This is an interesting topic Rhobin gave us this month.
We are writers, ergo we write. Novels? Yes. I'm working on my eigth novel, but I written a few short stories that have been published. Most are in anthologies.
"The Rich Are Different" was set on a classic yacht in New England (where I live and have sailed) waters. As with much a my writing, I borrowed a few things from real life and made up the rest. A story about beavers was my first published short story. I used some of my family and it rubbed my cousin the wrong way, so I never did that again. Another short story was a young man's middle of the night adventure when he ventured out to buy diapers. Made it to an anthology. I've had many poems published, but I don't write poetry any more. No special reason. A whole series sprang out of trips to the Southwest and its animal life. Here is one:
The Diamond Back
My view is of the low things:
The leaf-cutting ant bearing a spear of green,
The faint imprint of fearful feet,
Red jasper in a dry stream.
The Navajo weaves a harmony of diamond shapes,
But none so striking as my patterned back.
Coiling on my rock I prize my symmetry.
The savage sun of summer drives me
To wary sleep under the mesquite.
The gritty caliche earth against my belly
Is the feel of here.
The sharp aroma of the creosote bush,
The scent of sun on yucca blossoms
Is the smell of here.
I wait for the taste of here:
The timid skittering mouse,
The nervous cottontail,
The old lizard dragging her tail.
Respect is mine.
The shying panicked horse bucks and screams.
I observe the one in leather boots
Hiking carefully with his stick.
The humble horned toad,
The bold scorpion avoids me.
I get respect.
Sleek, I slither down the gulch
In a rush of silence.
Above the hum of bees and insects,
A snaky sound,
The gourd rhythm of my rattles disturbs the air.
* * *
A couple of my short stories, "The Trade Show" and "The PowWow" are waiting for publication. In the future, I plan to write vignettes of memoir. Not a book, just some sharp memories that stick in my mind. If I ever finish my novel.
The writers below will be happy to tell you about their adventures into different
genres.
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2qf
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.
Posts
Excellent poem, Judy.
ReplyDelete:)
I had to laugh when I read your comment about your family's reaction. My threat to friends and family was - if you're not careful I'll put you in a book! Kudos for writing poetry - I never went there.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your poem. While I've though about family and friends when developing characters, since I don't always know whether they will be good or evil characters, I'm careful not to place them in stories. In memoires it's fine.:)
ReplyDeleteYeah, if I were ever to include family in a story, it would be hidden pretty well. LOL I can guarantee one of them would be offended. LOL I have, however, named a character in one of my recent novels after a sheriff who helped me with research. I changed their name per their request.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem. :)
Too bad you don't live around the corner - I'd love to sit down and trade stories about the places we have sailed in New England waters. I wonder if we've ever visited some of the same harbors??
ReplyDeleteIf I still lived in New England it would be so much fun to sit down and chat about the places we've sailed in New England waters and see if we've ever visited some of the same harbors. One of my books was inspired by a day sail out to a little island off the mouth of Boothbay Harbor to inspect the historic relics of a place that was active with Europeans before Plymouth or Jamestown, and my writer's brain ended up asking what if ...
ReplyDelete