Dixie Dawn Miller Goode's Blog, page 11

4th of July Freedom from the Mind Bog

 On October 19, 2011 I wrote about why I was bogging down in writing my Oregon Trail Novel, before that, on August 3 I gave you the prologue to my Oregon Trail, work in progress, and on Sept. 12 I shared the first chapter. 





Now I am delighted to report that I suddenly came unbogged.


I restarted the Monday after school got out.  Three days after my youngest son graduated from high school.  Every day I set my alarm and got up like I was still teaching, and started writing again on this story that I think I first began in 1998 or 1999.


Today I finished the second draft of the novel.  I am so pleased with it, and I hope that you will com to love it also.






 Subject:  The past and present meet on the Oregon trail when two girls travel the same trail with the same lap desk 152 years apart.  Sometimes they open the desk and find the other girl's things including a diary.


Rationale or takeaway point:  the fact that while modern conveniences have made daily travels and chores easier, people haven’t changed enough to lose the sense of hope and fear and the dream of a better life at the cost of the old security.  The blindness of prejudice can be overcome with trust and familiarity. I have decided to share the 4th of July Chapter to celebrate.






CHAPTER 14 – Della


“Dear Journal,“The wagon train has stopped for a time to rest the animals and allow for the hunting of fresh meat. Fresh meat! My mouth waters simply from writing the words. While we are stopped, there is less of the endless dust to breath, but even so, when I blow my nose – it covers my pocket rag with clay. I guess I should be glad I am not using the embroidered hankies with Mother’s careful tatting on the borders.“The mention of dirty hankies and the bloody fingerprints on this page should let you know which task the women are employed at during the lull in this endless trail.“We made camp beside enough clean water to do laundry, and the cold water rinse, the boiling water wash, and the lye soap have removed skin from our hands as they removed dirt and grease from our clothing and bedding. If lugging the water and armloads of cloth doesn’t put a permanent stoop in my back, hunching over the rocks to pound the clothing will. At last the prairie around the camp is white with cloth spread out to dry and bleach in the sun and for a moment I had time to write. “Now I must find Orville and . . . well, he comes at a run even now – shouting that the men are returning. Here we can see Independence Rock and tomorrow we shall celebrate the birthday of this nation. We shall celebrate even more if they have managed to bring us fresh meat, and there were a lot of buffalo nearby so the hope is strong.Della”

Della tucked the desk into place in the wagon and hurried to join her brother. When she saw the men were indeed returning, and that eight groups of them were leading horses, dragging large buffalo quarters, she called to the women. They quickly assembled a group to help carve and share out the steaks and roasts and begin cooking a feast. Along with the buffalo they had sagehen and antelope. There were bottles of pickles to be opened and shared out and the water could be flavored to make a “lemonade” using sugar, citric acid and a few precious drops of essence of lemon.Today, they would also bake pies in their Dutch ovens with glowing coals both beneath and on the lids of those essential kettles. While the women worked at cooking, the men helped serve out the leftover bacon and cornbread from the morning meal to the hungry children, and in a burst of good spirits, they organized some races and contests of sharpshooting and axe throwing.Mother insisted on helping, but stopped often to straighten and press a fist to her lower back when she thought no one was looking. Finally, the meal was cooking and the other women encouraged her to go sit in the shade and watch the games.

Nobody slept in the next morning, even though they would not be traveling. The ones who wanted to were planning on going to the giant, turtle shaped hill and climbing up to the top or reading the names of the many who had been there before them. They had waited until today so that when they carved their names in the sandstone, or painted them on in axle grease, they could proudly add the date July 4, 1850.Being at Independence Rock on Independence Day made them all very much aware of their place in the history of the birth of a great nation. Della had prepared her students for the day by gathering scraps of red, white and blue cloth and helping them sew a flag, complete with 30 stars although when they left back East there was rumor that California would soon add the 31st star too the flag.The children walked together and sang the songs that they had been working on; songs like “The Star Spangled Banner” which they sang loudly and badly, and “Yankee Doodle” which had them laughing and joyful, songs of America to stir the pride and blood of all of them as their little parade crossed the grassy flat lands and the enormous rock loomed ever larger. Their song paused and then resumed even louder as they realized it was being joined by other groups as overlanders converged upon the landmark for the holiday.That evening they dressed in costumes and had a contest to see which children could recite the most from “The declaration of Independence.” They gave three cheers for America and danced until long after dark.

Books On My Shelves, Review

This time I just feel so incredibly blessed to have a fellow blogger, all the way over in India, read my book and feature it on her book review blog


http://booksonmyshelves.blogspot.in/2012/06/duffy-barkley-seek-well-book-2.html

I need to say that she did a very thorough and flattering review and that she participates in a very cool program where she collects books to donate to a school, so not only did she read and review my books but she is making sure that they get into the hands of students in India.
Please check out her blog, and if you feel so moved, leave her a comment or send her books for her school project.  Many Many thanks

Random June Moments

 I know that I need to write something on this blog simply to get the giveaway off the top spot since the giveaway has ended and my book is back to $2.99 on kindle.  Yet, what to write?
 June has been strangely unfocused and "eclectic" around my world.  We had storms and sun and School and the crazy life changing moments that happen when your last baby is about to graduate from High School and your world is tilting on its axis.

I did find a fun recipe that I had to try, an apple tart baked in the apple itself 
 and I got to dog sit for my oldest son when he went up to Seattle for a LMFAO concert.  My Greyhounds have not been replaced, so it was nice to have dogs in the house again, and nice to send them home later too.

 I live in  a gorgeous neighborhood, so both this redwood state park and the drive-in movie are within an easy walk of my house.  Strange to think that the barren drive-in movie lot was once a lush forest too.
 This falling down house is between the drive in and the state park campground
 The rhododendrons are looking lush right now
 We spent a long evening, cheering as the community gave around $400,000 dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors and my son and his girlfriend both got their share.  We are amazed and proud and grateful.



 Today was a Saturday farmers market and then a beach walk.

In just a week the graduation will be over and I will hopefully be able to focus on my writing more.  Hopefully.  For all of you who are already out of school, or at least on summer mode, enjoy!

Free on Kindle for a short time

Duffy Barkley, The protagonist of Duffy Barkley Is Not a Dog, has returned in the sequel, Duffy Barkley: Seek Well.  Now 11 years old, he cannot remember the events that happened the first time that he was in Uhrlin, or a time when his Cerebral palsy was cured, or when he flew.  But those memories are breaking through and Uhrlin remembers him and is calling him back.  He can't remember why he is fascinated by Guatemala, or anything about a giant, bald, orca colored mer-woman with the voice of an angel.  But he has to seek her.


For 5 days this book is free on kindle



http://www.amazon.com/Duffy-Barkley-Tales-Uhrlin-ebook/dp/B005CQ5Z8E/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3 
and the first book in my series is only 99 cents on kindle at


 http://www.amazon.com/Duffy-Barkley-Tales-Uhrlin-ebook/dp/B004478F5M/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Remember being with a group of friends where you felt safer and more included than you had ever felt at home, friends you had always wanted, who made you look around with a lump in your throat, wishing you could stop time? They were a lot like the groups in all the popular stories. They were the reason people love MASH, Harry Potter, Narnia, Friends, The Lord of the Rings etc. They were a group of imperfect, overwhelmed and harassed people who became winners because they didn't have to face the overwhelming odds, alone. Even in the face of dark wizards, popular girls, bad hair days or War, they had each other's back. When one of them had a weakness, another had a strength to balance it out. When one was a jerk, someone else saved the day, and forgave them eventually. Now times are turning more difficult again. The world needs that kind of support. We need a source of encouragement so that we can find a way to be that kind of support when we are needed. As times are dark, people look for a reason to laugh, love and hope again. Duffy Barkley is not a dog, a middle grade fantasy, gives you those friends, that escape, that voice of hope in the darkness. Duffy is alone, handicapped, desperate. He is picked-on, lost, & yet, never defeated. In the most alien of places he finds friends. In the most dire of emergencies he finds courage. In the most evil of villains he finds compassion and a solution. In giving away what he most needs, he gains everything. Duffy, a 9 year old boy with cerebral palsy, survives tragedy in the form of a school shooting in which his younger sister is seriously injured. Falling into a new world, he regains his health but finds himself the focus of historic prophecy. While trying to deny his place in their prophecies he discovers his own abilities & changes his life & that of others in both worlds. He enjoys being physically strong but must give it up to save the villain, and find his way back to save his sister, Izzy.  

May 20th, Annular eclipse as seen From Crescent City, CA May 20, 2012

 When we read that there would be a great view of the annular eclipse from our home, we were excited.  I had seen an eclipse twice before.  Once in Beijing in 1987, we used a pinhole viewer to project the image, and once here we used a welder's mask during a summer school class I was teaching.  This time there were advertised viewing glasses to be sold at Redwood State Park headquarters.  We went to buy them and they sold out, and we went back several times only to end up standing in a long line at 4:30 on the day of, waiting for a delivery of another 100.  We were allowed to buy one and headed to the beach, but soon realized it was foggier there and the view would be better from our yard.
The first time we noticed a bit of difference in the sun was at 5:15 PM
 We were surprised how thick the lenses were.  We could look through them at a naked electric bulb and not see even a glimmer of light.  But we remembered how quickly a sunbeam focused through a magnifying lens can create a fire and realized we have one of those lenses in our eyes.  I tend to love being able to see, so we used the lens even for the camera.

Taken without using the Viewing lens


This is just to show how light it remained outdoors even at the eclipse 

 It never really got anywhere close to dark, but the light did take on a strange quality, shadows were darker and the bright sides were brighter


 This looks like a U of Oregon Emblem


 The moon slid across the sun and the "ring of Fire" appeared.  We knew this was because the moon was at its furthest from earth and so cast a smaller shadow, unlike what would have happened just a short time ago with the super moon being at its closest point.

And now we get to use our viewer again to see the "Transit of Venus" across the face of the sun on the evening of June 5th.

Tall Ships Visiting Crescent City

As I may have mentioned, I grew up far from the sea, near Yellowstone Park, in the lakes and Rocky Mountains and High Desert of Wyoming. I loved that area, but even as a young child, the pull of the ocean and her beaches was always on me.  I would stroll the rocky beaches at Yellowstone Lake, following the waves and watching the gulls and dream that I was Gidget, with a surfboard to ride.

NowI have lived on the Redwood Coast for 23 years, and firmly believe that old adage that says, "If you are lucky enough to live by the sea, you are lucky enough."

Last year I wrote about the section in my second book, where a ghost ship is discovered adrift in Uhrlin,
at http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/2011/09/ghost-ship.html

That mystery in Duffy Barkley: Seek Well was inspired by a couple Tall Ships which I have been lucky enough to see almost annually since 1998.

The Hawaiian Chieftain and The Lady Washington are beautiful, and dock here and do tours and stage mock battles and welcome school groups.  And I love them.  You may recognize the Lady from playing the Interceptor on the Pirates of the Caribbean or from a holodeck scene in Star Trek.

This year it was especially joyful to welcome them back, as they had to skip our harbor last spring after the Japanese tsunami destroyed all of our docks in March 2011.

I know this is my writing blog, but enough words.  Let me show some pictures of the Ships

Watching the mock battle cruise




My son works in the building on the dock
Hawaiian Chieftain passes Battery Poing Lighthouse
Lady Washington




Crab boat in the foreground, Hawaiian Chieftain in the middle


The Chiefain
The Lady is Movie Star Lovely


The Chieftain's helm is a wheel
My pirate loving son in 1998
Me and son in 1998 see ships in Old Town Eureka, CA


The Lady's Helm is not a wheel, both my boys steering

Writing about Violence When Writing for Young People

 When I was writing my first book, Duffy Barkley is Not a Dog, I had a hard time writing for middle school and high school kids, but dealing with bullies and handicaps and a school shooting.  The darkness was something modern kids live with, but still painful, and even though I knew I was working toward an ending filled with hope and renewal, I struggled with the brutal beginning.  So I tried to rescue Duffy from the immediate agony by throwing in a kinder memory from his younger years.

So, after the school shooting, when his younger sister is taken by ambulance but Duffy is still waiting at the school, I wrote the following scene

Waitingfor the school to clear, Duffy had sat on the cement stepsand leaned against the scratchy warmth of the brick wall. Histeacher had glanced back reassuringly several times as he movedamong the students and the parents milling on the curb. Duffyrarely moved. He sat tensely, with his crutches grippedtightlyand positioned so he would be able to move quickly once theycould finally go. He was holding himself just as tightly and exceptfor those hiccups he didn't even tremble. Suddenly a largeraven flew down and landed on the blacktop wherethe kids played four square. It turned its glossy black eye to starestraight at Duffy for a moment then it twisted its head to checkthe sky before hop, hop hopping to snatch up a piece of a bageldropped earlier when the day had still been routine. The ravenand the smaller crows seemed to know which days had popcornsales and often only appeared just before lunch on Friday.Could it still be so early in the day? Duffy turned his head towatch as another raven dropped in and hopped about, trying to getcloser to the prize. Ravens, here wassomething Duffy could think about without cryingor screaming. Here was an ordinary, safe topic which had nothingto do with Izzy. Duffy wondered where the black birds wentwhen it wasn't a Friday. Did they come every Friday, even duringthe summer? Suddenly anotherday with ravens and Skull filled Duffy's memory;They had been the second grade "big buddies" for a classof kindergartners. Their class had the job of hiding colored eggson the playground for a hunt. As Duffy pulled his walker, witha dozen bright eggs nestled in the basket always velcroed to thecrossbar, Skull rose up from behind a bush and barked wildly. Hehad tripped Duffy. Unbelievably, only one egg had broken. Duffyleft it on the ground and walked resolutely away to scatter theremaining eggs. The muscles in his back ached from being clenchedas he waited for another attack. A teacher called Skull overand made him sit alone on the bench. Duffy watched him outof the corner of his eye. "Odd," he thought, "He looksas lonelyas I am." Then Skull glanced up and met Duffy's gaze. For amoment Skull looked vulnerable, then his face hardened and he poundedthe palm of one hand with his own fist. Duffy swallowed hard,and quickly glanced away. When the eggs werescattered among the bushes and swings, Duffy'sclass had lined up to go in and bring out their little buddies.The teacher suddenly pointed to a raven which had beenwaitingfor them to leave. It hopped calmly over and gulped down thebits of broken egg. The class began to go in, figuring the show wasover. Duffy and Skull were among the last in line and both gaspedinto startled laughter when the raven next hopped over and pickedup an unbroken egg. It then hopped up with wings flappingto about two feet above the blacktop before letting the eggdrop. The clever bird then began greedily gulping this second treat.Their shared laughter felt uncomfortable and Duffy and Skullglanced at each other, then turned quickly away. Both hurriedafter the class and never mentioned the sly bird again. Duffy blinked andthe two birds on the empty playground at lunchtimegrew tired of waiting for the crumb dropping children whoweren't coming. They flew up to a wire, then jumped up and flewaway. Duffy wished he could flyaway with them. He shiveredand turned his head back toward the nervous adultson the curb.

I still think at times that the creatures out there are smarter than the people they share this world with, but Duffy reminded me that there is always hope.

Rain, Money, Worries and Being Mom

 Today is Tuesday, April 3rd. I like today because our school is on spring break, but my husband teaches across the border, 22 miles away but in another state, so his spring break ended the day ours began. What this means is that I woke him up early last week, and his alarm gets my eyes open even though technically I can sleep.
We have had something like 6 to 16 inches of rain this week, varying depending on the part of the county, but still, flooding, roads collapsed or buried under landslides, redwoods falling into power lines because the earth around their roots more closely resembles pudding. "How Snails hide from the downpour" I have taken every dry moment to haul firewood, and that means I haven't hauled much, but got three wheelbarrow loads yesterday. Since that is my only means of heating the house, it has to be done and it is good exercise too.  A few years back I realized I needed it more than my boys and husband and asked them to let me do the wood hauling as I was afraid that if they "took care of me" I would not be able to do it by the time the boys moved out. the day the Rhododendrons began to open, the rain attacked them
I wish that my mind did not slow down when the grey skies dominate, but I can feel that it does.  Depression is a fight to avoid and the momentum falters.  I walk around in a warm house with food and family in abundance, and yet the fear of lacking something we need.  The financial news and the bills I have coming in, combine to terrify me and make me wish I could re-do all my choices.
Go tell Aunt Rhodie a young flicker searching for slugs and worms after the rainIf only I had stayed working full time instead of writing my two books (Non-money makers but oh so fun) and instead of being a parent volunteer, maybe I'd be in a place where there is black ink instead of bills?  I HATE MONEY!  But I have rarely been so freaked out by it.  I wake up at night worrying, feeling my heart racing and my face going numb from adrenalin.  Two kids ready to start their college or adult life, and Me wanting to give them an easy time, but all I can give them is a hug and a prayer. If it is possible to force yourself to live happier, to expect plenty, and to manifest that plenty into your life by expecting windfalls, that is how I have lived my life.  I knew I would always have enough, not worrying from day to day, and sure enough, exactly what I needed would appear.  Why is it harder to have that trust for my sons?
But let me recommend the book which has helped me when times are darkest.  Pam Young wrote one about getting out of Debt and living joyfully.  It is called, The Get Out Of Debt Book (GOOD Book) and I listen to it again and again when I feel my hope fading, & I end up looking at what I have instead of living in my fears.



 http://www.innerkiddies.com/shop/?wps...



The rain creates waterfalls all through the canyon
Yes, snow.  The first I have seen in 12 months, fell on April Fool's Day

Springtime and Free books

 I am in a great mood today, Springtime is making itself felt all around me, in the blooms and the new green growth, in the warmer temperatures and the violent spring storms we have here in the Redwood Coastal area.

 I wanted to share a bit of what excites me about my book this week, after I announce that there were four winners of our St. Patrick's Day giveaway, who each will be getting a paperback copy of Duffy Barkley is Not a Dog.  Ann LeFevre, Lubna, Tricia Reynolds and Catherine Warthan.  For everyone else who entered (56!!) Thank you, and this week you can get the kindle version for free from Monday 3-19 through Friday 3-23

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004478F5M/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1452836779&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FD39B76233SBS486JH1

 My Book is also being featured this week on Goodreads Book Review program at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/838228-brp-2-duffy-barkley-is-not-a-dog-by-dixie-dawn-miller-goode connecting author to readers 






 I love the way this overblown tulip arrangement speaks to me of, "this getting old is not for whimps" but that there is much that is beautiful once the prime of life is past, anyway.

St. Patrick's Day Luck

 Hey, just a reminder that if you are interested in something to read, there is a free book giveaway, with books from six authors included with the drawing on St. Patricks Day. You can sign up for anytime before that, and one of the choices is mine.http://writersparty.com/contests/

So Breathe. Remember it is a beautiful world, and Books help us live more than one life in it.
The Luck Of The Irish to you!