August

by Rain Trueax

I went online Thursday morning with no idea what to write about for Saturday's blog. My head was spinning with ideas-- so many of them negative. I like to be positive, but how is that possible when my nation is so divided filled with people who see what should be done diametrically opposed to each other. Soon they will be voting, me too, and it could send the country spiraling in a totally different direction where it comes to taxes (try a 39+% capital gains tax); environment; packing the Supreme Court; Green New Deal and how much fuel we can use: immigration; adding new states; legal system; ending the Electoral College; no more filibuster; etc. etc. Or we might be staying the course (which some see as the road to hell) and finding more rioting in the streets because it didn't turn out right... or rather left.

It's not enough these days to disagree on what is right to do or for whom to vote, the one

voting wrong must also be condemned.

Of course, then there was the explosion in Beirut. More upset. The newspaper was full of it, but since you also likely read papers, no need for me to repeat it all here. Just more heartbreak.

When I got to Blogger-- things had changed. After hearing about it for over a month, I now had the new version. Like so many have said, I don't like it as well. It seems awkward; and so far I haven't been able to find all I want, but it should be manageable... Maybe. I guess we can go back to the original but not sure for how long. I wonder why computer gurus want to change things in a time where there is already so much chaos...

So instead of trying to pretend all is hunky-dory, I figured I'd go with the standby-- the desert. The barrel cactus were not planted by us. They could be natural or planted by a former owner. They aren't attracting the bees like the saguaro blossoms did, but their fruit is loved by the javelina and rodents.

The Texas Ranger (many photos below) is our contribution to bring xeriscape plantings around the pool and house, leaving the rest of our land natural to the desert terrain in which it sets.The bees love it. We aren't sure where the hive is but any bees in Tucson are the ones called killer bees. They don't seem that aggressive so far...

As far as monsoon storms go, which I had been looking forward to being here to experience, they haven't happened much. Rain in early June was good; but since then it's been mostly sprinkles. The storms I used to watch march north up the valley have clung more to the mountain behind us. Rains have been heavy in a few places but not here. There have been some beautiful clouds sail by, but they saved their moisture for elsewhere.

Ever as Before

by Rain Trueax

Looking for a new read that is a kind of magical realism just in time for Imbolc? How about throwing in a threat of the living dead? A particularly determined demon? Natural born witches, gnomes, warlocks, shamans-- this is, after all the 7th in the Mystic Shadows series of books that move beyond what we consider reality to something else. Might that something else be quantum physics? What if there is an alchemist aspect to how evil can be fought and contained? Imbolc is a good time for a story that is a mix of physical reality and romantic fantasy.

writing what comes

by Rain Trueax

Some of you, if you have been with this blog long enough, know about my newest exploration of the 'other' side, the Hemstreet Witches based in Arizona. Those books have been exploring what might be for powers, as well as what is unseen by most of us. They are as much metaphysical as they are paranormal. Is it possible that some are born with insights and power to see beyond the physical reality? I write these stories because I think life is not that firm for "What Is". 

What's around us

by Rain Trueax

It is hard to believe it's already March, and, we've been in Tucson two months. Where did the time go? The lambing and calving are going as usual in Oregon-- except, there are others taking care of them and feeding out the hay. As cold as it's been, there has been a need for more hay. We've had some losses, but that' happens whether we are there or not. One of the men who has always looked after the place has been sick; so lucky we had two backups (one is our son).

a character from Something Waits

Down here, after I finished the rough draft for 'Something Waits,' it went off to editor, beta readers and then back to me for final corrections. I took out a subscription in Dreamscope to do work on its trailer. On the editing, I am going slow with it for assorted reasons. Having done about 1/3 of it using Speech Recognition, there are some odd mistakes, places where the computer doubled up on what I had just written. It's taking a lot to find all the places that speech recognition used a different word or spelling than I intended.

Wherever I am, I always take a few minutes when I first wake to remember any dreams from the night. Sometimes that helps with a book element. Sometimes, it's mundane and filled with daily frustrations or ordinary events. Dreams are important to me though and I pay attention to them. Once in a while, there will be a symbol that isn't part of anything I can connect to me and then I go to an online site i like for dream interpretation.

Whether in Oregon or Arizona, we are up before first light. The cats get fed (3 black and one orange). I read the papers, hope nothing bad happened, write, eat breakfast (which my husband cooks). With the essential repairs to the house out of the way, we are concentrating on figuring out what exactly we can get done, before we have to leave, on what had hoped to be an addition. That may not happen. 

We had an odd happening involving the house where we got a letter to someone else but at our address. By the time, Ranch Boss traced it down, it turned out the title company had goofed two owners back. So far, it looks like more of a nuisance than major problem *fingers crossed*. It involves a lot-line adjustment that let that owner build a

swimming pool. It appears the title company has responsibility to get it right. The assessors office said it's common in this area of older homes and irregular lots. It's not all settled yet but very good we were here to get that letter.

One thing about this house is it's more nature oriented than our Oregon home, which is more ranch oriented. In Oregon, there are fences around the immediate house that allow the sheep and cattle to be down around the house and still have flowers and keep the cats from roaming. Here, every window looks out at desert with the potential to also see the bobcats, coyotes, hawks, bunnies, quail, and a myriad of birds. Sometimes I see nothing, the next time a roadrunner might pass by. A fence again keeps the cats safe from what lurks beyond.

The book I am hoping to have out early next week has shamans and witches as the primary characters-- good and bad. I realized as I looked around the house that Casa Espiritu looks like the home of a shaman. Some of what is in it has long been owned by us. Some was acquired by us for this home. It has touches of various spiritual traditions without one dominating the other.

I write paranormals, even when they have not been particularly successful for me. If I was writing what has sold the best, it'd be historical romances. I like them but right now my heart is into the mysteries of life. What is really around us? Do we see what we expect to see or what is? Once upon a time, I thought I knew. Now I don't but I write books that let me explore  mystery. Maybe someday those books will be wanted by others. A writer though has to write what comes to them or it becomes craft. There is a place for craft, of course. :)

Lammas

August 1st is Lammas, a Pagan/Celtic festival of the harvest. It's a dividing of the seasons that seems more apropos than Solstices and equinoxes. From the first of August, heat is still there but the wheat is being harvested and gardens are overflowing with produce (unless like ours the rains kept them from being planted early and the cold nights kept them from growing as they normally would have). 

I've used Lammas and other Celtic festivals or celebrations in several of my books because many of those books have mystical elements. Even today, often there is fear over anything potentially connected to witchcraft or mysticism that didn't come out of a standard and comfortable religion. Many of those standard religions base their own holidays on pagan celebrations but since many don't know that, it is okay, I guess.

About Lammas

In the new book, To Speak of Things Unseen, I went into the risks of even speaking of the 'other' side. The fear is you draw to you things/beings you'd rather not. Is this true? Well, when I write about a demon or monster in my books, I change the spelling slightly to not be the exact one normally found. Does that help? Not sure... 

In the second in the Barrio Viejo series, I had ghosts for the first time but not as characters. The only supernatural beings as characters were demons and monsters-- if you don't count wizards and witches...

Last major edit is finished on that book; so just in time for Lammas although I am unsure when it'll actually be out there. This is a busy season. Sales for books have been way down, but then I'm not doing much promoting of them either. I feel like just writing them is taking enough out of me. Soon I will start writing the third in this series. I look forward to that as it's more fun than editing-- as with only a general outline, I discover what's going to happen as I go.

Cat world is still in flux, and I am still resisting watching TV when it's about the news. Reading about it is bad enough. My dreams are amazing, but I remember no details when I wake up; however, it's enough I am enjoying them in sleep.

So if you are interested in Celtic holidays, check out that link for ways to celebrate this one-- which is why I am writing this blog out of my usual schedule. I'm flexible that way ;)

The photo below is one I used in my Facebook author page because it's where I'd like to be right now but can't manage it. I will be there in my imagination. It was taken in 2008 when I was 65. That seems like a different lifetime. Aging at this point in my life is interesting to say the least.

 

Why you should be a writer-- or not

Be a writer because it takes you from the current outside world into an internal one. If you write nonfiction, you do research and that includes if you are writing a memoir. If it's self-help, you will need to look for answers to people's problems. And if it's fiction, you create a world and characters to live in it. You give them problems that feel real; but at the same time, there are answers-- real life doesn't always operate that way.

 This has been one of the most difficult times I remember to stick to editing the second Barrio Viejo book due out in August. I am distracted by outside events where it comes to cultural and political issues. 

The United States has just ended its convention season and now has two candidates to run the country-- sort of-- for the next four years. I have mentioned I don't watch conventions at all. I read the words said as I find it easier to avoid getting caught up in emotion-- which is what both conventions were intended to stir up. 

So Republicans brought up the concerns over stagnant economy, globalization as a threat to business in America, immigration that must be regulated, violence that must be stopped, and the risk of terrorism from Islamic jihadists. Less government is a solution (except when we want it to do our will like ban abortion or end gay marriage). Strengthen individualism.

Democrats painted a picture of a country doing well but where it could do better and will-- if they get more globalization, minimum wage increases, and keep Republicans out of power. Their candidate would take out ISIS but little was said about Islamic jihadists. More government is a solution (but to pay for it, we will only tax the other guy). We can do more together.

Darkness or light? Whatever these two candidates promise for their issues, the question that will dog each will be their personal ethics. This is going to go on for three more months-- Yeehaw... not!

And then, there is inside my home with four cats, and the adjustment to two strays entering into a house that had two house cats. I am delighted when the four get along and smile when the little black one plays, which might be for the first time in her life as strays don't get a lot of time for playing. She has totally adapted to being in the house-- even if still easily frightened by anything moving too fast.  The orange one is in and out with some freedom we could not give the little one. He is not adjusting to the other cats except for being close without hissing.

And I am in the part of writing that is not fun-- editing, which is especially true if the edits are too close together. I have felt the second book needs to get out there to encourage sales for the first; but I'd much rather be starting the third in the Barrio Viejo series. If I ever make 'real' money on the books, I'd be very happy to hire a top-rate editor. Currently, I have to do it myself-- with the aid of beta readers. I'd much rather be starting the third in this series. 

The next book will involve reincarnation, the spirit world, redemption, love, and politics. My hero will have the toughest road to walk of any I've written as he won't understand from where his negative impulses come, since he's not a believer in the spirit world or the soul as an entity. This book will also have a marriage of convenience which will be revealed fairly early in the book. From that point, it'll get into the crooked world that so much of politics has evolved into being-- in this case complicated by the intervention of the spirit world. I am anticipating this to be an interesting book to write-- but then I always anticipate that. 

Between cat adjustments and our own economics, our plans have been changing. We had been planning to spend the winter in our Tucson home. 

Because of changes to the agency with which we advertise the house, we decided we better rent it at least one more season before our contract with them runs out. That means we spend the winter up here, which is okay as we might get down there in the late spring when the cactus bloom and a few wildflowers are left. 

Notice the word might because plans haven't worked out very well lately. So maybe... 

  

The Enchantress' Secret-- Hemstreet Witches Book 1

First book in a new series is an interesting challenge-- part of the reason for doing it. Some writers find their niche, and they stick with whatever that might be. I like varying what I write-- much as I enjoy varying what I read. My idea when I first knew I'd be basing a series in Barrio Viejo was that it'd be urban fantasy. I've written previously why that didn't work out: my story has too much romance, not enough fantasy beings.


My idea of from where power comes is two places-- inherent, from birth, or outside and given to the person. Harry Potter books blend that a bit as some were born with the ability to use power, but objects make it happen. So they don't just fly through the air or dematerialize, they use broomsticks, invisibility cloaks, or objects. A wand throws out energy, but it only works for the master meant to hold it. 

Each fantasy series has to create a world of rules that are consistent within it. My series with the Hemstreet Witches, does that but more or less within what I consider possibly the normal constraints of this life on earth-- not for most of us but for some. The Hemstreet world is consistent with my earlier paranormal romances-- Sky Daughter and Diablo Canyon (the latter made up of three trilogies also available without the sex-- When Fates Conspire, The Dark of the Moon, and Storm in the Canyon).

Those books and my new series are populated with demons, spirit guides, witches, sorcerers, druids, shamans, shapeshifters, and the occasional monster-- all if which defy the logical mind but have long been around in human lore. If you don't believe someone can dematerialize one place and end up another, try reading certain Bible stories or the writings of Eastern mystics. In my stories, there are animals that form special bonds with humans which involve being able to talk to each other. There are the elementals, wards, potions, and vortexes. There are no vampires, zombies or werewolves (with the understanding that shifting into a wolf does not make one a werewolf).

So June 4th comes the first-- The Enchantress' Secret. It shares one spirit guide with Diablo Canyon and comes out of the ancestry in the Arizona historicals. From where came the magic in the Cordova and Hemstreet families? Some of that will be answered in Book 1. Some will take awhile, but each romance will have one complete love story with no cliffhangers, which means one can be read and no more. As was the case with Diablo Canyon, the underlying theme will last through all the stories for a final reckoning in the last one. 

I'll let readers here in on a secret of my own-- it's fun writing a paranormal book where I can create a real world permeated by the magical where most people go about their daily lives with no clue. On the other hand, maybe I just am writing about what actually is but most of us don't want to see.

Blurb for The Enchantress' Secret:

Denali Hemstreet, a witch, born into a family of shamans and witches, sees what happened earlier by the energies embedded in the surroundings.  As a detective in the family agency, she uses her skills, both natural and developed to solve crimes. 

Ex-seal, Nick Beringer paints with an intensity few can match, including images he does not understand. When he is accused of murder, he will soon find out there is much in the world he had no idea existed.

An idealistic witch and a hardened soldier find their mutual attraction urges them to overcome their differences to join forces, when another realm thrusts past their boundaries and challenges their lives. 

Mystical, thoughtful, passionate and maybe possible. The Enchantress’s Secret will keep readers entertained and questioning what they really see.

Book 1 of the Hemstreet Witches is set in Barrio Viejo, Tucson Arizona, a piece of the old Presidio.  The Hemstreet family has a long lineage of shamanism, naturalistic witchcraft, and old world wizardry. Working from a detective agency, bookstores, and a boutique, the witches watch the street and keep the order of the ‘old ways’.  61,000 words-- intended for adults with some spice & violence.

The Enchantress' Secret at-- Amazon for Kindle

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