A Reminder On One Way To Survive Despair

 I was sorting through files looking for one thing and found another. This quote from Barbara Kingsolver is a favorite and worth sharing. I strive to follow this advice and look for joy and be hopeful. It's easiest in a garden. Hardest at the keyboard.

Excerpt from High Tide in Tucson

“Every one of us is called upon, probably many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job or a limb or a loved one, a graduation, bringing a new baby home: it’s impossible to think at first how this all will be possible. Eventually, what moves it all forward is the subterranean ebb and flow of being alive among the living.

In my own worst seasons, I’ve come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again.

It’s not such a wide gulf to cross, then, from survival to poetry. We hold fast to the passions of endurance that buckle and creak beneath us, dovetailed, tight as a good wooden boat to carry us onward. And onward full tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another—that is surely the basic instinct. Baser even than hate, the thing with teeth, which can be stilled with a tone of voice or stunned by beauty. If the whole world of the living has to turn on the single point of remaining alive, that pointed endurance is the poetry of hope. The thing with feathers.”

Barbara Kingsolver from High Tide in Tucson, Essays from Now or Never

Review of “A Handful of Nothing” by Ken Gullette.

 

The author, Ken Gullette, gave me a copy of this book exactly one year ago. I’ve enjoyed reading it, all be it slowly, because this is a book that shouldn’t be rushed. It is an asset to be savored for its calming scenes and passages that require a bit of reflection.

What comes to my mind first are a few thoughts in chapter 80, page 183:

“The master continued, ‘Just like this stone, you are being shaped by the stream of life. … Seeking perfection is an endless pursuit. But striving to be a better person each day—that is a journey worth taking.

He placed the stone in the monk’s hand. ‘When you see a stone, let it remind you that perfection is not the goal. The true path lies in embracing your imperfections and transforming them through continuous growth. It is in the daily effort to be better, to spread kindness and truth, and to see the world as it is without judgment or supernatural delusions—that is where true wisdom is found.’”

For me, that was an instant reminder of a gemstone I purchased ages ago from a gem and mineral show. The original piece of transparent gemstone material would have been heavily marked with alternating colors, banding in blues and yellows, and with a shift in orientation. Not the kind of quality usually valued by the traditional jewelry trade. However, what was done by the crafts person, the lapidary, transformed that piece of flawed material and made it into a remarkable gem. The stone was cut to reveal a chevron-like pattern when held up to the light. Getting that pattern required the crafts person to use all their skill as the final stone was quite thin and would be difficult to mount into a piece of jewelry.

That gemstone is a constant reminder for me to look beyond the ordinary, the casual correctness of accepted standards, and to seek beauty in all its forms in the natural world and in human culture. Whether it is a leaf, a flower, a butterfly, or a man-made object, beauty is all around us if we pause long enough to notice.

That is from only one chapter among eighty-eight. It is for each reader find their own gems within this meditative book as they pursue their journey.

Seasoned Citizens Write-in Event

 

Seasoned Citizens

Write-in

For NaNoWriMo 2024

All genres & All ages

Welcome

CASI/Volunteer Room

Mondays, 1 PM-3 PM

Nov:   4^th   11^th    18^th    25^th

 

This year’s National Novel Writing Month has officially begun. I’ve registered, entered my first word counts, and have embarked on a mission not just to help my writing but to help others who may need a change of pace or place.

It all happened quite recently and by happenstance. The volunteer room at CASI became available and I pitched my idea for its use for the next month. That worked out. Getting things set up with NaNoWriMo folks was a bit trickier but it all seems to be in place as well. Now all I need is to get the word out.

The name: Seasoned Citizens is a favorite saying I’ve heard tossed around the Scribe Tribe meetings I’ve attended. I take it to mean a “Senior” citizen whose life experiences have left them with an interesting mix of trials and triumphs. All things that are worthy of putting down on paper by pen or pencil or typed out for a computer journal.

Write-in is a group action whereby a variety of writers come together for the express purpose of increasing their word count. The personal project, whether it’s a novel or short story or whatever, does not matter. The goal is sitting down and writing: something, somewhere, somehow, with a minimum of distractions.

CASI, Center for Active Senior, Inc, offers a perfect venue for all things that encourage people to exercise, play games, work on crafts, learn something new, or just mingle. The volunteer room is easy to find, just down the hall from the front desk. Look for the above sign for a Month of Mondays writing action.

Checking out CASI and Seasoned Citizen’s is free.   

Recent Marketing Information from a Mystery Convention

 

This information came from the back cover of Glass Houses, a Thriller/Sci-Fi book by Madeline Ashby I picked up at Bouchercon 2024 Nashville. I thought it was interesting and possibly useful for potential promotional purposes.

 

“MARKETING CAMPAIGN

-Author events

-National print and online publicity campaign

-Bookstagram and Book Tok influencer campaign

-Dedicated social media campaign, including sweepstakes, social media posts, and exclusive content reveals

-Early-reader review campaign, including NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Goodreads

-ARC mailings to booksellers, librarians, media, and industry bigmouths

-Special promotions tied to major conventions and festivals [Bouchercon!]

-Library marketing campaign

-Newsletter promotion

-Indie Next campaign

-Book club outreach and promotions

-Reading group guide”

 

“FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Tor Publicity, tpgpublicity@tor.com

Agent: Sally Harding, CookeMcDermid Literary Management”

 

And YES, I wrote reviews for this book for Goodreads and Amazon.

Enjoy Mysteries?

 

Second Avenue Players present:

My Monster vs Your Monster

By Mary R. Davidsaver

Friday, Oct. 4^th at 11:00 AM

CASI, 1035 W. Kimberly Rd, Davenport, IA

 

A little background for this play:

When I started working on my first novel, I knew nothing of writing on a large scale, that being more than 600 words. Nowhere near what was needed for a novel. I only knew it had to be a mystery.

Both things, delivering 70,000 coherent words and crafting an understandable mystery, presented learning experiences for me.

When I moved to the Quad-Cities in 2011, I signed up for Fall novel writing workshop with the Midwest Writing Center. It was a great experience, well worth the time and expense.

Afterwards, I was encouraged to join a writers’ group and tried out several local groups. (I’ve been with Writers’ Studio the longest.)

Fast forward to late February 2012 and MWC’s annual Iron Pen Contest, which is a 24-hr. writing challenge based on a prompt.

I went with the Fiction category and threw in everything I’d learned up to that point about the workings of the mystery genre, writers’ critique groups, plus a big dose of humor, and I won a first-place medal. It became the basis for a one-act play for the readers theatre group that makes its home at CASI.

 

Introducing our cast members for Friday's performance:

Mark Davidsaver as Marvin (Marv), a horror writer and Zombiephile.

Myrna State as Lois, a retired teacher hoping to write a memoir.

Larry D’Autremont as Harold, the beleaguered group leader.

Cindy Irwin as Beth, the newest member of the group.

Bev Dean as Sally, Beth’s friend and fellow writer.

Katie Britcher as a poet looking to expand her writing.

Jane Cranston as Georgette, a romance writer looking for a little love in everything.

The play begins as everyone has returned from a break …

Do come and enjoy!

Did I mention it’s FREE?!

Monarch Summary 2024

 

The butterfly season here in suburban Davenport, IA had a rocky start. I only found a handful of eggs and had limited success with raising adults. I released two adults in mid-July.

A long dry spell of seeing no Monarchs at all followed. No fertile females from May through most of July. Then in late July there was one female who gifted my small island of milkweed, garden and potted milkweed plants, with 31 eggs. I marked the precious leaves by clipping the tips. The next day I gathered 29 eggs. The missing eggs disappeared overnight. Of those 29 surviving eggs, I got 27 hatchlings.

Last year I found using floral tubes was the best way to handle large numbers of small caterpillars all at once. Worked for me this year as well.

Along with a shortage of Monarch eggs, I had to deal with a shortage of milkweed leaves. It was difficult, but I managed with a few donated plants and discovered that frozen milkweed leaves can be used when there are many hungry mouths to feed late-stage caterpillars. I was able to release 18 adults Aug 24-25.

Because of travel plans I asked a friend and fellow Monarch foster mom to tend to the last 9 chrysalises. They all made it. I then found 3 small late caterpillars and my friend took those in to feed and care for as well. They were all released by Sept 20th. So, this year's total for me was 32 adults. That number pales compared to the 85 adults I released in 2023.

Bouchercon 2024 Recap

 

Bouchercon 2024 was held in Nashville, TN at Gaylord Opryland Resort. Yes, one must resort to calling that place a resort. It was so much bigger than a hotel. When I said I wanted to go outside to see the water and light show my husband had to remind me that there was “no” outside, per se. The whole place is enclosed in more glass than the British Museum. It was a huge hot house for thousands of exotic plant specimens. Water flowed throughout: from a meandering river with waterfalls coursing down walls of rock, to shooting up out of a pool and made to dance to music, the sound of moving water was everywhere.

With maps in hand, we eventually got acquainted with our section of the immense place and found the meeting rooms for our panel discussions and the ballrooms for the larger events. We writers and readers had the place pretty much to ourselves from Wednesday till the young dancers, and their families, showed up, en masse, on Saturday. I can tell you that tap shoes make a lot of noise on indoor cement walkways.

That is all background atmosphere to the serious business of “Murder and Mayhem in Music City,” the official title for this conference. There was a chosen theme song for each panel. Dan’s was “How Deep is Your Love.” Mine was “Taking Care of Business.” Prizes were given away to those who could answer questions about each song. Prizes meaning books. Books and more books were given away at every opportunity. It was heaven for avid readers and retired librarians.

I explained in blog posts on https://marydavidsaver.blogspot.com/ what my three main promotional objectives were: being on a panel; make an attractive donation for the silent auction; and advertise for The Discovery Zone, a new event on Friday night.

The panel went well. I don’t think I embarrassed myself. My prize packet, Jodie Toohey’s book of marketing basics and a pad of invoices, went to a very appreciative young woman.

My collection of Bishop Hill related foodie items found a good home with a woman from central Illinois who had been to Bishop Hill. She wanted the cookbook and the Lingonberries. The Gevalia coffee would be a no brainer. I hated to part with Lori Morressey’s handmade basket, but it was the perfect size for the presentation. Same with the “Just here for the Pie” T-shirt. I will have to look for another on my next visit, which will be Ag Days at the end of September.

That leaves the Discovery Zone adventure of being walking billboards for three days. At least two people had the courage to admit that they were influenced by our spectacular customized T-shirts. Everyone else, and there was a good size crowd, probably didn’t realize they had been influenced by our promotion. They were too busy enjoying the free food. We got eleven dollars in cash donations, which was a minor miracle in a cashless environment. I think the indoor river held most of the available spare change as people made their personal wishes. I had promised to match donations up to the first one hundred dollars. I kept that promise and rounded the total up for the Nashville Public Library Foundation.

Like most shy people I’ve needed time to decompress, relax, and recharge after getting back from a busy six days. I’ve been sitting outside, the real outside, surveying my backyard and appreciating being home.

All in all, it’s like the Swedish saying:

Borta är bra. Hemmet är bäst.

Away is good. Home is best.