My story on Idaho’s one room schools appears in the December 2016 edition of IDAHO Magazine. Did you know there are fourteen one room schools still operating in Idaho, including the one in Cavendish?
The President Elect
To entertain myself, and occasionally my children, I create political cartoons. My latest creation ran in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News on November 21, 2016. The cartoon was also offered to the Spokesman Review for the Huckleberries Online Blog, a site which has previously published my work. Unfortunately, they declined this one, stating, “I don’t like the word “racist” used on my blog to label anyone unless someone is a card-carrying, Richard butler-type racist — dfo.” C’est la vie.
The Dreaded Cover Letter
I just finished my novel: 112,632 words, 381 pages, 21 chapters, 5 appendices, 3 maps, a calendar, and a family tree. All that’s left to do now is finish my cover letter and mail it off. I have never been so terrified in my entire life. I’m more nervous than when I defended my thesis. Then again, my thesis was only 80 pages long, so maybe anxiety is directly proportional to word count.
Now, about that dreaded cover letter. Whether or not a novel will ever be read depends entirely on that letter. In that single sheet of paper, an author must summarize an entire novel, define the genre and target audience, provide some kind of proof that their writing is worth reading, and include a pithy biography. It’s a lot to accomplish in a single page.
Some of the information, like the genre and summary, is straightforward. Other information, like writing credits, can leave an author feeling confused about what they should and should not include. After a bit of research, I created a list of possible writing credits, ranked them from best to worst, and provided a list of what authors should avoid mentioning if they want taken seriously.
City Spotlight: Elk River
My city spotlight on Elk River appears in the October edition of IDAHO Magazine. While completing research and writing this story I had the pleasure of being serenaded by Forrest “Babe” Kreisher. I loved the song and his spunk.
The song is worth of sharing, so here it is:
Palouse Writers Guild
In my quest for a better writers’ group I kept getting the same piece of advice. “Just start your own group.”
Deciding it was time for me to become the change I wished to see in the world, I did just that.
In August 2016 I was offered the opportunity to take over the running of a defunct Meet-up group. My first action was to change the group’s name and remove anyone who had accidentally joined looking for a Meet-up in Moscow, Russia. That paired the list down to 15 members, only 3 of which had ever shown up. Since taking over the group, membership has grown substantially, indicating that others in the area are hungry for professional development and a connection with other writers.
The Palouse Writers’ Guild’s goal is to facilitate literary education by supporting writers’ groups, author readings, workshops, writing contests, and conference attendance. Our calendar lists the dates and times of writing groups from the Moscow/Pullman area. Membership is open to writers of all genres and media. Anyone interested in free writing, critique, participating in writing exercises, attending literary events, or just socializing with groups of like-minded people is welcome to join.
More information can be found on the Palouse Writers Guild website: www.palousewritersguild.org
The Palouse Writers Guild also maintains a calendar and list of events on Meet-up.com. Our address there is https://www.meetup.com/Palouse-Writers-Guild/
If you are a Palouse area writer looking for a home, please connect with one of the writing groups who post to our calendars and join us for other events around the area.
Happy Lughnasad
When I was a child, somewhere deep within me, I knew I needed to celebrate ‘mid-summer.’ The drive was so strong that, when I was about 10 years old, I actually got out a calendar and counted all the days between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Ever since then I’ve been celebrating in early August.
This year the mid-point occurs on August 6th.
Imagine my surprise when, as an adult, I discovered there was an actual holiday, associated with a real religion in early August. Even more surprising was that they observed all my “made up” holidays. (The quarter days and the cross-quarter days.) Sometimes the call to honor the seasons runs so deep that even an unsuspecting 10 year-old in Idaho cannot help but heed it.
Since the scorching summer sun beats down on the fields, ripening the wheat, the Palouse smells faintly of baking bread every August. To observe the holiday I’m making fresh bread, then heading outside with a glass of wine to catch the beginnings of the Perseid Meteor Shower. (Peak is August 11 & 12, shortly after midnight.) I hope all of you find a way to celebrate the rotating wheel of the year, too.
The Reverse Burglars
The Reverse Burglars is featured in this month’s edition of IDAHO Magazine.
This is the first time art work has been commissioned for one of my stories, so I’m pretty excited about that and I’m pleased with what was produced (at left). To read the story, purchase a copy of Idaho Magazine here.
Going for the Glug
From time to time I have random thoughts, which generally devolve into silliness owing my propensity to share them. Today’s random thought involved vodka, English weights and measures, and of course, coconuts. Social media is great for sharing random thoughts and the following was posted for the benefit of friends and strangers:
How much vodka is in a glug? As in, I found a big glass, added OJ, added grapefruit juice, added squirt, then dumped vodka in and the bottle went, “glug, glug, glug, glug.” How much is 4 glugs of vodka?
Blind Date with a Book
As odd as it may seem, I very seldom visit a book store. Several years back I had a vision of becoming an old hoarder lady who dies after a stack of books topples over on her. I resolved then to get books from the library whenever possible as a means of staving off dying under the weight of the written word. That said, my quest for a better critique group lead me to Book People of Moscow.
The critique group was a flop. One man proudly informed me that, “sometimes the fringe element of society tries to join, but we just don’t allow that.” Being a card carrying member of the fringe element myself, I wasn’t impressed. Their rotation for getting work critiqued left a lot to be desired as well. Members are eligible to have up to 3,000 words critiqued twice a year. At that rate it would take 17.5 years to work through a novel. A pair of orangutans with type-writers could produce something publishable in less time.
But, the experience wasn’t all bad. I did manage to pick up a date; two actually.
Book Review: The Vanishing Throne
The Vanishing Throne, a novel by Elizabeth May (Book 2 of The Falconer Trilogy.)
Set for release June 7, 2016.
Suggested Price; $17.99 USD.
The end is only another beginning.
The Falconer, Aileana Kameron, wakes up trapped on a cliff in a strange world with no idea how she got there. Tortured repeatedly by her captor, Lonnrach, over daysweeksmonthsyears Aileana loses her memories and nearly loses hope. Rescued by her lover and his sister, Aileana escapes her prison and returns to the human world only to find that Scotland has been decimated by war. The few humans who survived now live in a Fairy city, hidden deep underground. But life isn’t as safe or comfortable as it was before the war, nor has the war really ended. The fae may have won, but Lonnarch will stop at nothing until the last Falconer is killed and in the process he may destroy them all.