GIRLS CAN AND DO

By Natalie Bright

My women friends astound me. They are so focused and BUSY with careers, families, volunteer work, and other interests. And yet, they’re ready and willing to take on something new should an opportunity present itself.

Just like the amazing friends in my life, WWW members intrigue me as well. As I look through the 2015 Catalog of Authors’ Books published by Women Writing the West, I’m struck by the diversity of themes and main characters. As I explore their author websites and read their blogs, I find that the creators of these books are just as diverse and remarkable as the characters. That’s why being part of a writer’s group like WWW is so inspiring.

Where Do Story Ideas Come From?

The people we know, the places we visit, and our unique life experiences are the backbone our stories. Where ideas come from, is without a doubt, the number one question most frequently asked of every author. 

The things that interest us and feed our soul usually appears in our writing at some point. Which brings me to an interesting encounter with a rescue horse and his trainer.

Lacey, Christie, and Natalie

WESTERN WOMEN

Last summer, my son noticed his former teacher during the finale scene of the musical drama, “Texas”. Performed in an outdoor amphitheater with the walls of Palo Duro Canyon State Park as the back drop, it tells the story of the Texas Panhandle of 1800’s.

That lady, Christie Shippy, had been my son’s elementary music teacher.  I contacted her soon after because I just had to know how she came to be sitting at center stage on a horse and holding a gigantic American flag. It wasn’t until February that we finally caught a break in our crazy lives and met at the local coffee shop. So typical of women today, Christie teaches music at the elementary school, plus she plays piano, sings, and just last season, has taken on the position as Head Wrangler for the musical drama. Christie is the perfect personification of western women today, with BUSY being the operative word.

What began as curiosity about my son’s music teacher has turned into ideas for several writing projects based on her work as a horse trainer. Christie introduced me to a local photographer, Lacy Johnston, who has agreed to help me with several projects focusing on our ranch.

Flash, the Rescue Horse

Flash, the Rescue Horse

One of Christie’s horses, Flash, led me to Dove Creek Ranch and Equine Rescue, a peaceful place for healing and new beginnings ran by the energetic Laurie Higgins. Recovering from a significant loss, Laurie felt a need to introduce the healing power of horses to others who might be suffering. Thanks to Jodi Thomas and Linda Broday for taking a break from their own writing to share in my adventure at the horse sanctuary.

Linda Broday at Dove Creek Ranch

It’s been a great start to the year. These unbelievable women have inspired me beyond measure. I’ve come to realize that the world is a better place because of girls who can and do: women who follow their passion and reach for the stars. 

These are the kinds of people that provide the heart for great stories, whether they’re writing it or living it. Thanks WWW members for creating all of those wonderful books!

Incidentally, I’m excited to say that my ‘To Be Read’ pile has grown into a monster.

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Natalie Bright is an author, blogger and speaker. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup and West Texas Christmas Stories. She holds a BBA from WTSU, and enjoys talking to groups about writing. Find her on Facebook, Twitter @natNKB, Amazon Author Pages, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She blogs every Monday about story craft at wordsmithsix.com.

Contemplation with Lizard

by Amy Hale Auker

This morning I took a shovel and a roll of toilet paper and allowed the cabin door to slam behind me, a song that is peculiar to this door, this cabin, this home. Home is what I contemplate as I walk away with my shovel. If I lived here full time, would I go each morning to the same place so as to minimize my impact, my contribution to the soil, or would I try to spread it around so as to distribute the impact over a big area? Not everyone contemplates the impact of their morning soil, but they should. 

We are creatures of habit and I am walking to a place I've been before--soft sandy soil, handy big rocks for leaning the shovel, handy small rocks for piling, shade. My contemplation is interrupted when I see a macabre sight at my feet.

Macabre--adjective and noun. 

A dead lizard lying on his back, spread-eagled as if he'd been crucified there in the dirt, an eerie human quality to his blue-bellied appearance. 

Two arms, two legs with knees, tilted head and jaw, vulnerable torso--only his elegant tail marks him as not of my same family. Only, some days I could swear I have a tail. A phantom appendage that swishes behind me as I walk.

Three ants have already discovered the scene of death--his ended walk upon the desert is their morning treasure, too big to drag back to a hill. 

So now I am no longer contemplating waste and impact but death and tails and art. I want to end this morning routine and go back through the noisy door for my camera. If I photograph the dead lizard--posed as he is in the sand, plus ants--is it art or is it macabre? Is it a morbid documentation not fit for Instagram? I should spare other eyes and sensibilities the Amy-mind. 

Or is it art--a fascination with what will be gone by midday into the cycle of heat and hunger and janitorial sustainability? Or is it one organism's contemplation of what is nasty, unacceptable, gross, unclean, sad, negative, to be avoided, voided? 

A friend mentioned, "Many writers sit over in the corner of life, taking notes, rather than being active participants." Since I sometimes write reviews, I replied, "Then I don't want to read those books."

My fellow writers, I hope for you a day job that feeds your passion, even if it keeps you a little hungry…One that allows you to hike trails and see the sunrise if you crave the out-of-doors, one that allows for hours of fascinating conversation if your pen bleeds human nature, one that smells of old books and wood floors if you lean toward antiquity and melancholy, one that takes you to exotic beaches juxtaposed with poverty if you need adventure and orange starfish. I hope that it lends itself to contemplation--those long stretches of time when a writer is living life and aching for a pen, fermenting old experiences down beneath the new. A job that allows for passionate reflection of art and excrement.

Photo by Kathy McCraine

Amy Hale Auker cowboys on a ranch in Yavapai County, Arizona. Her day job feeds her writing. She is the author of 2012 WILLA-award winner, Rightful Place, and two novels, Winter of Beauty and The Story Is the Thing.