December Member News

Books make wonderful gifts!

Linda Shuler, Hidden Shadows. Cassie Brighton, devastated by the death of her husband, flees to a remote homestead in the rugged Texas Hill Country. Alone in a ramshackle farmhouse steeped in family secrets, Cassie wages a battle of mind and heart as she struggles to overcome the sorrows of her past, begin anew, and confront the possibility of finding love again. Hidden Shadows is a story of healing, of connection: to the land, to our ancestors, to others, to ourselves – and to the redemptive power of love. 

Penny Sidoli, Stolen Moments for Art. This collection of poems reflect people in Penny’s life, men and women, and the environment, the pondering, the moments of grace and mystery. It illuminates the beauty in our world and highlights the dreams, mundane tasks and extraordinary challenges of our daily lives. 

Natalie Bright, “A Cowboy’s Christmas Blessing” is included in West Texas Christmas Stories, an anthology (Abilene Christian University Press) of more than 30 heart-warming and humorous Christmas stories—all set in West Texas or by West Texas writers. 

M.M. Justus Reunion, the second “Tale of the Unearthly Northwest”.  Lost in Time. In 1910 unemployed teacher Claudia Ogden has nowhere to go. She decides to bet her life on the rumor of a job in a remote town called Conconully.  But when she arrives and is hired, what at first seem like small eccentricities loom ever more inexplicably, mysteries that make no sense. That is, until she meets Conconully’s accidental magician, who wants her to save them. But from what?

Doris McCraw, writing as Angela Raines, Angel of Salvation Valley. Given a chance at freedom for a crime he didn't commit, Drew Carson must kill for his pardon. Taken to a lush valley where a beautiful woman lives, Luke, Drew's "rescuer", lets him know that the woman is his target--kill her, and he's a free man. But there's something strange about the valley. Time stands still, and nothing is as it seems. Will Drew trade murder for love? 

Doris/Angela also has a short story “Lost Night, in the anthology One Christmas Knight, a collection of Christmas stories from the medieval time period.

No Conversation Necessary

 by Amy Hale Auker

(Written at the beginning of 2 weeks as Artist-in-Residence at Playa Summer Lake Residency Program, Paisley, Oregon)

I had forgotten what it is like to go to the totally blank page. The expanse of white. That nothingness needing be filled, screaming for ink, longing to be sullied with thoughts and ideas and connections between disparate philosophies and metaphors that cling like burrs in the brain. I had forgotten how amazingly hard it is.

Writing is a lonely activity, a solitary endeavor. A time of passionate reflection. The philosophy held by most directors of artistic residencies is that the optimum length of time for a residency is four weeks. Four weeks with a definite project in mind and a strategy for getting it done. Because most people find it difficult to take a slice as wide as four weeks from their lives, this facility offers two week spans. However, in the application, not only does the applicant have to furnish work samples, but he/she also must map out a plan for the proposed project. This is a place for those who are serious about their lifework.

Having private living space is key to this kind of atmosphere. I am in a cabin, alone with the writing. I can seek out companionship if necessary or desired in the Common Room, but mainly I am alone with this work. I wrote on the white board that if anyone is going to the near-by hot springs of an evening, I would like to tag along since I am without a vehicle. There are two communal dinners here every week… Monday nights and Thursday nights. Because residents arrive on Mondays and leave on Fridays, this works well.

In just two short days, I can see very clearly the benefits of residency programs. The distance from one point to another is removed. The clutter and demands of belongings and relationships are gone. Of course, so is the comfort of those things. Still, no conversation necessary. Just the animal body seeking warmth and the emotional/mental longing for the pen and the page—the work—the meaning. The real core of my drive is laid open and I don’t have to search for the tools. There is no need to fight for the focus—unless I am fighting my own self, a personal internal struggle. If I do some wandering, some avoiding, it is all on me. There is no one to blame.

.

 

This morning I sprang out of bed, dismissed the alarm, walked three steps to the coffee pot to touch the button, walked ten steps to pee and brush my teeth, warmed some milk, poured a cup of coffee, crawled back in bed to write morning pages facing east. My hand writing is neat, orderly, beautiful, marching with purpose across the page. The sky lightened and beckoned. I hadn’t intended to venture out into the cold air, but after I glanced at my phone (no one in my outside world needs me desperately) I got out of bed, put on warm clothes, poured another cup of coffee, and ventured out in heavy coat, scarf, and gloves. The walk all the way around the pond and compound was perfect… a one-cup walk. And the bracing morning air made me eager to return, warm and breathless, to my nest. 

I am almost transparent with bubbles.

 

Playa Summer Lake Residency Program, located in the Oregon Outback in Lake County, is a creative retreat space for artists of all mediums. It is well-suited for the solitary activity of writing and editing with studio space for visual artists, dancers, and musicians. The residencies are awarded for each application period via a selection committee. Apply now to take advantage of a beautiful setting with very few distractions. Read more at www.playasummerlake.org

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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 Photo by Kathy McCraine

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