Old Dog, New Trick

Old Dog, New Trick

In my last post, I talked about inevitabilities, like rejection in the writing life. But there are ways to make that inevitability a little less so. First, and always, the story needs to be compelling, but most of us have a captivating tale or two to tell. If you want...

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In the Face of Inevitability

In the Face of Inevitability

As I gaze into the dispassionate face of inevitability, how will I choose to be? Who will I choose to be? Rejection is inevitable for any writer. Though you wouldn’t guess this from social media posts where triumphant acceptances are celebrated (and really, why would...

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Why I Backpack

Why I Backpack

“Is that fun?” my mother had asked some years ago. “Is putting a 30-lb backpack on and hiking 10 miles fun?” I answered with a question, perhaps asking myself. “Not exactly, but going amazing places most other people won’t get to is.” I could end this piece right...

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Breccia

Breccia

Hunkered at home during the escalating pandemic is not, in fact, a terrible thing for a writer. There are fewer excuses to keep me from the work. So, last month I finished my novel (yes, again!) and my literary agent is now submitting it to publishers for...

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Wingbeats

Wingbeats

The trail is where I have calmed the clenching in my heart these past months. This morning, I ventured out in search of that, in the aftermath of yet another loss this tragic year—that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a revered champion for equality. I wandered up the far...

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Just a Writer

Just a Writer

The closed doors (and borders) of the coronavirus pandemic have opened a different door for me–the possibility of “just” being a writer. Most summers, I’m attempting to write while sailing Kagán, and oh, yes, working to keep her running optimally and looking...

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We’re Built For This

We’re Built For This

…sailors are, my mentor and friend, Nancy Erley said, when we spoke the other day. Nancy is a two-time circumnavigator, and the logistics of isolating in our homes is not unlike that of crossing an ocean in a small boat. Nancy is most certainly built for this. We’d...

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My backyard is your backyard is our backyard

My backyard is your backyard is our backyard

Some of these words have been percolating through my mind for weeks, and I intended to transfer them to paper for Earth Day in April, but I think the time is right, right now. In my last post back in November, I talked about rocks in my backyard, specifically the...

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Madera Limestone

Madera Limestone

Though it doesn’t occur beneath my feet unless I climb long and hard and high (as I did here), it’s my bedrock. The Madera Limestone crowns the rift-flank Sandia Mountains whose shadow I live in. I arrived here, shattered, after my husband died in an accident 22 years...

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Feeling Small – Part 2

Feeling Small – Part 2

Aside from the majesty of the land- and seascapes, there are other ways I feel small during the summers on Kagán. Some feel good, some are less comfortable. Like everyone, what feels good to me is easy to think about and look at, like feeling small in my current...

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Geologists study the earth and the processes that shape it. Writers study the human heart and the processes that shape it. The GeologistWriter builds a bridge between the two. Come across it with me!

GROUND WORK: Wander the outdoors with me.

VENUS & MARS GO SAILING: Life. Intensified. On the Salish Sea.

FINDING THE WORDS: We all have stories – let's find the words to tell them.

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