Books

Almost forty years of life on the land are lovingly depicted in fifteen cleverly linked short stories. Desert Haven chronicles the intertwined lives of a sisterhood of women with ties to a fictitious women’s land in the beautiful and harsh Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona.

This playful novel brings together a chorus of women’s voices, united in the intention of creating a community away from the influence of men. Lesbians, feminists, visionaries, walking wounded, earth mothers, and dropouts, the characters are unique and distinct, coming from diverse circumstances, each woman with differing needs and objectives.

Every woman’s story illustrates a piece of the puzzle; together, they create a picture of the women’s land movement from the 1960s to the uncertainties of the present time. Desert Haven begins as a women’s campsite and grows into a community. Women flow in and out of each other’s stories, forming a network of evolving relationships, each woman forging her unique path with ingenuity, courage, and love.

Feminist and lesbian historical context is woven into the narrative, offering an accurate depiction of “herstory” through the eyes of diverse characters, evoking nostalgia for those of us who lived it, and offering an interpretation of the past for younger readers.

Buy Desert Haven in Print or eBook

Amazon , Rattling Good Yarns Press, Barnes & Noble, Antigone Books
Published by Rattling Good Yarns Press, 2024

KXCI Radio Interview

The amazing hosts of Broad Perspectives, Aspen Green and Kathleen Harris, interviewed me about my book, Desert Haven. It aired on Sunday, July 28 at 3 p.m. on KXCI, 91.3 Tucson’s community radio. You can hear the recording above.

Broad Perspectives Radio showcases women’s voices, views, and interviews; it’s a show by women, about women, but for everyone.

What people are saying about Desert Haven

Starr has a deft hand at creating emotionally resonant characters who linger in the mind, as old friends do, long after we’ve closed the final pages of this rich series of interlocking stories. She tells the larger story of Desert Haven as a women-created and sustained oasis by illuminating the unique histories of each of the lesbians who chose to step away from their proscribed lives in order to find home, family, and community in a barren outpost in the Sonoran Desert. Starr is a graceful storyteller and has tremendous empathy for her characters and their struggles. This is a glimpse of a utopian world, both challenge and balm for the women who are a part of it.

Sandra Butler

author of The Kitchen is Closed; And Other Benefits of Being Old

Desert Haven is a good read for all who have lived on women’s land, dreamed of living on women’s land or want to learn what it was/is all about. In Desert Haven one time travels through the stories of individual women, and the interweaving of their lives, from 1977 to 2017. Carefully crafted, and with great attention to the specificity of the details true to each time period, one comes to learn about the various life experiences and understandings of why different women chose to live on the land and what that experience was like for them.

Deb Edel

LCSW, Co-Coordinator, Lesbian Herstory Archives

A fascinating collection of related stories which shine light on a little known chapter of lesbian history. Starr’s intimate portraits of women overcoming external and internal challenges with resiliency and idealism engage the reader. Unique and important stories. Embedded in each is the author’s deep and authentic knowledge of the Sonoran Desert. She captures the magic.

Miriam Ruth Black

author of Turtle Season and Shayna

The women in this book head out of traditional lives towards Desert Haven, a hot, spiny, dilapidated, and free women’s land where reinvention beckons. Flirty tales depict the connection and clarity these women find when they arrive, become part of the history of the land, find or leave lovers, and accept the risk of choosing their futures. Desert Haven illustrates the definitive ways that women’s lands moved herstory forward.

Frankie Rollins

author of The Sin Eater and Other Stories

If you’re interested in lesbian and/or feminist herstory, this book might be for you, especially if you are a boomer. Take a trip down memory lane, when sisterhood was in vogue, and see how many characters you recognize.

Denise DeSio

author of Rose’s Will

Starr’s Desert Haven reawakened all my Back to Women’s Land fantasies and memories. Her varied stories, full of sorrow, humor and pathos, brought to life the realities and dreams of the movement.

Franci McMahon

author of sapphic adventure novels mostly set in Montana

Why did I, a fifty-eight-year-old visual artist, decide to take on a small project that turned into a thriving nonprofit storytelling organization? What challenges did I face, and how did I survive them? In The Radical Act of Community Storytelling: Empowering Voices in Uncensored Events, I share my journey of joys, frustrations, and single-minded determination.

Not knowing what you are getting into can sometimes be an asset. When I began my odyssey in community storytelling in 2004, I loved the concept but had no experience creating an organization or putting on a show. I learned the hard way (and the fun way) all aspects of producing and sustaining a monthly event. Along the way, I learned that profound changes occur when we tell and listen to each other’s stories, how a simple act can build community, dispel prejudices, foster creativity, and help heal.

The Radical Act is a how-to memoir with a twist of advocacy for the democratic act of allowing everyone to tell their story. Through a step-by-step discovery process, the reader learns the ins and outs of creating an ongoing community event. The book is packed with practical tips and plenty of inspirational stories.

Buy The Radical Act of Community Storytelling
in Print or eBook

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Antigone Books
Published by Parkhurst Brothers Publishing, 2017.

What people are saying about
The Radical Act of Community Storytelling

As a fellow producer of storytelling shows, I’m constantly impressed with Penelope Starr’s passion, curiosity, organization, and desire to better her community by bringing people together. This book is a godsend for everyone who catches the storytelling bug and wants to get involved. Not only will you learn tips and strategies for producing a show and making stories more dynamic, you’ll be inspired by Starr’s personal journey as well. She smartly puts her own story into the larger story, which is really what it’s all about, right?

Beth Lisick Author and co-founder Porchlight Storytelling Series

The Radical Act of Community Storytelling is everything it claims in the title. It is the story of a radical step faith taken by Penelope Starr to open her life by bringing community storytelling to her community. It is the story of voices that often go unheard having the opportunity to speak and be heard. And it is about community building from start to finish–including everything any radical would need to start a community storytelling organization in any community.

Adam Hostetter

Adult literacy educator, writer, and community storytelling producer

In The Radical Act Of Community Storytelling Penelope Starr beautifully describes how she came to be enchanted by storytelling and how she created Odyssey Storytelling, a thriving community treasure in Tucson, Arizona. Penelope has penned a terrific primer for those inspired to raise their own voices and create their own community storytelling and, of course, a wonderful collection of unforgettable stories. Penelope is an evangelist for storytelling who preaches that truth is not simply stranger than fiction, it is more joyful, it is more compelling and it is more radically profound.

David Fitzsimmons

Nationally syndicated political cartoonist, columnist for the Arizona Daily Star

Our communities become better when we listen to each other’s stories. It builds empathy. It helps us feel connected. We are so hungry for this. We all know it. The trouble is, where and how does it happen in an organized way? Penelope Starr has successfully created and nurtured a community of storytellers and story listeners in Tucson, AZ. In this honest, detailed and humorous book, she gives us the real behind-the-scenes story of what it’s like to organize these events as well as shares the important logistics of how she did it- the stuff that we rarely think about when we attend these events. Penelope Starr believes live storytelling can and ought to be done in more communities. And she is doing her part to help make it happen. This is more than a story. It’s a go-to guide for how we can all create more spaces for storytelling in our world.

Jen Nowicki Clark Director, Creative Narrations

In The Radical Act of Community Storytelling, Penelope Starr has given the storytelling world more than a road map for how to create and produce community storytelling events. It is a map with countless number of “insets” with both detailed how-to information, and marvelous stories that support what she has gleaned from 10 years of research and experience. Penelope’s generous spirit also offers dozens of forms and lists that become the ultimate guide for anyone wishing to produce storytelling events that feed the community.

Mark Goldman Author of Storytelling Tips: Creating, Crafting and Telling Stories

Penelope Starr writes in the intimate voice of a friend with such humor and vitality that you want to hang out with her beyond the length of this excellent read. Even if your own passion has little to do with producing a story-telling event, you’ll want to finish Starr’s exhilarating story about creating connection, acceptance of the “other,” and growing compassionate community through the brave and sometimes radical act of telling your story.

Amy Weintraub Author of Yoga for Depression, Yoga Skills or Therapists and founder of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute

Penelope Starr clearly states that her intention is to provide an easy-to-understand and thorough guide for people who would like to start a successful storytelling venue. While she has accomplished this objective to perfection, I think The Radical Act of Community Storytelling has tremendous value far beyond the world of storytelling. I believe the underlying power of her book is one of courage, inspiration and support – a playbook if you will – of what it takes for anyone with a dream to stay on a path and keep moving through uncertainty until the magic happens. Penelope’s writing is refreshing, sincere and honest: the ideal combination for a “How To” book. Best of all, for folks who have a dream and little or no budget, The Radical Act of Community Storytelling clearly outlines how a determined person with a goal can sidestep many financial roadblocks of a project by being open and willing to engage others while believing that everything will eventually work out. Storytellers, concert producers, festival organizers, special event directors and organizations looking to create a public performing opportunity for their community need to read Penelope’s book. If you are looking for a roadmap on how to get things done. THIS IS IT!

Glenda Bonin Storyteller