are trying to pass anti-LGBTQ laws.
Small independent LGBTQ+ presses are doing important work. All of us are trying to get the voices of our diverse community out there and heard. All of us publish books passed over by large publishing houses.
Our mission here at Rattling Good Yarns Press is creative and political. Publishing LGBTQ+-themed books by LGBTQ+ authors is, in these times, a political act.”

I’m proud to have my book published by Rattling Good Yarns.

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September 22, 2023
Ethel and I Go On a Writing Retreat

I love writing retreats, and so does my friend Ethel Lee-Miller. When we had the opportunity to spend a day at the Cottage at Sanctuary Cove here in Tucson, we jumped on it. We spent the morning in silence across the table from each other, both intent on our projects, and then took a break for lunch and a labyrinth walk before we returned to the table for an afternoon of more writing. It’s amazing how much work you can get done with no interruptions in a serene and beautiful oasis. Especially with your bestie.

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June 25, 2023
Hats and More Hats

Recently, I had an encounter with precancer. Not the Big C, the little c that indicates that there could be trouble ahead. Kasey, the wonderful PA in my dermatologist’s office, offered 2 options. One was to zap the offending tissue with liquid nitrogen. The second was to use a prescription cream at home that would react with only precancer cells and leave the rest of my face alone. I chose door number two and faithfully smeared that foul stuff on my temples, cheeks, and nose for ten days, watching myself turn into a crusty Frankenstein monster.

It all healed, and I’m glad that I was cautious, but there is one thing that I’m moving forward with. Kasey told me to wear a hat anytime I was outside. No exceptions.

I never considered myself a “hat person,” but I quickly turned into one. Shopping for nice-looking and utilitarian chapeaux turned into a delightful sport. Accumulating a batch of large floppy things that you want to be accessible at all times became a storage dilemma until I came upon this solution. Now, whenever I walk out the door, I choose a hat to match my mood, and I’m good to go.

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June 14, 2023
The Synergy of SoulCollage® and Poetry

I have journals dating back to 1976. My routine used to include a notebook and my favorite pen; it now involves a cozy spot on the couch, a cup of tea, and my laptop, open to a Word Doc where I record my thoughts and feelings. After completing the SoulCollage Facilitator Training in 2020, I decided to enrich my practice by randomly drawing a card and incorporating a reading into my morning writing routine, which led to a deeper exploration of my cards.

Recently, I’ve been inspired to write poems too. They are little ditties about my life and observations, nothing scholarly, but challenging and fun to compose. All of these words—from my reflections, card readings, and poems—eventually met up in my journal, and something interesting happened: the three genres of expression started to feed each other. The SoulCollage® card would lead to journaling, which would lead to a poem. Or my writing might begin with the words of a poem inspired by a card. It didn’t matter which one came first; they became intertwined, knitting together insight and inspiration.

On a recent Election Day, I wrote in my journal: Today, I started with the uncertainty of the election results, then moved on to washing machine repair, and somehow, a miracle of synapses made connections below the surface of my consciousness. I let the flow happen and followed along. What emerged was a poem about agitators—the ones in washers and the ones creating political change:

Still holding my breath
waiting for the election results,
AZ might surprise me
in a good way.
Meanwhile, Victor came to
fix the washing machine.
He knew right away
we needed a new part
to replace the worn-out agitator.
Young people saved this election
from being a total disaster;
they are the replacement parts
for us old agitators.

Then I made a card from the poem:

One of the most exciting aspects of this exploration is the integration of visuals with words, one inspiring the other. The SoulCollage method holistically addresses Body (the physicality of creating cards), Mind (responding to and interpreting words and images), Spirit (connecting to inner wisdom), and Connection (sharing in community). Adding poetry to this mix gives us one more powerful, illuminating approach to our SoulCollage® journey.

This is a shortened version of “The Synergy of SoulCollage® and Poetry,” an article I wrote for the Neter Leter, the SoulCollage® Facilitator’s newsletter.

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April 20, 2023
True Tales of Life in Australia

Susy Plummer, visionary artist and storyteller, is my little sister who moved to Australia many years ago. Although we visit each other infrequently, we stay in touch by phone calls and emails. Despite the miles separating us, we are often on the same wavelength – reading the same book or buying each other the same presents. She introduced me to SoulCollage®, and I introduced her to storytelling.

Recently, Susy began a storytelling event in the community where she lives. But I’ll let her tell the story in her own words:

True Tales of Life

I immigrated to Australia from the USA when I was 21. I am now 74 and live in a Coastal town an hour from Sydney in a housing complex for folks over the age of 55. We are a diverse community from twelve different countries. I realized how interesting it would be to know more about my neighbors.

Along with the activity director, I planned a monthly event where people could share a 10-minute story from their life with a short question and answer session after. Plus, we could share a few photos.

True Tales of Life began last month with my story of how I had the opportunity to migrate from Woodstock, New York, to Sydney. Four people came to listen and asked lots of questions. I even showed them my high school senior prom photo. We laughed and enjoyed getting to know one another. It was a good start, and I expect more people to join us each month.

This month, Eddie, an 89-year-old Aboriginal elder, will tell his tale. I look forward to more interesting stories and connections being made. Hearing about each other’s special events helps to broaden my world as it brings us together.

You can see Susy’s art at Inner Life Art.

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October 28, 2022
Writing Retreat at the Lake

I just got back from a 4-day solo writing retreat in our newish twenty-one-foot travel trailer at my favorite Arizona camping spot, Patagonia Lake State Park. This photo shows most of the interior (I’m taking the picture while standing on the bed.) When it got too dark or cold to write outside under the mesquite trees, I went inside to my little table and cozy couch.

My disjointed writing process, which I am learning to honor, can be rather frustrating. Still, somehow, between reading, walking, helping a neighbor back in his trailer, watching coots (birds) that were munching weeds at the shoreline, moving outdoor furniture out of the rain, and cleaning up after a visiting mouse, I managed to do what I set out to do: rewrite the first story of my book.

This retreat was the brainchild of my lovely life partner, Silvia. I reserved the camping space for ten nights, and we divided it up as follows: Silvi went down for the first four nights for her solo retreat, and then I arrived with Kosmos, the dog that lives with us. After two days of togetherness, Silvi and Kosi drove home. Four days later, she and the truck came to retrieve me and the trailer.

On the way home, the road was bumpy, and the trailer shook and swayed. At home, I opened the door to clean out the refrigerator, and this is what greeted me. I think it looks like a tidy and compact paper towel waterfall. Or, as a photographer friend said, it looks like conceptual art. Nevertheless, we rolled it back up and stowed it in a cupboard for the next adventure.

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March 19, 2022
The Best Granola in the Universe

My friend, author and editor, Kathy McIntosh, posts her favorite recipes on her website in addition to her blog. I love that idea, so I am sharing my recipe for homemade granola.

I started with a generic recipe around fifty years ago and tweaked it over the years to suit my taste. As a result, it is easy to make and adaptable to the ingredients I have on hand. There is always a batch in the pantry ready for a nutritious and delicious meal (breakfast for dinner, anyone?) And it keeps my strength up for spending hours at the computer, writing my next book.

All ingredients are raw and unsalted

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup sesame seeds
½ cup wheat germ
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup cashews
1 cup nuts (almond, pecan, walnut, etc.)
1 cup coconut flakes
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and honey and mix well. Bake in 9×13″ pan at 350 for 20 minutes, remove from oven and stir well, and then bake another 20 minutes, more or less, until golden brown. Remove from oven and stir while warm, so the honey doesn’t harden to the pan. You can add raisins or dried fruit while it’s cooling. Store in an airtight jar.

Always start with the oats (or mixed rolled grains) but if you don’t have some of the other ingredients, make it anyway. It always comes out tasty. Experiment with nuts and seeds you like best. Omit the wheat germ and find gluten-free oats for the gluten-sensitive loves in your life. Because of the flexibility, each batch can be slightly different from the next and adjusted for the season (pumpkin spice, anyone?) One yummy combo is vanilla, walnuts, and maple syrup.

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January 13, 2022
Submit

I have never been one to submit easily. I was told I was a difficult infant and grew up to become a rebellious teenager. In the 70s, I took Assertiveness Training classes, where I learned how to let go of my aggressive behaviors and ask for what I wanted without intentionally hurting the other person. It made my life easier, and I found I had a better chance of getting my needs met. But if I am asked to submit to requests that don’t make sense to me, my rebellious child will rear up, loud and strong.

What does this have to do with writing? We writers are asked to, no required to, submit over and over, and the majority of those submissions lead to rejection or, at the least, being ignored.

If I want my work to get out there and be read by more than my immediate family, I must subject myself to the grueling task of finding an appropriate outlet and convince the gatekeepers that my scribblings are precisely what they want to publish. As a matter of fact, they want it so much that they are willomg to pay me for it.

So I make a game out of it. I make spreadsheets and appropriately labeled folders, keeping track of what and where I sent to whom. Sometimes why. Each time I gather up the gumption to submit to Submittable, I congratulate myself on my extraordinary bravery because submitting doesn’t come naturally to me.

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September 17, 2021
Mission Accomplished

This is the sunrise I woke up to today on the last morning of my retreat. I felt that the desert was celebrating my accomplishment. My goals were to revise the seven remaining stories, run them all through Grammarly, compile all fourteen stories into one document and work on overlap and continuity. I did everything on my list!

Plus, I walked the labyrinth, swam in the pool, stood in awe at the bottom of a wall of petroglyphs, and ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner alone, listening to Nomadland, Jessica Bruder’s book that was the basis of the movie of the same name. Except for a tableful of priests that I nodded to in the dining hall, I was the only guest at the Redemptorist Renewal Center. My retreat into silence and focus solely on my writing was just what I needed.

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September 14, 2021
Reasons to Keep a Writer in Your Home

• They know weird facts
• They’re low maintenance because all they do is eat and write
• Great for midnight chats because they don’t sleep
• If they have to edit, they’ll procrastinate by cleaning your whole house

I stole this from the internet and put it on the refrigerator because it’s true. The last one especially.

I’m deep into revisions and even deeper into procrastination, so I finally had to admit defeat and retreat. Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines retreat like this:

1. an act or process of withdrawing, especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable
2. a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director

In my case, both feel true. The rewrites are challenging but necessary. I felt overwhelmed facing an entire manuscript that was good but needed to get much better. As I progress, the stories get deeper and more real, and the more I do, the more momentum builds, making it easier to go forward. How to keep that focus?

I decided to take a solo writer’s retreat, something I’ve done before and greatly benefited from. This time, instead of hiding out in my trailer in a state park, I’m going to relax into spartan luxury at the Redemptorist Renewal Center for a few days. I get a room with a view, three healthy meals a day, and no obligations or interruptions for a reasonable fee. I will unplug from the world (except I’ll use Wi-Fi for Grammarly.) I’m leaving in a few hours, so I need to go pack . . .

P.S. If you are interested in a solo writing retreat, you might want to check out this book by Kermie Wohlenhaus: Creating a Solo Writer’s Retreat: Actualizing Undisturbed Time & Space to Write Within Our Busy Lives

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May 13, 2021
I Got the Grant!

Just when I was getting discouraged with the book that I’m writing, just when I was beginning to think that this writing stuff had outsmarted me, and I could never figure out how to balance plot, character, style, and creativity; just when I was at the very edge of feeling that no one cared about the words typed by these clumsy fingers — just then I got an email from The Arizona Commission on the Arts.

I’ve gotten these emails before in response to my grant applications. They say, thank you for going through the time-consuming and difficult submission process but the committee has met and decided that there are a slew of worthy artists and they are not you. We gave all the money to them. Or at least that what I thought they said. They were probably much kinder and gentler.

But this time it was different. This time the email said:

“The Arizona Commission on the Arts is pleased to inform you that your Fiscal Year 2021 Artist Research and Development Grant application has been awarded funding.”

Wowee! I read it five times to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating. The grant will enable me to polish up Desert Haven to its best sparkly version and research publishers for the best fit. Meanwhile, I’ll work on my platform so when it’s published, I can hit the ground running.

Here’s a link to their website so you can see the other artists that are celebrating with me this year: 24 Artists Awarded R&D Grants

One of the requirements (or strong suggestions) was to include a process map. Never having heard of such a thing, I Googled it and found terrific resources. It seems businesses and nonprofits use these tools all the time to envision goals and procedures. The website Lucidchart offers tools to create visual diagrams, and the free version was all I needed. With some feedback from knowledgeable business-type friends, I created my masterpiece. Not only was it a lot of fun to produce, but it was also an extremely helpful visual, showing me the steps I must take to launch Desert Haven into the world. And I think it’s pretty.

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April 19, 2021
The New Certified SoulCollage® Facilator

A few years ago, when we could still travel internationally, my sister, Susy Plummer, visited me in Tucson from her home in Umina Beach, Australia. She had just taken an intense training as a SoulCollage® facilitator. Wanting to share her knowledge and enthusiasm, she taught me how to make cards and a little about the philosophy behind it. I thought it was grand and wanted to know more.

I ordered some materials and pored over founder Seena Frost’s book, SoulCollage® Evolving, trying to absorb the intricacies of this fascinating process. For five years, I made cards, alone and with friends, until I decided I wanted to know more, so I signed up for facilitator training. Then came Covid-19 and shut it down along with most of life. Six months into the pandemic, I got word that the course would be offered online, and I jumped at the opportunity.

The SoulCollage community is a worldwide phenomenon with over 4000 facilitators in 50 countries. During my month-long training, I remember asking one participant where she was zooming from. She replied that she was in Tokyo, Japan, and it was 3 a.m. That’s dedication.

The process is simple. Guided by intuition and intention, images are cut from magazines and glued to a 5×8″ card. The resultant card is often a surprise to the maker. This creative process sidesteps one’s inner critic, highlighting unexpected connections and striking metaphors.

This is primal material for the writer in me. While developing a daily routine of visiting the cards with an open mind, I began to see how useful this process could be as a tool to address a multitude of writing questions: what is the most important thing in this story, what does the main character want, where should the action take place. If I let my imagination run free, the cards will reveal themselves.

It’s not magic, it’s not esoteric knowledge. It’s tapping into and unblocking one’s own inner knowing and intuition. Our logical mind does a good job of keeping us alive and it even might sit us down in front of the computer every day, but it doesn’t always cooperate when we are digging into instinctual or spontaneous places.

I’m thrilled to have discovered this amazing device to assist me in my writing and I plan on offering workshops specifically designed for writers and other creatives in the near future.

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June 26, 2020
Beta Readers to the Rescue

It’s great to set goals. Knowing I wanted to finish my book by July provided the energy I needed to finish a revised draft. I thought it was okay and, trying to keep to my self-imposed deadline to have the book done, I sent it off to beta readers. I hoped they would agree that it was good to go. Part of me had reservations; there is always that, but I overrode those dismaying feelings in order to move ahead.

What I heard back from those honest, caring, and smart folks was that it needs more tweaking, greater depth, and more clarity. Damnit, they are right, of course.

I have a lot of work to do. I won’t meet the deadline of sending it to a publisher by my 75th birthday, but this way, when I do have something, it will be worthy. There’s no rush; I just need to work steadily and make it better. Anyway, the pandemic has kept me home with plenty of time to write. I will do the best I can – and then do more.

My friend Sheila told me she admires my persistence. I don’t feel like I have a choice. I want to finish the book, I want it to be good, I want it to be out there. Quitting, failing, all that stuff, just isn’t a possibility. Am I determined, yes. Am I unrealistic? I don’t think so. Each time I rewrite, it gets better, I learn a little bit more, and I keep going forward. Some things take a while to sink in. Even though I came up short, I did the best I could, and I am willing to trust my process.

I’m diving back in, digging deeper. It’s challenging, frustrating, and amazingly enough, it’s fun.

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November 10, 2019
Drafty First Draft

At some point, you just have to stop writing and say you have completed your first draft. At the end of August, I realized that I had basically covered the territory I thought I wanted in my book and that I had a very drafty first draft. (Similar to Anne Lamont’s letting go of perfectionism phrase,“shitty first draft,” in Bird by Bird.)

A sobering thought. Am I done? Not by a long shot. The eighty thousand or so words that I had strung together were the kernel, the raw beginnings. My new challenge was to shape those words into a story worth reading.

Eyes’ by Louise Bourgeois 1911-2010

In sculpture, there are two ways of approaching a 3-D work of art: additive and subtractive. Authors who write mountains of pages have the daunting task of paring away the unnecessary, like clay workers, taking away material to find the form. Writers must “kill their darlings” in a subtractive process to uncover the essence of their concept.

I, on the other hand, sketch out my ideas, like a painter, laying the undercoat that determines the substance of the finished work. I add a few tentative layers of color and build it up with scene and exposition. Delete and rewrite. When I reach the end, I begin the process all over again, altering it slightly or recreating whole passages until I’m satisfied.

How will I know when I’m done? I have a goal. I want to have a finished manuscript by my seventy-fifth birthday in July 2020. I’ll just make it happen, layer by layer, until I finally push my chair back, put up my hands, and slowly back away from the computer.

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March 31, 2019
Embracing my Writing Process

I see that a whole year has passed since I wrote here, and I want to catch up on my writing saga. (aside: just looked up the definition of “saga” at Dictionary.com and came up with: Any very long story with dramatic events or parts.) (I love instantly shifting from the narrative in order to Google a word or fact or concept and then jumping right back to the flow of words a smarter person than I was a moment ago.)

Tucson Writer’s Table

I also learned that a “saga novel” is a form of the novel in which the members or generations of a family or social group are chronicled in a long and leisurely narrative. I’d say that fits my novel, Desert Haven. Not only is the narrative leisurely, but so is the process. I generally write just a few (maybe six or seven) hours a week. Two hours on Mondays at the Tucson Writers’ Table (Rincon Market, 6:15 to 8:30) and a few hours two or three times a week when I have the time or when I can’t resist the urge to write. With so many interruptions, I constantly have to remember where I was. I do that by rereading what I wrote and referring to any notes I’ve jotted down between times. Even though I’m not writing, I’m always working on the book. Daydreaming, sleep dreaming, getting insights through reading or talking with friends. Even hearing a story on the radio can spark the creative flow.

I’m even pokier than usual because the end of last year caught me by surprise with a consuming health issue. The healing process slowed me down for a few months but I’ve regained my energy and enthusiasm. To stir the pot, my friend Miriam Ruth Black and I are taking a wonderful Advanced Fiction Writing class with Frankie Rollins at Pima Community College. Miriam is also working on a novel, and we both find the feedback and interactions with other students encouraging. Frankie gives us plenty to chew on.

How many words has Desert Haven accumulated so far? I’m not counting. I’m just writing at this point. When I am closer to what looks and feels like the end, I’ll count them. Then edit and get rid of the unnecessary ones.

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March 26, 2018
Saints & Sinners

What an honor to read from my book-in-progress at the amazing 15th Annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) alongside an amazing collection of diverse voices.

It was a nonstop literary feast of craft workshops (“Creating Extraordinary Literary Characters” and “Historical Fiction: Once Upon a Time”) mixed with philosophical discussions (“We’ve been Through This Before: Baby Boomer Lesbians Talk about Writing, Resistance and Relevance” and “Transgressive, Sacred and Universal: Is Poetry Inherently Queer?”)

Not only did I get to mingle with queer writers from all over the country, but I got to meet some of my longtime sheros, including activist and author of Beyond The Pale, one of my all-time favorite books, Elena Dykewomon. I learned about plot, character, and a lot of history from her 1997 book.

And then there was the practical. All of the attendees in Elizabeth Schwartz’s workshop, “Marriage Minefield,” came with questions about this complicated subject, and Liz, author of the brilliant “Before I Do: a Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay and Otherwise,” proved to be an expert in the field.

My only complaint is that there were so many great choices that I had to miss out on some fascinating offerings. There is always the 16th Annual S&S.

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December 30, 2017
Short Stories in Print

Reading at the FST! book launch,
Antigone Books

Two of my stories were published in the last few months.

A story I read at the “Never Say Never” Female Storytellers show in 2013, Crazy Love, was published in the Best of FST!, Female StoryTellers Anthology Volume 1 (2017). You can get it here.

My essay Kitchen Confidential, is included in the new anthology, Inside and Out: Women’s Truths, Women’s Stories, (2017). See more about it here.

It’s rewarding and fun to see my stories in print. I’m going to submit to more publications this coming year. I found a lovely spreadsheet online that I modified to keep track of where, what, when, and the outcome. It’s humbling to see the rejections pile up, but I hear it’s a numbers game, so I’ll just keep sending work out.

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November 15, 2017
Breaking Up is Hard to Do

I started the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge very enthusiastically (see below), but then I changed my mind. This is the breakup letter I wrote:

NaNoWriMo, we gotta talk. I know this relationship is still relatively new, but I think it’s best if we just end it now and part as friends. It’s just not working for me. It’s nothing you did. You were completely honest about how much work and focus I would need to get to the finish line. It’s not you; it’s me.

I didn’t mean to lead you on. I really thought we would make a good team. But then I saw how truly demanding you were, expecting me to drop everything for you. You were honest about it but I guess I was in denial.
You told me not to edit as I wrote, that it would slow me down. I really tried to do it your way, but just couldn’t help it. I had to go back and trim sentences and correct syntax. And I felt guilty when I did. I felt like I was letting you down.
I think it’s best if we go our own ways. I respect your world, it’s just not for me. No hard feelings.

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October 15 2017
NaNoWriMo Challenge

When you register to write a novel in a month, the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) website asks for a synopsis of your book and a picture of the cover. Since they have been doing this for a while and know how to inspire writers, and because I want to be successful in writing 50,000 words in 30 days, I thought seriously about these requests.

I’ve been writing this novel for around two years. I wrote the first two short stories in a fiction class at Pima Community College and have been adding to it slowly and steadily, with fabulous feedback and support from my writing group. I’m excited about the book and enjoy the process of writing and revising.

I already have 35,000 words, and NaNoWriMo is a tool to further me on the path. Writing the synopsis and creating a cover made it more real. I am focusing on the distinct goal of adding another 50,000 words, and I feel confident that I will be successfully complete this challenge.

Of course, it’s only 50,000 words of an unedited word dump that will be finished in a month. There will still be lots of adjusting and improving to go. Not to mention getting it published. This is just the beginning of a long and fun undertaking.

If you are taking the NaNoWriMo challenge, you can find me by my author name, starrstories. The title of the novel is Desert Haven, and the genre is literary.

Synopsis: Desert Haven is a novel that chronicles the past and present women’s land movement in linked short stories that take place over a forty-year time span. Each story relates to the theme and moves the novel forward, following a cast of characters through their challenges, choices, and transformations.

This is the mock-up of the cover I made using InDesign

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