Not that we’ve received much rain in the desert this winter or spring, but some of the desert plants are blooming! The ironwoods have been dotting the brown landscape with pale lavender blooms. The creosote shifted quickly from yellow petals to their fuzzy white seeds. The saguaros, an elegant cactus that appears to survey its domain, are crowned with white blossoms. I don’t think the chollas, prickly pears, hedgehogs, or fish hooks will have a chance to showcase their variety of pink, purple, coral, and yellow flowers. Perhaps they’re focused on staying alive. Even the wildflowers that I often see in the front yards around the neighborhood are absent. I miss the vibrant yellow and orange, as I’m sure the bees do. So, to make up for the lack of color in nature, I’ve added a bit to this newsletter 🙂 Please “pick” whatever “flowers” appeal to you.
In between the list of stuff I have on my calendar to do each day, I’ve been working on a few projects. One of them is below with the green button. I’ve been focusing on what I have already done in some form and repurposing it so more people have access to it. There are two other free ebook projects I have going. I’ll share them when I’m done.
This doesn’t mean that I’m neglecting the novels and novellas and short stories sitting in my queue. But certain projects lend themselves to be completed in short chunks of time. Longer writing projects in a series require a different kind of dedication. Part of that, for me, is mentally clearing some space. That space clearing entails repurposing content. Once these projects are done or in the process of being completed, then I have more capacity for the immersive and complex stories I tend to write.
And speaking of stories, here, finally, is story number 3 for 2021. It’s a couple months late, but I think worth the wait. “Crimson Heels” began with a prompt in a writer’s group. I took that story starter and began to finish it, believing it would clock in under the 10K word mark, the industry standard for a short story. The more I wrote, the longer it became. I’ve learned to let my stories have the breathing room they demand. I’ve tried, and failed horribly, to truncate stories in the past. When I’ve edited them, I ended up either scrapping them or fleshing out all the parts I reined in during the first draft. This short story morphed into a novella. And the prompt led me to make more connections with a particular famous book and movie. I hope you get the association!
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