My word for the year is “light”

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:

Word of the Year 2020-Light

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’ve been hibernating… I think

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.

Thank you, Sisters in Crime!

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.

Again, thank you!

https://www.sistersincrime.org/news/622378/Winner-of-the-2022-Pride-Award-Announced.htm

Returning and exploring

This week we are in Madison, Indiana, another one of my favorite places on the planet. I grew up in northern Indiana, in West Lafayette, and have lived throughout the state and I’ve been missing my home state. Madison is kind of my adopted home town for now because I don’t feel emotionally brave enough to visit my family home or any of the places I lived before moving to California. Anyway, it is beautiful here — autumn leaves, tiny mom & pop shops, church bells, the gorgeous Ohio River and a deep sense of history and, yes, mystery. More on that soon. 🙂

Finally at a milestone

Manzanita Beach

We spent some time in August and September in Oregon including probably my favorite place in the world: Manzanita. I had lots of alone time to walk the beach, pick up shells, visit with sea stars and sea gulls and watch pelicans skirt above the waves. It was truly wonderful.

For some reason, though, I just stopped writing and I didn’t get back to the laptop until a few days ago. On the positive side, the plotting work I’ve been doing seems to be paying off and I feel like I’m moving forward again in a more productive way.

AND I just reached the 25,000-word mark which I’m going to pretend is half way even though it probably is quite a bit short of half way. At any rate, it’s as far as I’ve ever achieved on a novel Work in Progress, so I am definitely celebrating!

Plotting — save the cat!

For me, starting a novel begins with an idea for a character and a setting. So, for example, in my current Work in Progress, my character is Jayne whose life in Chicago has imploded. She flies across the country and takes refuge in a tiny town called Roadrunner Ridge in the California High Desert but then she stumbles upon a murder and the trajectory of her life is changed.

But after these starting ingredients, I’ve stumbled in the past with plotting. Years ago I wrote more than half a mystery novel before getting completely stuck. Eventually I just shelved that work entirely.

Now I don’t want the same thing to happen again so I’ve been reading Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. This is a great novel-writing guide by Jessica Brody, based on work by Blake Snyder who introduced the same ideas for screen writing. The book argues that every story has 15 essential plot points and it uses existing works to demonstrate and teach this technique. I’m using this to guide the development of my WIP, called Flight of the Roadrunner, and so far I’m finding it extremely helpful.

So now … back to writing … 🙂

One of the best things: hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are amazing. They are like tiny little helicopters zipping around our yard, perching on trees, fighting and dancing with each other. If I ever leave SoCal, the hummers are one of the things I’ll miss the most.

I have five hummingbird feeders, two fountains and a bird bath. So wonderful. This morning a hummer was perched on the ocotillo just as the moon was setting. So I snapped this pic!

Returning again: blogging & mysteries

I’ve been continuing to work on my mystery manuscript but I haven’t been maintaining this blog so I decided recently to dust it off and begin again. The old material here is really not relevant but it felt weird to delete it all so it will remain for now.

This photo is of my partner, Vikki, with two of our dogs, Griffy and Speckles, walking our neighborhood.