Kudos to Author Brian Striefel

Brian Striefel’s novel, What Mary Forgot got recognized in the Humanities of North Dakota magazine. The full article can be read at https://issuu.com/humanitiesnd. It is one of many books he has written.

His newest book Nineteen Forty-Five got a Silver Medal IPPY Award for the Best Regional Fiction! A North Dakota author gets recognized for a great novel. Keep writing Brian!

You can find his novel Nineteen Forty-Five on Amazon. You can learn more about his other books on his Facebook page, Dust Cover Intros. I Highly reccommend perusing both.

Coming Soon!

My book “Our Essence Survives” is done!

Now onto getting it published.

It is a historical novel about inner strength and courage. Friedrich and Elizabeth’s homeland subdues their hopes and dreams. Travel to the new country challenges their hardiness. Will they ever find a place to plant their roots? Will they overcome what comes just around the bend?

Stay tuned for progress updates!

Mortality

We are born destined to die.

Recently my husband has finished his ancestral tree. So, we made plans to visit some of his great grandparents’ stomping grounds. To visit the cities and towns they found comfortable enough to call home.

This quest has been enlightening. Most places are so remote that the word self-sufficient comes to mind. Yet, so many of my husbands relatives begged to be known. Their headstones scream notice me. And so do many others. I noticed that people don’t want their loved ones or themselves to be forgotten.

Big grave markers that deteriorate. Few words that weather and fade. A marker of them existing here, in this area.

A mark if their mortality.

Maine

Visiting Maine off-season has clouded possibilities. You never know what will be open. It is like riding a bicycle for the first time. You make several attempts and fail. Well, some do. If you succeeded the first time, lucky you. Anyway, we are retired and have the time to explore off-season possibilities.

Some of the things we found to do are pleasant. We walked into a dessert store. (aka candy store with fudge and ice cream). They had a song playing that I liked. So I sang along. I mentioned to my husband that the song ended too soon. Someone overheard. That song was replayed the whole time we were there. Several employees sang, I sang. Who knew that walking into a store could be so entertaining.

What else can one do on a rainy Maine day? Enjoy and make the best if it!

It wasn’t discomfort

I went out to eat at a restaurant recently. It felt good to sit down to a table and have someone else do the cooking. But I felt uncomfortable. Why?

I have been to other restaurants during the pandemic. They have been few and far between. All wonderful establishments that take pride in serving. Just as this place did.

The staff was wearing masks, properly, for the safety of their patrons. Customers were wearing masks outside their bubbles and stayed in their bubbles. The place was clean, the staff pleasant. So, again why did I feel different?

There was one restaurant that gave me concern. But not the feeling I was having. What was it?

Then I realized it wasn’t discomfort at all! It was grief. Deep sadness. It has been over a year now. People confined, alone, longing for such a privilege as I indulged in. Unable to do so. People wearing masks for everyone’s safety. Postponing appointments and family gatherings for health yet to the detriment of well being. The stark realization (this isn’t the first time) that this is how it will always be. The sadness was overwhelming.

People we don’t even know suffer every day for the things we enjoy. And the loss we have experienced this past year will effect all of us, in different ways, for the rest of our lives.

Yes. It was grief. An unfortunate grief experienced now for over a year. Some people experiencing more than others.

So wear your mask, keep your hands clean, and carry on.

“Winter is Coming!”

Potawatomi Medicine Wheel

“Winter is coming” is the motto of House Stark in the Game of Thrones fantasy TV drama. The Lords of the North strive to always be prepared for winter.

Recently I stumbled upon the Potawatomi Medicine Wheel. Potawatomi’s are a Native American People of the Great Plains, Upper Mississippi River, and Western Great Lakes Region. Their Medicine Wheel is a visual tool intended to remind their people of the significant aspects of life.

I find this illustration elucidates the unending circle of life, death, and renewal. The sun rises in the east is the begining of a new day. Yellow in color. In this Medicine Wheel it signifies spring and precedes all things. Red signifies summertime when the sun is warm. It promotes life and abundance. Black is equal parts of red, yellow, and blue. A painter would say that black is a mixture of all colors. The Potawatomis have a smudging ceremony where they waft sage smoke to rid the body’s negativity. Black on the Medicine Wheel signifies Autumn/Fall when things end.

But, “Winter is coming!” It has a new, positive meaning for me. It is a cleansing. A purification. A preparation for Spring, which precedes all things.

Happy Spring!!

Existance; the quality of being

“Formal existance; that which makes anything to be what it is; or rather, the peculiar nature of a thing; the very substance; as the essence of christianity.” Unknown.

Our existance prepares us for what comes our way. This is profound enough. But our idenity and character carries forward through time and trails. Making us stonger, weaker, or just broken.

“We are all broken. That’s how the light gets in,” is ascribed to Hemmingway. And “There is a crack in everything God has made,” is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Two famous men. Writers who poured their existance onto the page. Like in Romans 12:2 states, “Illuminating what lies deep inside.” Finding inner peace amongst a struggle or after and expressing it for others to understand.

“I won’t give up. So don’t give in. You’ve fallen down but you can rise again.
So don’t give up. When the demon that’s inside you is ready to begin and it feels like it’s a battle that you will never win, when you’re aching for the fire and begging for your sin, when there’s nothing left inside, there’s still a reason to fight.” A reason to fight by Disturbed.

Embrace your existance and pour it out.

Flutter Around

Photo by Nav Photography on Pexels.com

“The seagulls disperse, squawking. Elizabeth pretends they are snow white doves. Doves have positive connotations. Like the biblical story where Noah sends a dove out. It comes back with an olive branch in its beak conveying new life. They represent peace, love, faith, purity and eternal life. Since dove’s mate for life, they signify a long and happy marriage. A more appropriate bird for the day, she thinks. Yet, flocks of birds, even those who may poop on your head, announce prosperity, progress and abundance will come.” Katherine Webster (an excerpt from my book in progress).

Everyone has a viewpoint! It depends on our moods. Our circumstances. Our day. Where are minds are in the moment. Even Characters in every book you read have viewpoints. It is what makes us and our characters interesting.

As a writer we must know our characters intimately. Otherwise our minds flutter around confused and aimless, unable to settle on their viewpoint.

We do this by building our characters backstory. How the past made who they are. Just as how our pasts made who we are. So we know their mind, their emotions, and how they will react. A little like building your own Frankenstein monster. Some pieces work, some don’t. And eventually your character takes on a mind of its own. As a writer you get to decide what needs to be harnessed and what gets set free. Letting your mind flutter around the possible scenarios. Landing on the right one that portrays their mood and create their circumstances. Enabling their story to advance. Showing their reactions to any situation you put forth. You bring them alive.

“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”