Marilyn Dieckmann's Blog: Keep moving forward..., page 3

Late blooming baby boomer…

DEFEATED. A feeling that has haunted me for weeks.

Just saying the word out loud is depressing… so let’s take that word and give it a swift kick in the butt!

The fresh scent of spring has finally reached us after 7 months of winter. The fragrance of lilacs, even if they are a month late this year, is amazing.

I’m a baby boomer… but I would like to officially change that to bloomer!

I’ve been a dreamer and creative soul most of my life… and I’ve truly bloomed in the last few years. Seriously, who else can boast they’ve created 81 fairy treehouses?

That would be me.

Not only that, but I wrote a children’s fantasy novel. It’s not a popular genre… my book sales are proof of that… or maybe it’s simply not that good.  But I wrote from the heart. I don’t need the public to tell me I have creative talent. I KNOW I DO!

EVERWUD is written from two points of view, and seriously… 10-yr-old kids are not all that eloquent. Joey is a pretty normal boy even if he is half wood elf and has a talking dog. Therefore, chapters from the ethereal world of EVERWUD  are written in third person… which gave me a chance to show off a bit without the limits of a 10-yr-old view on life and vocabulary. YES, I know there are brilliant 10-yr-olds out there… but it’s 1951 and Joey is truly average. UNTIL he discovers his power.

Enter book two… EVERWUD 2 ~ CASTLES, CLOWNS & POTIONS.

About 7 weeks ago I hit a wall of DEFEAT. I hit it hard. I guess it was going back to work after I finally retired. I worked for 47 years! I deserve retirement and the trauma of manual labor after years of computer work has my body screaming!

Winter utility/heating bills killed us.  It’s June & we still have the heat on at night. Mother nature truly hates us for some reason.  Just the thought of going to work an 11.5 hour shift makes me cringe… defeat. It steals my sense of self and leaves me feeling… defeated.

I stand up with my crippled knees and shout, NO MORE!

I WILL BLOOM & FLOWER & I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

I AM WRITING…

I AM a CREATIVE SOUL…

I’m a BABY BLOOMER!

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with LOVE…

 

Dancing in a tattered red robe…

I’m wearing my tattered red robe as I write this. It’s well-worn and comfy… and it’s SO me.

There are countless days I would love to stay in my old robe… not get dressed and simply lounge around. But, life won’t allow me that bit of luxury… I am a caregiver. This is a role I take seriously. Don is my love, and I will never leave him alone.

At our holiday BBQ a few days ago, a dear friend looked at me and said, “You’ve got your hands full! You look exhausted.” My reply to her, “Yes, I know. I’m drowning in it.”

There are days when I feel like wrapping up in my robe, and hiding in my own personal protective cocoon. Days when I look in the mirror and see lines of fatigue etched around my eyes, and a mouth that droops when it should smile. Where did ‘I’ go? The Marilyn who has twinkling hazel eyes and a warm smile? When was she replaced with the tired old woman in the mirror?

Well, she isn’t gone. She’s still in there, and her heart still beats to its own quirky rhythm. Dance lady, DANCE!

I go outside with the dogs in my tattered red robe and fuzzy pink slippers, and I really don’t care what the neighbors think. I’m ME! Deal with it! Dance lady, DANCE!

I make fairy houses! Do you know how many people look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them about my houses? Well, they shut their stupid mouths when they see one of my spectacular creations! Dance lady, DANCE!

I wrote a book about a kid who is half wood elf!  EVERWUD!

My favorite lines in the book… “I could tell Miss April-Mae my real name is Jacobson, but then I’d have to tell her the whole story. You know, the one where my mom is a wood elf, my dad was the son of the Jacobson’s, and I know all this because my talking dog heard it from a tree. I better keep that to myself.” 

What a cool kid!  Dance lady, DANCE!

Don and I are opening a gift shop/teahouse in our greenhouse. We’re doing this with no money to spare… simply a boatload of creative talent and motivation. TREE QUEEN TEAHOUSE & GIFTS will open when we get it done. Dance lady, DANCE!

It doesn’t matter what I see when I look in the mirror, because those tired eyes and droops are proof that I’ve LIVED! And I’m LOVED!

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

Comfort…

I can’t seem to get comfortable anymore!

I spin my wheels in so many directions that I feel torn asunder -  broken – ripped apart by external forces that I have absolutely no control over. How stupid is that? Why am I so worried about all the crap beyond my control?

The only solution I came up with was a job. Get out of the house, work and make some money. That would solve at least two of my issues. Well, it has created even more. I now ache all over from manual labor I haven’t done in YEARS (computer geek), and my husband needs me. He can’t be left alone.

What a mess!

But what is comfort? What the heck is this elusive feeling that I long for – lust after – and can’t find?

Darned if I know.

However, I have a husband who is still with me after 2 stokes, 3 absolutely beautiful sons who LOVE me as much as I LOVE them, a cozy fairy cottage home and I’m alive and fairy well. Not only that but I’m darn creative too.

I build fairy tree houses out of stumps and chunks of wood! I write magical stories and one of them is now a novel. A series about a kid who defies the odds and discovers all the possibilities life has to offer.  I can sing and dream. I have no limits!

So what the heck is the problem?

There isn’t one… if I simply take a deep breath and look around.

I have my comfort.

So, this is me, taking a deep breath.

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

Daydreams… not just for kids!

I wrote a book. Yep, I did… it poured from the imagination of a world-class day dreamer!

My EVERWUD, is a children’s book about a 10-year-old boy who discovers all the possibilities life has to offer…  in one week.

Let me set the scene.

It’s 1951, you’re an orphan with bright red hair and neon green eyes. Not only that, but you’re unusually small, picked on by just about everyone, and better off alone. You wear clothes that don’t fit right, and other than the junk you find at the dump, you don’t have much.

Imagine waking up one day to discover you’re half wood-elf, you have a whole lot of magic, and you’re going to inherit even more! WOW! That’s a heavy trip to lay on an orphan… or on any child for that matter. Then you find out your mom and dad didn’t desert you, and had darn good reasons for leaving you behind.

Well, Joey is quite a kid. He’s got a boatload of spunk, and rather than feel sorry for himself, he makes the most of what he has. He roams the streets of Sycamore (his hometown), not lost and dejected, but with dreams. Colossal dreams of all the good stuff he can have… because he believes.

EVERWUD is told from two points of view. Joey’s, which is first person and in kid-speak; and the ethereal world of EVERWUD is written in third person to encompass the vast realm beyond the forest portal. I thought about third person for the entire story… but Joey wouldn’t let me. He had to have his say! Like this…

     Wait a minute. If what Sherlock says is true and it’s the charms; that means the charms have magic, and if the charms have magic, that means…

“Holy mackerel! It can’t be true.” I gag, burp puke, roll over and yank the pillow up over my head.

“My mom is a witch?” The pillow muffles the dreaded words. “Jeepers. What does tha t make me?”

Life through the eyes of a 10-year-old orphan. He may not be eloquent, but he is real! And with the help of new friends… Joey’s dreams come true.

The adventure begins in book one… EVERWUD ~ THE TREE, THE BOY & THE DOG, and continues in EVERWUD 2 ~ CASTLES, CLOWNS & POTIONS!

In book two, Joey and his buddies unleash some kick-ass magic on bullies, and set the stage for a day of reckoning in EVERWUD. But, wait a minute… I’m not going to give it all away.

Take a chance… EVERWUD is a kids book, but grownups are allowed to read it too! Daydreams are not just for kids!

http://www.amazon.com/EVERWUD-The-TREE-BOY-ebook/dp/B00B7NBOE0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ reviews!

“I wish this book had been written long ago, because it’s EXACTLY the story I would have loved reading as a child.”

“This book not only has a good, wholesome story, it was made more interesting by alternating the points of view between the young Joseph and his relatives in Everwud. I look forward to the next book in the series!”

“I wish this book had been written long ago, because it’s EXACTLY the story I would have loved reading as a child. Even as a “grown up” I was enchanted from the very first page…”

“I love it when a book captures me on the first page and that’s exactly what Everwud did. I know…I’m not a youngster…but Ms. Dieckmann’s magical words and story line got me just the same.”

“Marilyn Dieckmann’s magical world is full of wonder, her characters are adorable, her dialogues are funny.”

“This contemporary fairy tale is exquisitely told through the eyes of a ten-year-old orphan boy who has no idea he is part fae until events suddenly start to unfold in his life that lead him on a fascinating journey of discovery. The author alternates chapters between the boy’s point of view and that of his mother in the ethereal fairy world, and her command of each setting and the differences in dialogue & worldview are masterfully handled.”

“I was mesmerized by EVERWUD – The Tree, The Boy and The Dog by Marilyn Dieckmann!”

“I purchased this book to read to my grandson during his visits. I was delighted to find that not only did it keep him entranced but I also fell under its spell… On his next visit I asked him what he wanted to play, his answer: E V E R W U D !!”

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

Who the heck is the treequeen?

My bio blip says it all… right?

MARILYN DIECKMANN   @treequeen

A dreamer-in full color, wife, mom, grandma & creator of fine fairy treehouses. Reading is my delight & writing an expression of my dreams. Author of EVERWUD.

Okay, but I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW…

1.) I LOVE sweet potatoes!  *hehe*  I’ve been known to bake them, and have a SP feast with butter drizzled on top. YUM!!!  Sorry Jan.

2.) Another odd bit of info about me… I come from a long line of gypsies, and my great-grandmother Anna was a bit of a gad-a-bout. She gave birth to 4 children out-of-wedlock. Not a big deal today, but 100 years ago it was HUGE! I’ve been told I have ‘the look’ whatever that is.

This is a photo of her (she is the tall woman on the right) with 2 of her children (Anna & Andrew). My grandmother was Mary… and I have her nose. She was a beautiful loving woman, and I’m proud of my old Slovak heritage.

3.) I absolutely LOVE Christmas! Better yet… Don LOVES Christmas as much as I do, and we make it a year-around celebration. Our home is festive with colorful garlands and angels everywhere!

The highlight of our festivities centers around my Christmas baking tradition which began in 1973. Colorful plates of cookies were given instead of gifts. In 1983 I decided to save the lists, and they are now cherished memories of years past. I take them out every year just for the fun of it. I’ve written countless posts about my sons Kelyn, Tim and Jesse. They are the beat of my heart & I was truly meant to be a mom.  It was the birth of Jesse that started the cookie tradition. We keep the season well.

4.) I LOVE ships, maps and globes! I have 26 ship models, maps of all shapes and sizes, and 7 globes. We add to the collection every chance we get, and I would love to run away to sea. Something about the ocean calls to me…

5.) When I was 19, I was a folk singer. Yes, I even sang in a coffee-house called the Broken Drum. (Bob Dylan even stopped by!) However, my greatest audience was on the nursing home circuit. I was a nurses aide, and the residents were desperately sad and lonely… no one cared, and  my heart cried for them. So, on my days off I would pack up my guitar and serenade anyone who wanted to listen. Word spread quickly and I had more ‘gigs’ than I could handle.

6.) Another dream of mine was to be a ‘torch singer!’ You know, the woman in the slinky dress who sits on a piano and belts out those absolutely wonderful old songs of love? Well, bet you didn’t know it but…  I DO have the voice and still sing every chance I get. I do a marvelous rendition of ‘The Man I Love’ and of course… ‘Ten Cents A Dance’.  Those were songs with feeling! (Ella Fitzgerald version)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ9vSyl8s6s

7.) I don’t have an athletic bone in my body. I have a TON of creative bones… but NO athlete here! Enough said.

          8.) I hate milk. Not just a little… I abhor it… makes me gag. I barfed all over my kindergarten teacher when she made me drink it… haha! That episode is what started 12+ long years of an overwhelming hatred for school. However, I loved the university. Go figure. I excelled and graduated cum laude.

          9.) I hate school, therefore I became a school teacher. Holy cow!!! What was I thinking? The truth is, I wanted to be the teacher I never had… the teacher who actually cared whether the students ‘got it’ or not. The teacher who TAUGHT!

          10.) I dream all day long. I can build an entire structure in my mind without touching pencil to paper, fingers to keyboard or anything else. There are no limits to my thoughts. Hooray!
There you have it… and I saved the best for last.
My epitaph will read, she LOVED her family well.
Have a wonderful day!
From Marilyn with love…

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, NO it’s…

My sons…  Jesse, Tim & Kelyn!

Each one of them knows how to play, to dream and imagine that anything is possible!

I remember my own childhood through the eyes of a painfully shy skinny little girl who could never do anything right. Seriously. In kindergarten, the teacher made me stay in from recess to finish my milk, which I eventually drank, and barfed all over her! I don’t drink milk. Never have… it makes me hurl.

Mrs. Wheeler learned a valuable lesson that day… score one for the shy kid!

I am, without a doubt a proud mom. My sons are diverse and totally awesome! But, like the image says… it takes practice… and practice is exactly what they did!

Countless forts were built in the living room, every piece of furniture has/had nicks in it from wars fought, and the vacuum wand is still scorched from its brief stint as a flame-thrower. NEVER a dull moment.

A fortune was spent on Legos, action figures and toy weapons of every size, shape and form. But, the costumes… they were entirely from the imagination and ingenuity of my sons. My heart would burst with pride every time I saw a new get-up! I LOVE my sons!

Jesse, Tim and Kelyn have been my life since the moment they were born. Their first breath became mine, and each beat of their hearts is mine as well.

Without being told, I know things… I sense changes. Love, joy, sadness, anger, angst, pain, good news and even disappointments before they happen.

Life hasn’t always been kind or easy… but LOVE is the constant through it all. My sons know that my LOVE is unconditional, always has been, and always will be.

Joey in EVERWUD is a combination of my three sons, with a bit of me thrown in for good measure. He’s inventive, inquisitive, compassionate, empathic, creative and above all a dreamer and believer.  I’ve drawn on the childhood antics of my guys to create a lovable character and I believe he is.

Joey, like my sons,  believes anyone can be cool… but awesome takes practice. Lots and lots of practice.

So, join the adventure!

Discover EVERWUD!

http://www.amazon.com/EVERWUD-The-TREE-BOY-ebook/dp/B00B7NBOE0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

You’ll be glad you did.

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

A blueberry crumble kind of day…

With the recent dump of snow on us… yes, dear friends, the winter blues are back!

There is close to 3 feet of snow on the ground and quite frankly I am truly tired of the white stuff. Yes, it is beautiful. But after 4 months of the frozen crystals everywhere, I’m ready to say enough! I need SPRING! I need WARM SUNSHINE! Melt the mountain of snow and give me green grass and daffodils!

With the whole winter blues thing comes the inevitable drop in self-esteem and confidence. Bills go up (heating costs) and income doesn’t. What a dilemma to have at a time when a trip to the tropics would be ideal!

The visions I had of my retirement included tropical beaches, sunny markets in colorful ports, and the time to follow my dreams. I had colossal colorful dreams of writing when I wanted to, and wonderful carefree days spent in my fairy treehouse workshop.

Enter LIFE.

I won’t go into the whole fire episode again… it was devastating, and that is enough of that. Other stuff has hit us hard too.  Death in the family,  unexpected losses of income, higher bills and no work to be found. I had work lined up to carry us through the winter and it fell through.

Then I thought maybe the rice business will help. Nothing. I thought the playhouse would sell because  it is beyond enchanting… but no. It is now buried in snow.

Finally I thought my book would help, at least enough to buy groceries… but no.

Enter self-doubt!

I have been down… dragging my chin on the ground. Wondering if I have any talent at all!

But, I have dear friends who wrote marvelous and uplifting reviews of EVERWUD, and I don’t think I would have made it through some of the dreary days without their loyal support and friendship.

Take a bow my friends… you ROCK!  O.G. & M.G… I love you!

Then I go out to the greenhouse and workshop… still frozen, buried in snow drifts and touch my wonderful magical houses. I look at shelves with beautiful fairies and dragons waiting for homes, and it makes my heart glad.

I have talent. I create magical and truly enchanting fairy tree houses! No one else makes houses like I do. No one.

I am the treequeen. When the snow melts… I will be back in the shop again.

For now, I will let my dreams take me to the realm of EVERWUD because it is truly a wonderful place to be… and a story that deserves telling. My characters are screaming at me!

Today I will write.

Today I will make a blueberry crumble and enjoy each delectable bite! After all, blueberries are healthy… right? hehe

Let the cold winds blow, and the snow fall, because today is a blueberry crumble kind of day…

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

May your sagging spirit SOAR!

WINTER BLUES.

A plague that strikes countless souls every winter up here in the north woods of Minnesota! Those months after Christmas when the bright lights and merriment are gone, and each day is a cold and dreary replay of the day before. Emphasis on cold.

Well, I think we need a hefty dose of purple to break up the blues!

A day full of miracles and JOY!

A day that shouts, “I will SING & let my sagging spirit SOAR!”

I certainly need a day like that. We are buried in snow 2+ feet deep! My fairy cottage playhouse is buried, my greenhouse is buried… all the joy areas of my world are buried in snow. However, this photo of a purple bench & blossoms brings me joy & hope that brighter days are ahead.

I am a caregiver. Don isn’t confined from his strokes, but he can’t be alone either. I have not had a day to myself in 18 months. He is my LOVE, my best friend and soul-mate, but I need a bit of ‘me’ time now and then. Is that selfish?

Books and writing are my escape. I dream of adventures I can’t physically have, and SOAR! Because nothing will hold back my imagination! NOTHING!

The weather has also taken away my tree-house shop, but I can still dream of fairy houses and build them piece by piece without touching a single stick. They are forever etched in my dreams…

I also have friends. Some of them I’ve never met… but I feel their presence in my life as if they were right here!

When I feel alone & life’s humorless drama slaps me in the face… I know where my friends are.

There are countless days when my friends on twitter & Facebook are the only people I talk to… other than Don. Days when my spirit is sagging and I want to cry.

FRIENDS… thank you! You are a breath of life to a weary heart, a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day, and you make my sagging spirit soar just by being YOU.

THANK YOU!

I pray BLESSINGS for all my FRIENDS today… and may your sagging spirits SOAR!

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

A tattered red robe and purple dreams…

As I look out the porch window in my tattered red robe, a hot cup of coffee in my hand… I shiver.  Snow, that has totally buried our garden, glistens in the early morning sun. Snow that is 2+ feet deep and will probably still be here in July! Just kidding… sort of.

I’m sure  the snow will melt long before then… but on a day like today…  it feels like SPRING is a very long way off. I dream of bright purple flowers, and the sweet fragrance of lilacs that fills the air and chases away the gloom of winter.

Don and I will be selling our house (fingers crossed & prayers said) as soon as possible, to get out from under our suffocating debt. Debt which is the result of life’s fickle sense of drama… totally without humor.

When I think of parting with the magnificent garden we created out of the mess we found when we bought this house… I could cry. Blood, sweat, backaches and LOVE went into our garden. I say blood because Don cut his knee the first week we were digging, the yard is blessed with his blood… and he even had stitches.

What a mess… right? This is the back of the house and the poles sticking up are from a chain link fence that had 5 gates. How dumb!

We sat out in the middle of the yard on a rickety old bench the former owners left us, with a sketchbook and drew up a plan. Then we got to work.

After that first summer of back breaking work… this is what we accomplished.

Can you imagine how utterly satisfying it was to sit in our new garden? It was breathtaking… magical… peaceful.

The next summer we added a pond, a new fence…

and a new vegetable garden.

What could we possibly add after all this?

After much deliberation and a few strained discussions… we decided!

We needed…

Our very own greenhouse! Now, it may not look like much, but Don and I built this after he had his second stroke. This was a work of LOVE for us after such a devastating experience. But we did it! What a JOY it was to sit in the warm sun, in the frigid cold of a miserable Minnesota winter!

Then on May 11th… the fire. But not today. No, I will not allow thoughts of those hideous moments when our world went up in smoke.

Because… the snow is melting today… it’s warm and I may venture out to our new greenhouse. Not the one we built, and not even as nice… but it will do.

I am dreaming of bright purple flowers! I smell the heady fragrance of roses, and the heliotrope in the flower boxes. Purple heliotrope.

Don is snoring in his chair… he is still with me. No stroke or fire could take him from me.

He is my LOVE, my soul-mate…  and whatever comes our way, we will be together.

Wherever we live we will have a garden.

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…

EVERWUD ~ I did it… can you feel the magic?

EVERWUD.

WHY on earth did it take me so long to finish writing the book and finally publish?

The truth is… I’m exhausted.

Not to be confused with tired. I can muddle through a day after a sleepless night and get my work done even though I feel tired all day. However, I am totally exhausted after countless sleepless nights, stress and feeling crushed by life.

Other than health and financial concerns that plague us, the sleeplessness is the result of another trauma that hit us on May 11th. We had a home fire that cost us a garage full of tools etc, part of our house, a greenhouse full of plants & furniture, a fairy tree house workshop, three tree houses and six months of our lives.

The reconstruction destroyed our summer & fall, and pushed into winter. It tried to wreak havoc on Christmas but having my three sons home was a Christmas wish come true, and nothing was going to spoil that.

EVERWUD ~ The TREE, The BOY & The DOG,  is the fourth re-write of a book I started 2 years ago. Throw in all the drama (stroke, fire, financial devastation) and it can truly be considered a work of love or I never would have finished it.

The characters call to me! I know their story as well as I know my own and I MUST finish telling the world who they are! Names have changed, even the point of view has changed… but, the story is the same. The characters are the same and so is fulfillment of the dream. Yes, I dream about them.

I close my eyes and I see the wud. I hear the bird-songs, smell the jasmine… and I’m there. I inhale the spicy scent of cinnamon as Tabor adds more than a pinch with sugar to his tea. I hear the laughter of children at the orphanage as they chase each other around the old red-brick mansion, and feel breathless with excitement as I climb the steps to the tree house tower. It is the world I have created… and I live this story.

Above all I feel the magic. It whispers in the wind, sings in the early morning mist, and speaks with every trickle of water into the ring pool.

“Tabor and his clan are Acer, people of the broad-leaf maple; Elves of the wood destined to usher in a new sense of fealty to the forest and illustrious keepers of the ring pool. The soothing trickle of water draws his attention as it winds its way down the tree rings to the pool. Ripples speak to him, and only him. They are heralds of the earth and forecast what will be.

Magnificent rooms carved in ancient layers of the tree rings surround him, and each room has a story to tell. Tales of magic, history, and even tragedy are inscribed on the hallowed walls: a living chronicle of his family heritage. Gone are the days when the rooms were filled with joy and the laughter of children. Eilorei is all that is left of his family, and he will protect her whatever the cost.



He absently rubs his foot over the well-worn floor, and looks down the spiral stairs. The polished surface is due entirely to generations of magi who have climbed the stairs searching for just the right ingredient. From the first shelf at the bottom to the skylight in the uppermost branches, he knows every morsel and breathes in the scent of this—his magic. Yet, all he has to show for the passing of years is a faded purple robe and a long white braid.”

EVERWUD is my magical world, and I invite you to share it with me.

Can you feel the magic?

http://www.amazon.com/EVERWUD-The-TREE-BOY-ebook/dp/B00B7NBOE0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Have a wonderful day!

From Marilyn with love…