Marketing...

 After writing about writing, I feel I should cover the other side of it if you want your book to be seen by anybody.  Marketing. There are writers who probably enjoy it, but many do not-- especially those of us who are introverts.

To be an introvert when it comes to writing, it works well. We are not prone to partying, like alone time, enjoy researching (which writing can need a lot of), and like having a few close friends, but don't need a lot. As an introvert, I like studying relationships and how people tick-- again works well with creating characters for plots.

But how does an introvert do when it comes to working with crowds, trying to get people to take their work seriously? That's where extroverts excel,and we introverts prefer to stay in the shadows. Let someone else take glory or fame. We like the work but that next part of it, not so much. Maybe that would work better with split personalities. 

 

This meme showed up recently from several writers, and I so related to it. It's funny, but also true. It's funny because nobody really buys books because of the writer saying, pretty please lol. Readers buy books by finding them in a category they know they enjoy. 

This has been a surprising month for me in book sales. Try zero. Yes, not one single book sold. Last month and the months before, there had been sales. Maybe not a lot by some standards but good enough to feel at least a few people wanted to read my work. This month, start with the first, yep, nada. 

When there is such an abrupt decline, a writer, even one who hates the idea of marketing has to wonder why one month suddenly had such a drop off in numbers-- like into a dark hole. 

We had some ads up, although not a lot as ads have to pay for themselves unless someone is independently wealthy. Mostly I've let ads get paid for by sales... Not going to happen this month.

There are some possible reasons at least for one of the distributors. They changed categories. They also might have changed algorithms, that we never really know about.

If someone came here hoping I had some answers for marketing. Sorry as  got nothing. I believe in my work but marketing-- different thing.

I do though have a brand new picture of me while considering what went wrong. I rarely put up pictures with glasses, as I prefer contacts, but when working on the computer, these are my go-tos *s*

None of this was AI generated-- although I don't know about the meme.

Cheating Yourself

 Lavender and one of my sculptures

 For Saturday's blog, I had in mind writing about my second paranormal, fantasy romance. Something else came up though that I felt demanded more attention. 

For some time there has been concern over what AI will mean for our culture. I think Stephen Hawking, before he died, expressed concern over it being destructive for mankind. I had my doubts as a machine can be destroyed if that is so desired. What about when it's not? What about when some feel they can profit from Artificial Intelligence? Teachers right now have to express concern whether their students wrote the essays they submitted. Writers worry about books created by ChatGPT, relatively new to the game, flooding the market and kicking human authors to the curb.

Well, the genii is out of the bottle and AI is here whether some like it or not. I have heard some authors say it does a better job writing their blurbs than they can do-- and faster. 

For a long time, people have used computers to check spelling or find out if a word was used too many times. That's not the same as a whole book written by a computer and submitted under someone's name to earn money or maybe even fame. What do we do about that?

One thing to realize, if someone desires to be a creative person, I believe that using AI for an essay or a book is cheating themselves of the genuine creative experience. For students, learning to research and then writng an essay expands their abilities. To use AI instead is cheating themselves as well as the system.

As a writer myself, I don't worry about it as I think that human emotions and plots with the kinds of twists that don't come from a formula, will always satisfy more than something generated out of a system that only knows rules. 

At my age, I don't depend on my writing to provide a family's income. Lucky me. I can write for joy, which I do, and recognize that formula writing, which is what AI can do, won't do what I do. I also recognize that many readers are happy with formula writing. It's dependable at least. That's been true for a long time, since in the 1800s, readers could grab those cheap dime novels and get excitement even if it's repetitive.

Part of what decided me to write a blog about AI, where I provide no answers, is believing when we know what something is, what feeds our souls or just passes time, that will help us find meaningful material to read. Maybe it won't be my books, lol but there are plenty of good authors out there, who are writing from their souls. Just keep in mind what passes time doesn't always benefit the writer or the reader.

I decided with a kind of dark topic here, I'd have some of our wonderful flower pictures from spring, something that does feed my soul. 

Check out this link for more thinking on AI and where it's taking us.

Writer's Digest what is yet to come with AI

Sky Daughter -- why this book?

 

 

Having written last week about mysticism vs. science, I thought I'd write a bit about my experience with mysticism. It's not so much direct although there are some dreams that I can't explain. For each of the books in what I regard as a mystical series, I did a lot of research. Some by talking to people, who have experienced things I have not, and some with what I've read through searches.

The first book I wrote about a mystical possibility has much about the human elements on how they can lose touch with reality with a desire for power. When I wrote Sky Daughter, I debated how realistic to make the 'other' side. There were different ways to proceed, but eventually I knew the answer for making this book as real as I could. 

Sky Daughter, with its romance, adventure, and mysticism  is available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Daughter-Rain-Trueax-ebook/dp/B0083YU2FI

 

It was in the 1990s when I first wrote this story with no interest at the time in finding a publisher. I wrote a lot back then for the pure joy of putting together characters with plots and seeing how it all worked out. Some years later, along came the option of self-publishing as an independent author and it was one of the books I reworked to bring out for readers who might share my interests in stories.

Some of the inspiration for the story came from trip we had made to Montana, sleeping in our Astro van. I had the radio on as we entered Idaho on our way home and a talk program came on. It eventually found its way into a powerful part of the plot-- not the actual speaker but the ideas. I had spent some time in various parts of Idaho and it became the perfect setting for an imaginary town that was isolated from much of the world. 

As for the rest of the story, I did create a trailer that depicts some of what came together. Such videos are fun for me to create. Check it out. Images bought from CanStock, Deposit Photos, Vikkas, or my own photos. Music I had purchased from Jewel Beat, which unfortunately doesn't still exist. Glad I bought their music when I did.

Sky Daughter Trailer

Science vs Mysticism OR is it the other way around?

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all. 

Joni Mitchell

Mankind, no matter what the ethnicity or even gender, has always tried to control what is around them. This began very early with mystical powers to protect from evil or even nature in the form of predatory animals or a nature out of control (in human minds). Today, there is still a conflict between the two ways of empowerment... or hopeful empowerment. I almost added nature to the title but then realized it'd take a book to explore all the elements from the beginning or even for today.

Why write about this? Because I woke up one morning last week thinking about it. On a simpler scale than major scientific achievements but instead thinking how life, surrounded by nature, seems so basic and simple. Eating from nature. Enjoying time in nature. And finally, dust to dust. But what about the magical side of life where so many people believe in a god who will fix whatever went wrong, who directs their choices for good. 

Some think of magic as all about a set of rituals possibly designed by a shaman or even witches. They don't recognize religious rituals or traditions as the same thing. It's a way of giving up power in one sense but also of gaining power as that mystical being will make it all better without much sacrifice. Of course, at one time, it took sacrifice. Now, it's more about physically better or worse if you don't follow the directions.

As for science today, well, it improves our lives in many ways, like electricity. It enables travel in ways earlier generations could only achieve if wealthy. But the word science is often used in other ways, to control by projections. I am married to a scientist and he constantly looks for answers  to all kinds of problems, how things work,even when now retired... not that scientists ever retire in my experience. 

For many people today, science is "the god". It will resolve problems before we even knew they were there. The word science is used by those who seek control over human behavior and often based on projections more than pure science which is observable and repeatable, like our electricity. If the word science is used all must bow before the wisdom-- even when it's later proven to not be true. 

As for mysticism, well, it depends on how it's used. Many consider witches to be evil, but the creed of witches is what they do will come back three times; so do good. Whether all who do spells think that way, well, who knows. If there is power in those spells, the ones believing in a god also have an answer-- the devil. Not that we have good and evil within us depending on how we use it, but some spiritual being with only evil intent. 

So, what do I have faith in? I am no mystic, have never done spells unless prayer can be considered one. I am also not a scientist. I am just one who questions and have since being a child. Too many questions I've been told. Oh well, not likely to change now... 

Spring in my part of the world.

 

Part of the reason I have been reluctant to post my opinions regarding recent political action in my country, the US, is that people read here from around the world. Are they interested in political issues from other countries? Maybe they are, since the US often can influence problems for other nations. I don't really know, which is why I have looked for perspective on what readers like to read.

Personally, I read political blogs and sometimes get angry at what I read as I think the opinions are very biased. I don't generally comment there what I think as I feel-- well, it's their blog. Not everyone wants a conversation.

On the other hand, I do enjoy hearing what others think, even when it irks me. I do not believe we all need to agree. Sometimes when we see things differently, we just agree to disagree.

When we vote in a government election, we often don't particularly like the outcome, but respect for it is part of living in a Republic, which elects  representatives to make important decisions. If we don't like the outcome, work harder next time to see someone we would prefer.

Recently when I was watching a podcast interview, which was mostly liberal, I was surprised when the guest, a black rapper, said something I thought was very astute. He was being pressured to say he'd vote for the interviewer's choice. He refused and would not say for whom he would vote and instead said he votes policy over person. I really like that as I've often said I vote issues (sometimes believing what I should not have) and I have to balance the most important ones to me as I am not a "one issue" voter.

Calling myself an independent voter (unaffiliated in some states), I never agree with all of one side of the partisan divide completely. I have strong opinions but they just don't all totally fit into either political party. I try to read a variety of opinions on what I consider important as again reading only one side seems unlikely to know enough about what should be done. Some call that wishy-washy. but I see it as logical. Reading a differing viewpoint won't automatically change my mind but it at least lets me understand good people can see things differently based on many reasons.

Anyway, I hope I continue to have readers from around the world. I think that is healthy as we are not enemies or all friends. We are humans with often the same needs but different ways of getting there.

Seeking Perspective

  first sunset of spring

 

The perspective I am seeking is for this blog. When I began blogging, readers commented. I made friends that way. Currently whether the blog gets 500 readers or 50 and both can happen as well as thousand or more, few comments happen. 

There are possible reasons for that. Some have let me know that they tried to comment, and it was rejected. I also know that others come in from phones where making comments might be more difficult. Some may simply have no interest in commenting. Whatever the case, it has been hard for me to know what people want or do not want in this blog. 

If I wrote a mainly journal type blog, I would feel the negative should be along with the positive. I do not but enjoy reading those types of blogs, like online diaries (which I am sure leave out a lot). 

My blog is about ideas, which are my ideas, but I think about many things that are around the world for their impact. I have tried to keep that mostly positive. We have enough that depresses us without my adding it here.

When I do that, however, it leaves out a LOT of what I think, my ideas about what is happening in the world and in my own country. Might be that I am wrong,and others would like to hear my take on what I have read- even when it's depressing.

 

As a possible way to figure this out, Ranch Boss (who does all my techie stuff) learned how to put a like/dislike button on this blog. It has to be along side due to the way blogger works, and it is set at the top of the column.

What I would appreciate is if those who come here would read the current post and then go back up and click like or dislike. I will not know who you are as we kept this simple without email addresses, after all, why would I want that? I wouldn't email anyone whether they liked that I wrote or did not.

So, for those who don't like to comment would simply click on their preference for that day's blog, it would help me. It can be done again the next time a reader comes, and I will keep track of preferences as my way of seeking perspective as a writer. I might still write things that have proven unpopular, but at least I'll know *s*

More than you might think

Image we photographed at the Arizona State Museum

When I wrote the original eight Arizona historical romances, they came widely spread apart in years, some closer to one story or another, but not ever together even though they share characters.

Forced to re-edit them, I did it over a year, which meant I saw elements in them that fit together in a cohesive sense. There are, of course, the themes, but there were other aspects that were a key part of what made them work for me and hopefully for readers.

One of those big elements was how important family was in all the books. Now, that can be in a negative sense, with parenting fails, but also in a positive on where family helped everything to work for the characters. 

Looking then at my Oregon historical romances and I saw the same importance of family as key to the stories.

Some might think romances are all about a couple, but that's not the case with  the best stories out there where it's family, friends, couple, and yes, setting that make the stories work.

Maybe, I put that in those books because I've felt family is important in my life, that who my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even ancestors, which I might never have known, were part of how I became who I am.

But, that led me to look at my own contemporary romances. There I see less of the family element and more of strong friendships, which have also been important in my life. I think that with families so often apart over jobs or even personality elements, modern Americans may rely more on strong friendships, which can be as close as blood kin. 

What this led me to recognize in the books I have written, how much I consider community, in one form or another, as key to our satisfactory personal life. 

When I put something in my books, it's because I see it as important as something that goes beyond the romance, which is, of course, central, to the rest of what life is about. 

EMBRACING THE DREAM -- new release

 Based on my own experiences, one of the difficulties of writing any kind of promo for a coming book, comes down to what do you reveal that interests a future reader and what will give away secrets readers want to discover for themselves? This is multiplied when it is a series.

Embracing the Dream has a continuing cast of characters, including the hero and heroine; but stands alone if a reader doesn't care for series stories. Because it is a novel, it has a lot of complexity -- my favorite kinds to write. It, more than some others, presents challenges to not give way what should be discovered -- the real fun of reading.

 

Have you ever had a dream that seems beyond your reach? Well, that's Grace, who fell in love with Rafe when she was a girl. She could never have him as he was married and even after his marriage imploded, he still saw her as too young. Reluctantly, going off to the university, she took control of the wealth she inherited and tried to make a life for herself.

Still, she can't let go of that dream and when she learned he had returned from fighting as a Rough Rider in the Spanish American War, she put aside everything else to head back to Tucson. 

Rafe, a one time deputy to her father, had come to Tucson to bring Grace home to her family. Everything falls apart as Rafe’s ex-wife is murdered, his son kidnapped and Rafe accused. As a Yaqui, life isn’t easy for Rafe in Tucson. It’s about to get a lot harder. 

From then on, the story moves north out of Tucson as Rafe wants to find his son with Grace determined to help him-- whether he wants that or not.  The rugged Central Arizona country is filled with many dangers. Rafe’s dad had trained him in back country Indian trails. With action, romance and the love of family, the story moves to a violent conclusion back in Tucson.

You can find Embracing the Dream as an eBook at

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHQNTGN/

and elsewhere at:  https://books2read.com/u/b6awxZ

Interesting Sale Coming

Readers might assume a lot of research goes into historical romances. Actually it does for most books, when the topics are important and may have various nuances to them. With historicals, this is multiplied. We can't really know how people spoke back then because all we have are books. So, some assumptions are made. We can research when certain expressions were first used, but that also is from books. 

Recently, as I edited another of the Arizona historicals, I had a scare when I read something about dime novels and Buffalo Bill Cody. Since a dime novel plays a big part in this story, I panicked, would those novels still have been there when it was set? It would have been bad had they not. Fortunately when I looked, my early research had been correct. They ran from 1860 to 1915, which had a comfortable window around when my story is set. That one is one of the last in that series; so, not out for a while.

There are readers who could not care but such details being right matters to others. It matters a lot to me too. Getting such elements right for their times is part of the joy of writing historicals.

I have mentioned before that when we had to pull all eight of my Arizona historicals, all the reviews were gone. Hoping to get some back, we opted to make the two books alongside here, first in the series, free for a week. Maybe it will draw in new readers and lead to more sales when the following six come out-- the third one around when the sale ends.

Beginning March 3rd to March 9, go to @Smashwords to get Beyond the Broken Road and The Beckoning Flame free, for their Happy Read an Ebook Week!  

Find these and many more books at https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek      #ebookweek24 #Smashwords

More about Smashwords eBook Week

In keeping with springtime growth, Smashwords has a week long sale with special discounts to encourage readers to explore another set of authors.

Smashwords is easier to use than the Kindle Store and directly focused on simpler categories, 30 - 90 day, recent titles and specific themes without the constant scrolling or sponsored ads.  

If you have read Rain Trueax's Oregon Trail Romance series.  Check out her 1853 to 1906 Arizona based historical romances. After the first two here, the rest will be out gradually. All start in Tucson, the Ol' Pueblo, and the action extends across the vast landscapes of desert,  sky islands, ancient cliff dwellings, mining camps and lawless dying criminal hangouts. She loves these places having hiked and camped across the area for over 40 years. You will be pleased with the romantic interactions and the sense of place... the heat, the smell of desert rain and the critters.

You cannot find these books free at the cover link alongside here. You can though get to Smashwords through the Universal Link. If you haven't already joined there, it's free and easy to sign up where you will find my two free eBooks (from the 3rd through the 9th). After that they'll be there but at their regular price of $4.99.

Find your place

 Perhaps I have told the story before of what my desert home offers to me. What it has given me went beyond my expectations-- and my expectations were high.

For fifty years, the Arizona Sonoran Desert has been one of the homes of my heart. Much as I love Oregon, and oh, I do, I had long dreamed of owning a home on the desert; then one year the dream came true. After living in the house only a few days it told my husband and me its name—Casa Espiritu. It is a home to inspire creativity and spiritual connection to self and the other. As with dreams, it is not somewhere I have always been able to live, but always it has been waiting when the time is right. 

In my little spirit home, I have seen dreams come true, written books, created art, loved, wept, experienced being. From it, I have watched javelina, coyotes, bunnies, birds, bobcats, and most especially the families of quail. I have seen the lightning flash and felt the house rocked by thunder. I have watched the moon rise over Pusch Ridge and seen the sun go down behind the Tucson Mountains. 

From it, I have gone out to find interesting trails, desert pools, creeks, petroglyphs. I've watched the desert bloom, seen it snow. The house and how we found it might be magic, even though it’s a very plain house, except it doesn’t feel plain when I fall asleep to the noisy calls of owls from the ironwood trees right outside the bedroom window. 

Its proximity to the natural desert, its denizens, and the historical remnants of many cultures has inspired the writing of eight Arizona historicals (the third of which will be out this next week), one contemporary romance and five contemporary fantasy romances. The books are all love stories to the American Southwest as much as of the couples who populate the books' pages. I’ve set many of my stories in Tucson, in the ranch lands near the border, or up in Central Arizona.

As I write my books, I fall a little in love with every hero. If I don’t, the story is going nowhere. I already told you how much I love this land, wish more could see in the desert what I do. For those of you who want to write a novel and have yet to find your muse, I suggest you start with a place to set your story and characters, a place that means much to you. I have a quote I have long loved and wrote in the front of my journal. 

"Where we choose to be-- we have the power to determine our lives. We cannot reel time backward or forward, but we can take ourselves to the place that defines our being." Sena Jeter Naslund

Here is another, which my daughter claimed for herself but I do also.

"I hope I have found myself, my work, my happiness - under the light of western stars."     Zane Grey

To me, place matters very much, in my work and my life. So long as mine is under western stars, I can be happy. Yours might be the coast or a city but wherever it is, it's where a story will most easily come to you and you will find you have something to say-- always easier when you start with the land.

I have told the story before of why all eight of these historicals are not currently out. To find the first two, look alongside here for the places they can be bought and their titles. The third will be there when it's out. 

For more of my books and where they can be found, go to Rain Trueax with snippets about them and links. 

 

opinions

 

Debating how to start this topic, I came up with-- begin with a question and take it from there.

With political life so controversial today, do you think ending a friendship or family relationship over major differences is a good idea?

Some might wonder why I rarely discuss difficult political issues in this blog, though I once upon a time did more of that. Some of that is because i look back on what i once thought and wonder what was I thinking! I believe my values have stayed the same for many many years, but how I think we can get there is what has changed. I don't delete those prior posts, but sometimes I am tempted. I stop because back then I often got good comments and wouldn't want to lose them. They were particularly valued today when I see how few comment, I didn't care if people agreed or not. It was the conversation I valued.

I have had 'friends' delete or unfriend me over what they perceived as my opinions. I don't myself do that unless someone is threatening with what they say. Otherwise, being I am a Libra, I tend to think maybe they have a point even if I disagree. That might be the wisdom of ages... maybe...

Skies such as you see in these photos, reflect how stormy times can lead to benefits with these beautiful clouds. I think knowing we don't all see things the same way can have the same benefits-- at least when we can agree to disagree.

There are things happening today that nobody would see both sides of. Can we then walk off from the topic and try to change the subject? 

There are times I am very tempted to write here regarding what I see as going on in the world, but I pretty well know there'd be those who read here and don't see it the same. Where I see the benefit of expressing an opinion, what is the benefit of arguing if it leads to anger or cuts us off from others? Do we have to convince others or can we just recognize we are not the same with our experiences.

Cloud photos from this place. Today, the sky is blue and clear with warmer weather on the way-- or so weather people say.

Storms come and go

 

 

Some assume that a desert means always sunshine. Well, it does a lot; but there are some surprises, which can be frustrating to those planning a golfing and swimming vacation. Oh, you can still do both, if you are a hearty soul. There are many sunny days... just hope they happen when you have scheduled your visit.

 

This winter has been cooler and wetter than many I've experienced down here. Some days had highs in the 50s (or lower) with nights hovering just above or at freezing. The desert has also enjoyed the benefits of rainy days with us measuring from 3/4" down to maybe less than a tenth. It used to be that most rain was expected during the monsoons, but they have had less rain some years than falls during the winter. More frosty nights are due later this week.

There have been some thunderstorms that livened up the night with the banging and flash of the lightning, this time between the clouds, not landing on earth.

There is a lot to do in Tucson even with storms from nice restaurants to museums. Or plan your walks or bike rides between storms. Today is quite sunny but yesterday we got rain most of the day. It is chilly either way with warmer weather due maybe in a week, but even that not remotely hot. Still, when you consider weather in other parts of the country, this can still be an improvement. It does lead to some great sunsets with those clouds.

And for those inclined to snow sports, like skiing, the mountains above Tucson have snow at the heights, and I think the ski lifts are working up there-- at least when the road isn't closed due to ice. It's pretty when driving way below to see the white on the hills.

For desert rats, like us, this winter has been welcome, but for tourists maybe not so much *s* All photos taken from our home here.

What dreams can mean

Dreams are a big part of my life-- the night time sort, not daytime. Some have meaning to them but so far no prophetic dreams, which is fine with me. Some are prosaic or seem that way like recently going to a movie theater, which seemed meaningless until the end of it. I'd left the film part way to go to the bathroom. I came back to see the end except it went into scenes of people watching films, with nothing to do with the story I'd left. Those scenes kept going on and on until I realized the story would never return and the meaning was how we wait around for an ending that may never come, and it does relate to life.

Some of my dreams work into parts of books. One became a book that led to two more books. It began because in the fall of 2013, I lost a cat I loved very much. I'd have paid a lot of money to save her life. She was too young to die, but something was catastrophically wrong inside. All I could do was let her go, which happened when the veterinarian came out to the house and gave her a merciful end. I cried so much. I still cry when I think about it, which is why I don't include her picture here.

 That night I asked for a dream to know if reincarnation was true. I had thought this cat had come to me twice. Both other times, she'd lived out her whole lifetime. This time I wanted to know if reincarnation was true. If it was, I hoped I'd get her back again. The dream was not about cats but it was powerful.

A man and woman were on a train. They had been lovers in previous lifetimes. This time they were both destined to die early from accidents.

There were two spirit guides looking at what was happening. As the lovers kissed, a gold ring was clearly seen over the kiss. The guides saw it and

observed how rare that kind of love was. 'They will just ruin things again if we don't let them fix it this time,' they said. At the same time, there was another couple, where the woman was plotting to kill the man to get his money. What can fates do to fix these two unfairnesses? The dream had the answer with a transfer of souls.

Now, it's been a lot of years since the dream, but some elements are still strong in my memory especially that ring over their kiss. I still see it if I think about it and have never heard of such a thing anywhere except in my fiction novella.

When I woke that morning, I realized I had to write this story. There were elements I could not use-- like the train. There were other elements that I added to it to fill out the book of these lovers who had met in high school but never did anything about their feelings until years later when tragedy cuts their time short. I added scenes that fit the characters like a time in the spirit at Bear Mountain. That's what writing is about-- an initial idea and then what!

I wrote the novella, When Fates Conspire, and put it out in January 2014 when I began to think this had potential for something more. 

No dream this time, but the woman who lost her son is having a hard time, in The Dark of the Moon, holding onto the family ranch with her main help gone. A man, who sees the

other side and is trained as a sorcerer, comes to the ranch after hearing of her plight. He offers to help, and it's not hard to see where this is going since it's a romance. 

The mystical side though went beyond the sorcerer as the son who had been killed, who had found joy with his soul mate in their new bodies, begins to feel a draw to a ranch where he's never been and that he can't explain. The soul connection is there when mother and lost son meet. Oh, there is the little matter of villains and a killer bear.

Were two enough? Not close, It takes three. Storm in the Canyon has a shape-shifting druid hero. Langston Agency is called by the restored son to figure out what is happening in a canyon with strange powers growing by the day. This is a canyon known for its tragic endings. The spirit world is also concerned and sends a spirit guide into human form to help. She can't stay forever but is romance in the air? Of course, but so is a logical explanation for why monsters of old might be gaining power in a

Montana ranch canyon.

Three novellas from one dream, but it wasn't the end. I wanted to combine them into one novel-- Diablo Canyon. I also wanted to add in the spice that novellas don't have enough room to have. 

Having three into one has a confusing aspect. If someone doesn't read the whole blurb and buys the novella and then the novel, they might feel they were cheated. The novellas do have one feature, or rather more of it than the novel-- Dante's quotes fit each chapter. What a poet he was.

Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always.    Dante Alighieri

novellas available at Amazon:  

When Fates Conspire: https://www.amazon.com/Fates-Conspire-Diablo-Canyon-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00I53K8CE

 The Dark of the Moon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K105OVY

Storm in the Canyon: https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Canyon-Diablo-Book-ebook/dp/B00L0LQEG2 

Full length novel with those three and spice put together: https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-Canyon-Trilogy-Rain-Trueax-ebook/dp/B00M9NXVDO

But Should We

 

 “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”

This was one of those weeks, wonderful in so many ways but not beneficial for coming up with something for the blog. Our son drove down from Oregon for a short visit here in the desert with us. It was very good with him, but the weather didn't contribute as it rained most of the time he was here. Not exactly desert weather supposedly, but the desert loved the rain as it didn't flood that much and the plants flourished with it. He had come hoping to hike and fortunately he did get one good hike in, but not what he had hoped. 

As our life returned to normal, I began to think about the blog and what might I write here. I don't use photos or stories about the family to protect their privacy; so that was out. Then, I came across that quote from Jurassic Park and thought it fit so many situations today.

First, of course, is science and how the word is used to make agendas happen. I have a problem when science is used in a way that to me is really projections based on science from the past but assuming it can continue as it was in a known pattern, but does that work given how the earth changes. 

To call it science, it should be based on known facts and repeatable. But then as this quote says, you need to think if they should do it. We can see a lot of examples of when it should not be done, but we only have choices for what comes next. That is what counts-- in my opinion.

I was distracted because my real reason for that quote was for our lives. We could do this or that but should we? In the culture where I live, the options are huge for what we could do based on our skills. A bigger question comes with should we? It's what makes that quote from Jurassic Park so powerful to me.

When I write my books, I think about good stories and characters but also what should I depict as being beneficial. This is not only for readers, but for myself. I spend a lot of hours with these characters and their actions. I want that time to improve my life and not just be about making money or even popularity. 

 Finally, this moon was the wolf moon, first full moon of 2024. Moons mean so much to us as they change with their cycles through a year. They can determine planting cycles as well as help us recognize the seasonal changes.

Sunsets and life

 One thing I have learned about sunsets or sunrises when the image are dramatic is it takes clouds and color. Neither do it alone.

 It also helps to have a great foreground and interesting land in the background to ground the photo as to from where it is. 

They also don't last very long, which can be true of many great moments in life. Savor them while they are there.

Studying clouds before the sun sets can lead to disappointment when the promising clouds have a very dark one appear overhead and change it all.

I think there are things about sunsets from which we can learn for life.

"Believe in your heart that you're meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
― Albert Einstein

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
― douglas adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Spirit-living and Terraphilia (again)

 

 

A Year of Spiritual Thinking from Practicing Terraphilia 

by Susan J. Tweit

I am embarking on an experiment that both terrifies me and exhilarates me: I am beginning a Year of Spiritual Thinking. For the next year, I am going to give myself permission to radically shift my perspective and experience everything—my writing, my re-storying work, my daily routine and relationships, my routines and rituals and habits; my house and even my truck, all of my experiences, and the world around me—through a primarily spiritual lens.

This year of spiritual thinking is most determinedly not religious. The word spiritual, says my dictionary, means “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” It is deeply rooted in that connection to the ephemeral and essential, arising from the Latin spiritus, which means both “breath” and “spirit,” and itself comes from the verb spirare, “to breathe.” So to consider the spiritual is to consider the mystery of our essential selves, and also the way we inspire the formless, colorless, odorless gas—oxygen—we require to live.

In this year of spiritual thinking, I hope to explore the essence of breath and spirit, both of which are basically inexpressible in words, and the wisdom gained from that essence.

My main intent here is to shift the balance of my life from striving to a deeper level of being in love with this world and we who share the planet.

By striving I mean attempting to achieve something, whether that is some kind of goal in my writing or an award for one of my books, or a review in a particular place, a certain level of income, writing an article for a particularly prestigious journal—that kind of outward focused striving for power, recognition, money, or material things.

My aim in taking this year of spiritual retreat at home within ordinary life is to simply shift my focus from striving, as I have done all of my adult life, to reflecting, to considering what this life means, and sharing that wisdom, whatever it may be. Hard-earned as it may be, and in my case, it usually is hard-earned because I tend to learn by smacking my forehead into some obstacle, not by thinking about it.

 From Striving to Engaging in Relationship with the Living World

 I simply want to change the tenor of my life from the years of working toward something—“some thing”—material or career-focused or whatever, to being. To taking part of this life in a deeper and richer way, to being engaged in this existence in a deeper and richer way, to practicing my terraphilia* not for something, but to be part of something.

To be in relationship, to deepen my relationship with this living world and we who share the planet in a way that I am most concerned with the richness of relationship, not richness in the material or social or cultural sense.

I have no program or framework for the year ahead. I am not going to study with a particular teacher. I have no goals or expectations in mind. I am not going to go anywhere or attempt to “escape” my ordinary life in order to find enlightenment. I want to learn what I can learn through the minutia and wonder of everyday life.

There is a Buddhist saying that the fastest way to enlightenment is not through retreating to some sacred community, but by living our everyday lives. Nor does reaching enlightenment change our lives, only how we live them. The other Buddhist saying that comes to mind is from mindfulness meditation teacher Jack Kornfield, “After the ecstasy, the laundry.”

 Recognizing the Sacred in Everyday Life

I want to shift the moments that comprise my life to the spiritual. To, for instance, make my morning breakfast cereal in a more mindful way, to take time to thank the oats, the blue corn ground into meal, and the flax. The grapevines that grew the fruits dried into raisins, the blueberry bushes that flowered and were pollinated to swell into blueberries. The clean water the cereal soaks in, the cinnamon trees whose bark produced the cinnamon, the ginger root dried and ground into ginger.

I want to remember to be part of this life in its most quotidian moments in a way that I see and value the richness and the spiritual depth and the connection to all others with whom we share this planet. That’s what this year of spiritual thinking is all about.

I have no expectation of how it will go or what I will learn. To have expectations is to doom any possibility of change and transformation. Because to have expectations is to already have made a box to fit into. And that negates the idea of reaching within and without and learning more deeply how I belong in this world and how I can love this world.

And that combination of terror and exhilaration? It comes from, as the philosopher L.A. Paul writes in her book Transformative Experience, “[Knowing] that undergoing the experience will change what it is like for [me] to live [my] life, and perhaps even change what it is like to be [me], deeply and fundamentally.” link to L.A. Paul’s book: https://academic.oup.com/book/7934

We can’t and don’t know how life will transform us. But we can learn from it.

 *Terraphilia: n. The intrinsic affection for and connection to the earth and the planet’s web of lives we all carry in our cells. When we don’t tend this bond, we become lonely, hungry for something we often cannot articulate; we are less than whole. My late husband and I borrowed and re-defined the word to explain what motivated our work, his abstract sculpture bringing local rocks into our everyday lives as “ambassadors of the earth,” and my writing that explores the bond between humans and the rest of this living earth.

My weekly newsletter, Practicing Terraphilia aims to help us explore, grow and strengthen a reciprocal relationship with this numinous planet. We’ll consider whether our daily actions and behaviors are aligned with loving this earth and our fellow passengers on the planet. We’ll look at ways to be the best humans we can be, whatever the challenges and times. And ways to love ourselves—just as we are—in the doing.

Blessings! Susan

Links:

Practicing Terraphilia: https://practicingterraphilia.substack.com/  (If you have trouble signing up, email me with your name and email, and I’ll add you to the list manually. info@susanjtweit.com)

Bless the Birds: https://bookshop.org/p/books/bless-the-birds-living-with-love-in-a-time-of-dying-susan-j-tweit/14982089?ean=9781647420369

Walking Nature Home: https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477309346/walking-nature-home/

My other books on my website: http://susanjtweit.com/books/