Just because I gave up the moon for you doesn’t mean I’ll give up the river. No, I hold close the lapping sounds it makes, the clamor of the geese honking as they land the way the deer wade out into its swift current. I hold close the infinite memories it contains — the midnight swims, the drownings. I hold close the way it shines in the moonlight, under the stars, deep in the quiet. I hold this river close and it returns my embrace. I am here, alone, just me, a woman without the moon, yes, but with a river of her very own.Â
It has been a very tough summer! Summer here is never easy and we frequently top temperatures at 115 degrees and even 120-122 degrees. But the difference this summer is that the heat and also significant humidity has been unrelenting. It is a very daunting feeling and honestly ominous for the future.
I spend a lot of time trying to give the birds and other pollinators a fighting chance by providing watering stations and refreshing them frequently with fresh water and ice. The finches and mockingbirds seem especially grateful.
In writing news, I participated in my sixth poetry half-marathon in June. I was honored to have one of my poems from the previous half-marathon included in the 2023 Poetry Marathon Anthology. All the marathon anthologies are available for purchase from many sites including bookshop.org
I’m also continuing with the Stafford Project with the goal of writing one poem per day for a year. I’m behind a bit on that mission but still have written far more poems in the past several months than I would have written otherwise. So I take that as a win!
I took a wonderful class called Onward (continuing writing workshop) from writers.com this spring and received some very helpful feedback on my novel Work in Progress. Then I took a long break but now I’m picking it back up again and heading toward the finish line.
It has been a beautiful winter in the Coachella Valley with fiery sunrises and sunsets, rainbows and snow-capped mountains. As much as the summers here are generally brutal, this winter seems to be trying to compensate in terms of stunning, seemingly miraculous vistas.
I have not been working on my book so far in 2024 and I’m missing it! So today I took a fresh look at a new chapter I was working on at the end of 2023. I was planning to add this chapter as the new opening to the book. But today, when I looked at it with fresh eyes, it didn’t feel right at all. So now I’m going back to the previous version of Flight of the Roadrunner and am getting back to work. Finally!
What I have been doing these past few weeks is participating in the Stafford Challenge — a group mission to write one poem a day for a year. It has been a very interesting and inspiring enterprise and I’m going to keep doing this. I’m also determined to send out more writing this year and to aim to do more freelancing. All ahead …
My word for 2024 is “shine” and I’m trying … like a feeble little star… to send out my energy … 🙂
After a long, hot and miserable summer here in the Coachella Valley, September has brought such welcome change. We started the month in Manzanita, Oregon, one of my favorite places in the world. It’s quiet and gentle and has the most beautiful beach with ocean waves that sparkle in the morning light. And wildlife — pelicans, deer, sea gulls, Steller’s jays, squirrels etc etc. Just so wonderful!
This year the poetry marathon was on Sept. 2 so my experience doing the half-marathon was much impacted by the natural world around me and by the fact that I was turning 60 that Monday. I managed to scrape by (totally, just barely) and finish 12 poems in 12 hours. I have to say that the poetry marathon/half-marathon is the best experience I’ve ever had as a writer because there is so much adrenaline and creative energy and so much camaraderie from the other poets who are from all over the world. It’s an amazing event.
Also in the past few months, I’ve reached out for and received a lot of feedback on my mystery novel, Flight of the Roadrunner. And I took a class from writers.com in plotting that, quite frankly, I wish I’d taken years ago. In some ways, the feedback and better understanding about structure has been daunting but I think I’ve found a way forward that balances what I’ve learned with my original intent for the novel. Hopefully I will continue to move forward. I’d really like to finish!
Here in the desert, we are still dealing with major impacts from Tropical Storm Hilary in August. So much mud and sand was swept through the valley because the desert cannot absorb that much rain so quickly. There are still people who have lost their homes and roads that are impassible. And the air quality has been terrible. Finally in the past few days, the dust seems to have settled some. It has been a huge boost in morale but it is all cautionary for the years ahead as climate change continues to bring in more powerful storms …
I have some catching up to do as I haven’t blogged since April. I was actually sitting in the kitchen in my Madison, Indiana, rental house and was writing then about seeing the Northern Lights in Norway. Ironically during my visit there was a a great Northern Lights show in much of the country, including Indiana along the Ohio River, but I slept through it. 🙂 Still I was able to enjoy wildflowers and lunch at Pizza Uncommon and buying my favorite jewelry from 3 Bespoke Crows at the farmers market. It was a beautiful visit.
About this time, however, I was coming to grips with the realization that I was going to have to have eye surgery as the pterygium growths I have in both eyes was suddenly greatly impacting my vision in my left eye. I don’t know how much vision I had left but it wasn’t a lot. And I realized in one horrible moment in Indiana that driving at night was nearly impossible as all the lights were incredibly smeary and confusing. It was a very frightening experience.
To make a long story short and to gloss over some of the details such as not sleeping for weeks due to fear, I did have the surgery July 12 in Oxnard, California. This was a specialist who does this surgery a lot which is important because pterygium, while benign, frequently grows back and there is only so many times (twice, I’ve been told) that this surgery can be performed.
I made it through the surgery … awake but fortified with valium and a lot of meditation exercises and the kind well-wishes of friends and family. And, to my great joy, I think my eyesight is improving rapidly as the cornea is able to return to a more normal size after previously being pushed into an egg shape by the pterygium.
OK, so enough about that!
But as a result, I haven’t been writing much. I did attend the California Crime Writers conference in June and I have had several feedback sessions on my Work in Progress from established writers and editors. These have been inspiring and thought-provoking. And I’m currently taking a plotting classes from writers.com, which I think is going to be very helpful.
So now, as part of my recovery, I promise to be a bit more present here as well.
This winter we went on a dream trip to Norway! It was absolutely beautiful: the snowy mountain vistas, the breathtaking fjords, the enchanting little villages and cities … and we saw the magical Northern Lights on several occasions!
We traveled for this adventure with Hurtigruten, a Norwegian company that we chose because of their commitment to sustainability (although of course all travel has a carbon footprint) and to knowledge- and science-focused programming. The ship left from Dover, England, and traveled up the west coast of Norway, stopping for day visits along the way.
Our ship, the MS Maud, was perfectly suited for this mission with a science center, a theater/lecture hall and large lounges perfect for reading books and staring out at the sea while sipping a glass of wine. The food on board was amazing and there was no loud entertainment programming, which for me was a huge plus. While we didn’t sign up for the most physical activities such as the long hikes, we did lots of interesting excursions, learning about Norway, its history and its culture.
Ironically, this whole trip was a bucket list item for Vikki and I was a bit unsure how I would feel about being on a ship for two weeks, but I ended up loving everything about the experience. The trip was so wonderful that we convinced ourselves that we wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t see the Northern Lights but the view of them from the ship was absolutely mystical.
I’ve been interested in the new practice of choosing a word for the year and using that chosen word to help guide priorities and focus. So a few days ago I started casting about for options. The ones that I came up with were “appreciate,” “live fully,” “experience,” “discover,” and “create.” I wrote these down in a notebook and decided to mull them over before choosing one of them.
Then yesterday, another word came to me. It was “light.” It’s about savoring the natural light of the world, especially the sunrises and sunsets here in the desert. Of being more light by decluttering and lessening my footprint on the planet. And of bringing the light of constructive energy to our world including wildlife and people.
I wondered if light was too unusual a word to use for reframing 2023 as it is a noun and not an action verb like “discover.” So I looked around and found that some other instances of its use for this purpose including this blog post that also mentions decluttering and positive energy:
So that reassured me that I was not completely alone in my new focus on light. And it seems like a fitting word for the year that includes a very special trip to Norway on a Hurtigruten expedition ship to hopefully see the Northern Lights. That journey begins in February.
My only traditional resolution is to finish my book manuscript and to try to publish it either through a mainstream publisher or by self-publishing. And I plan to send more writing out into the world in general this year. Maybe that somehow also falls under the umbrella of light.
I’m a little unsure why but the last couple months have not been productive for writing at all. Ugh. I hope I can say that I’ve been hibernating and composting and that 2023 will be a productive year. My top goal is to finish my mystery novel and to get it published in some form. And I want to dabble in short stories, poetry and freelance journalism and send out more of my work.
So I guess I just need to make it happen, right? I herby declare that I will finish Roadrunner Ridge in 2023 and that I’ll send out my writing. That’s my first resolution for the New Year.
So this happened. I was a runner-up in the Sisters in Crime Pride Award for emerging mystery writers. This recognition means a lot to me as I continue the mostly lonely trek of trying to complete my Work in Progress. In addition, in a time of increased hate crimes against people who happen to be LGBTQ+, I believe that supporting a diversity of voices in literature and writing is amazingly important.
The runner-up award includes some feedback from an established author so I’m looking forward to that exchange.
Diane Carmony 
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