Resolutions, Goals, Changes

The New Year is one of my favorite holidays. For me, it lasts all of January because I like to ponder and reflect and take my time about it. It's the wonder and excitement of New Beginnings. The promise of realizing goals, making changes.

This January my husband and I are in the process of moving from Guatemala to Mexico. It's taking a bit longer than the typical U.S. move where you hire a van or bribe your neighbors with donuts and pizza to get it all done in a few hours.

We are going via the local transport system and need 4 trips. But that's the fun of it. At this point in our lives, we are all about adventure and discovery.

Our first trip was to decide where we'd live in Mexico. We had chosen Comitan, Chiapas but we needed to see the town and if we liked it, find an apartment.

We found a hotel downtown for $17 a night and stayed 3 nights. Our hotel was through this glowing hallway and then up the stairs to our second floor room. I felt like a fairy tale queen, or maybe Jack and the Beanstalk.

At night the central park in the historic downtown area was still lit up and decorated for Christmas, even one week into January. It was a happy place where people gathered to enjoy the mild evening, eat dinner out, stroll around the plaza.

A marimba band was playing in the square with chairs set up, inviting us to relax and listen to the music. A few couples ventured into the cleared area to dance.

We weren't brave enough to dance, just sat in awe of this magical night, having fallen in love with Cometan.

The next day we found our apartment, a small but lovely place in a nice neighborhood. Altogether a wonderful start to the new year.

Karen Walker on Turning Negatives into Positives

Today I'm hosting my longtime blogging friend Karen Walker! I really connected with her memoir Listening to the Whispers, so I'm eager to read Karen's debut novel, The Wishing Steps.

Thank you Karen, for hosting me today.

If you’re a glass half empty kind of person like me, if that’s what comes naturally to you rather than seeing the glass half full, you tend to view things from a negative perspective. The problem with this is that it keeps us stuck feeling badly about ourselves and the people and world around us. So I’ve had to train myself to find the silver lining when the bad stuff happens. And the truth is, I’ve either learned something I needed to learn or some powerful insight was revealed, or whatever it was I thought I wanted or needed wasn’t really going to be good for me.

I’m here at Karen’s blog because I’ve written a novel, The Wishing Steps. I actually can’t believe I’m able to write that sentence and have it be the truth. I. WROTE. A. NOVEL. Okay, here’s the negative: Who do you think you are – you think you can write a novel? You’re a nonfiction writer. You can’t write fiction. You get the idea, right. These are the things I heard inside my head through most of the six years I was pulling this story out of the depths of my soul. Now, here’s the positive. I. WROTE. A. NOVEL. I did it. Despite the voices. Despite the doubts. Despite the fears. And here I am telling you about it.

After I completed the book, I decided I wanted to be published traditionally. Nice dream, yes? I knew in my heart of hearts that the likelihood of that happening was slim to none, but I needed to try. I don’t think I was being negative in that regard. Just realistic. Anyway, I heard back from one of the publishing companies that they wanted to read the manuscript. Yippee. I’d never gotten that far before. Days passed and I anxiously waited. Two readers from the company wrote critiques explaining why they thought the manuscript wasn’t okay. I was devastated. It validated all those voices I’d been hearing about my inability to write fiction.

But then I shifted into a peaceful, grounded, meditative state and read the critiques again. Both readers had read the book as if it was historical fiction and every criticism was related to why it didn’t work as historical fiction. Ahhhh! The book isn’t historical fiction and I’d neglected to say that. The positive which came from this experience is my writing an Author’s Note that appears at the beginning of the book which addresses the issues these readers had.

Life is difficult. We have moments of joy, perhaps even days or weeks. But then something happens to pull us off our center. I’m learning, one day at a time, to tune into my thoughts and feelings so that I’m not operating on automatic pilot. When I stay tuned in, I can catch those negative thoughts and shift them before they become stuck in me and I become stuck in the muck of negativity.

Now that my book is out in the world, I know there will be people who won’t like it, who will criticize it and perhaps me for having written such a book. All I know is that I was called to write it and I can’t allow other peoples’ opinions to make me feel bad about something that is so deeply meaningful to me.

 Here’s the scoop on The Wishing Steps, Three Women and a Single Story That Unites Them Across the Millennia

“Totally engrossing. A must-read for today’s wise woman!”Rev. Kathleen McKern Verigin, minister/priestess

Brighid, Ashleen and Megan: Bound through time by a curious light, a mysterious voice and a call they dare not ignore. Yet in obeying this strange force, the women must face soul-searing trials that call into question everything they know and believe — about themselves and about the world around them.

“Guaranteed to inspire you to a deeper level of spirituality and a new appreciation for Goddess.”Rev. Clara Z. Alexander

Karen Helene Walker is a widely published essayist and author of the 2009 memoir, Following the Whispers. When she isn’t writing, you will often find Karen performing in nursing homes and retirement communities as part of the Sugartime or Sophisticated Ladies musical groups, traveling with her husband of 20 years, Gary, or relaxing with a good book at their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Visit the author’s website at www.karenhelenewalker.com

Author photo

The Wishing Steps is now available for purchase in both print and ebook versions at: Amazon.com. You can also purchase it as an ebook on Kobo, I Tunes, and at Barnes and Noble.

Storming the Castle

I was asked to do a guest post for the IWSG website about submitting to a small press. Many writers seeking publication with a traditional publisher may not realize how many options are available for them beyond the Big 5.

And as I say in my post, "After many rejections, writers can feel like publishing companies are the enemy and their editors the army blocking entrance to the castle. In fact, editors want to open the castle gate and usher in the right person. Publishers don’t exist without writers and manuscripts but it needs to be a good fit."

To see the full post go here.http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2015/09/querying-small-press.html

Writing and Wellness and My Darkest Moment

Author Colleen Story maintains one of the most helpful, informative writer websites I've seen. It's called Writing and Wellness, dealing with every kind of trouble we writers may experience from depression to writer's block to chronic back pain, along with a lot of positive encouragement too.

On Colleen's blog I regularly find inspiration, motivation, helpful publishing information, marketing tips, as well as that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you find another writer going through the exact same thing as you.

Colleen asks each writer she interviews about their darkest moment, which of course being a glass half empty kind of person, is my favorite paragraph to read. It's always hopeful to read about what miserable thing someone else has experienced and overcome.

This week I'm honored to be the featured writer on Writing and Wellness. I explain how blogging helped me get through my darkest moment. The link to my interview is here.

Speaking of darkest moments, today is the 14th anniversary of 9-11, the bombing of the Twin Towers, which for most of us alive now was the darkest moment in our nation's history. I suppose for the previous generation it would have been the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I do remember the assassination of President Kennedy, as I was 15 years old when it happened.

And then the Viet Nam War I remember also as a dark time in our nation, where US citizens screamed obscenities and spit on our returning Viet Nam war veterans. These young men were just kids who'd been drafted. It sickens me to think of that particular time in our nation during the late 1960s when our country was bitterly divided over a war.

Although 9-11 was a tragic event one of the good things that came of it was unity, although temporary, within the various political factions in our nation.

When a 10 year old writes a story with passion but no punctuation and you know if it was a school assignment he'd have gotten a bad grade but it's so good you want to give him a prize or at least publish it on your blog

We went to Bufallo Wild Wings and dad decided he wanted to do the wing challenge so asked if they still did it and they said yes so then they told the manager and he got this big red light like a siren but without the noise and he put it on the table then he got a microphone and all the speakers in the cafe were saying to find the red light and watch that table because my dad was doing the wing challenge. So my dad had to finish 12 wings (with bones) that had the spiciest sauce on them in under 6 minutes. So the guy hit a buzzer and dads time started the guy was watching our table the entire time but dad finished with a 5:53.

Joy in the Small Things

My daughter recently sent me a picture of the box of clothes she was getting rid of because, as she said, "wearing them no longer brings me joy."

I thought of the clothes I wear all the time that no longer bring me joy. Two pairs of pants I used to love but now have stains on the cuffs I can't get off. Shirts that don't quite fit me right or the colors are faded. A knit dress several years old that's now pilled. The list was quite long and disheartening.

These small imperfections I try to ignore because new clothes are hard to come by where I live in Guatemala, and I only go back to the States once a year. That's a long time to wait between shopping trips.

Then I began to think of other things that take up my time and energy which do not bring me joy. Not a lot, I must admit, because at my age I've learned how to bring joy into my life even with mundane tasks. But still, there are a few areas for improvement. Like the clothes.

Have you ever given up something when it no longer brought you joy?

Rainy Season

While many of you in the U.S. are feeling the heat and drought conditions, in Guatemala we are deep into the rainy season. In the morning it is sunny and everyone is outdoors before the clouds come and the rain hits.

Gotta do laundry and hang it out to dry.

Gotta walk to the market before the water is pouring down the middle of the streets.

Gotta just get out and feel the sun on your skin.

Later in the day when it's pouring rain, wifi can get spotty. Sometimes the electricity goes off altogether.

If it gets cold and dreary, I've got a supply of wood ready for the fireplace.

It's nearly impossible to go all through the rainy season without getting caught in a downpour without an umbrella. When that happens, people stand inside stores or under shelter, watching for a tuk tuk, or just waiting for it to lessen a bit.

One of the best rains happened last year when we were at the hotel. It was evening, the electricity went out, it was dark. We stood on the balcony and watched the rain filling up the street as the parking lot across the way turned into a flood.

The main street of Panajachel during a light rain:

Deciding What to Write

As a writer, figuring out what project to work on next is part of the job. As a blogger, wondering what to post can be puzzling. Blogging is personal, and posts with heart are what appeal to me. I appreciate those who share something of themselves: things they're going through, insights, ideas, successes and failures, ways they've changed.

Writing books is not as spontaneous as blog writing. There's a form for each genre which must be respected. A book is a lengthy enterprise, not to be dashed off in a spurt of inspiration. Maybe the first draft can be written like that, but to achieve a professionally finished work, the spurts of inspiration must be supplemented with hours and hours of sometimes perplexing drudgery.

This is why I only write the book I want to write. Whether it's marketable or popular isn't a consideration, at least not in the early stages. John Truby in The Anatomy of Story, says to "write the story that will change your life."

As I look back on my six published books, I realize each one of them fit this principle. Each one was important for me to write at that particular time, and the writing of it changed my life in a significant way. When I hear from a reader, or see a review that shows me my book also changed a reader's life in a significant way, it means more to me than all the royalties in the world.

One of my absolute favorite reviews on House of Diamonds exemplifies exactly what I mean:

 

 "As a reader who is struggling to start a family this story was my worst fears put to paper. But it reminded me also of the love of a being more powerful than all who does what is best for us whether we see it or not. It was honestly what I needed to read to put my current struggles in perspective and I recommend it to anyone who feels they can't deal with their struggles. Thank you Ms. Gowen for writing this book, it was just what I needed to read."



Recently I've been struggling with what to write next. At first I was doing the third book in my Diamond series. After all, it's been four years since the second, House of Diamonds, came out. And it is supposed to be a Mormon Family Saga. What kind of saga only has two books in it?

Despite it making perfect sense for me to write that next Diamond novel, I just couldn't do it. I finally put the rough draft away for another time. Apparently this isn't the story to change my life at the moment. Whenever I worked on it, I'd get upset, revisiting a time in our family's experience I was not ready to face. I want so badly to write that book but right now I just can't.

Instead I'm eagerly working on something else. That's my clue I'm on the right track--how I'm excited when I think about it, getting ideas, looking forward to my writing time, jotting things down in a notebook when I'm not at my computer.

As writers, we think a lot about sales and marketing. We have to as part of the job. But maybe we should be considering what means so much more than money: changing a life. Especially one's own.

And if in the process our work changes someone else's life for the better, then we have truly done a fine job.

"Every story I write creates me. I write to create myself." 

--Octavia E. Butler

The Location of Zarahemla and the Waters of Mormon

For my Z post last year I wrote about Zarahemla, a key city and land written about in the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ and companion to the Holy Bible.

People often question the location of this ancient city in the American continent, and wonder where Zarahemla could be.

I'm borrowing my Z post from last year's Challenge,  Where is Zarahemla and Does it Matter, and changing it up a bit to connect it with another interesting Book of Mormon geographical location--the Waters of Mormon.

The Waters of Mormon were a short distance from the City of Lehi-Nephi. The prophet Alma and his people left Lehi-Nephi under duress and persecution from King Noah.

Escaping to the forest in the borders of the land, the people gathered at a body of water called the Waters of Mormon. Here Alma taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and baptized them in His name.

The group then traveled from this location for eight days, and stayed for a time in a valley they named Helam. Another twelve days journey from Helam took them to the City of Zarahemla.

For a group of people to walk or ride in wagons pulled by animals-- (we don't know what their transportation was so this is an assumption, using the way large groups of people traveled across the Western plains in the U.S. before gasoline-fueled vehicles)-- it would take about 20 days to travel from the Waters of Mormon to the City of Zarahemla. This is geographical background that can be helpful if one is wondering about the location of these two Book of Mormon places.

Now, where might the Waters of Mormon be located?

To the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints native to Central America, it is not a question. They are convinced the Waters of Mormon are one and the same with Lake Atitlan. At the time of Alma, the Waters of Mormon are described as containing "a beautiful fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:4-6) where the people entered and were baptized by immersion. For this reason, it became a sacred place to the people and the church of Jesus Christ at the time.

Currently Lake Atitlan is a huge land-locked body of water much larger than how the original Waters of Mormon are described. However, the lake has a life-giving spring that bubbles up from the center, and because there's no drainage, the rains fill it up each year as the level continues to rise, rise, rise.

In addition to the spring, there is the legend of the Xocomil, the wind that blows across Lake Atitlan and carries away sins. These two elements would seem to validate the idea that Lake Atitlan is indeed the original location of the Waters of Mormon. And if so, it isn't too difficult to ascertain the approximate location of our Z letter, Zarahemla.

Young and Old

I think I'm most fascinated by the very young and the very old people of the Mayans, although seriously they all are beautiful to me...

.

The school kids with their fresh happy faces, looking so healthy and energetic

The fathers who watch over everyone in their family

  

The mothers who quietly go about their work, usually with a child close to them

The farmers in the fields, or out selling their wares

The older brother or sister walking with a youngster, holding a cloth over the little one's head to protect him from the sun.

I have images of all these in my mind if not on my camera. Most likely not on my camera since I respect the people too much to be sticking a camera in their faces without permission, as tempted as I am to do so.

But the very young, the babies held close to their mothers, peeking out at the world with their round beautiful faces and bright clear eyes...oh how I love to see them!

And the very old, bent over, often barefoot, trudging up the hill carrying a load of some kind or pushing a cart.

Once there was a tiny, wrinkled old woman who must have been 80, with a strap around her forehead that held a huge bag of firewood, all of which had to weigh much more than she did.

The very young and the very old of the Mayans are among the most beautiful people I have ever seen.