When in Santa Fe, New Mexico last month I was browsing local art stores one morning with a friend. I really had nothing in mind. As my gaze swept from rugs to jewelry to pottery, I thought about what I could bring home that was unique to me. I wanted something memorable. Something with a…
Gathering knowledge is like gathering cattle. The cowgirl pays attention, not only to the herd, but the other riders, their equipment, and their horses. We have a need to allow newly learned information to soak into our minds as does our colts. Many hands, I learned, makes for a light load. Riding drag produces grit….
Women Writing the West Conferences are inspiring and uplifting. Every year I come back charged and rearing to go. I love to visit with old friends, make new ones, and deepen all relationships with the women and men of our WWW community. This year, the conference was in Santa Fe. I flew into Albuquerque Wednesday…
It was six weeks when I heard back from a publisher about my latest work-in-progress. Waiting to hear back from a publisher tests not only one’s patience but self-esteem, too. While waiting and soaking in my lesson in patience, biting my fingernails, I was hunkered down under my fair tent as rain tumbled down during…
Book signing used to terrify me. After six years of shaking hands, having my picture taken with young readers, reciting my hook until my voice came out hoarse, speaking at libraries, schools and conferences, and week-long events, I have finally concluded three things: A book signing without a speaking gig is like ropin’ a…
This summer has slipped by. But not quick enough for my husband and I to venture into the mountains, climbing to the top of Grizzly Mountain lookout tower. We began the day picking huckleberries with one of our sons and his family. Then we forked away and up the mountain. Here is a photo journal…
I recently wrote a fiction book about the World Famous Suicide Horse Race in Omak, WA––the second full weekend of August. This event is part of the Omak Stampede, but its own entity. I’ve attended the stampede off and on since I was a little girl. But this year I watched the race from a…
I was elated when Kelly Wurth asked me to review her book, combing for Native American authenticity. I’d met her during my first Women Writing the West conference three years ago in Kansas City, Missouri and knew she and I would become fast friends and fellow writing supporters. She is a class act and sweet…
I used to hate editing. Now I love it! Due to Jerry Jenkins and his ferocious editing techniques (I am currently a founding member in the Jerry Jenkins Writer’s Guild), Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, Revision and Self-Editing or Publication by James Scott Bell, and Doctor Dennis Hensley I have…
I hosted the 2nd Annual Cowgirls for Hope Retreat at my house the end of June. For years I talked about hosting an event like this. Then several years ago I met Melody Biehl in Spokane raising money for her non-profit Because There is Hope. A friendship sparked right away as we both strive to…
June is my favorite month. Cool air, sunshine, rain, heat, wind, thunder and lightning, flowers, all mixed into one glorious streak of days. It can be busy with graduations and for our family, birthdays and anniversaries. But this year, with goals, jobs and chores that include riding down a colt, polishing a manuscript, creating three…
Have you ever thought your book, essay or short story was complete, just the way it should be? I have. Until an expert laid her eyes on it. My current young adult novel places my female character, a young Okanogan Native American jockey, on the ledge of the World Famous Suicide Race hill in Omak,…
A mixture of relief, anxiety and sadness flooded me as I sat in my superintendence’s office last week. With tears running down my cheeks, I simply said, “I’m done. Because of health issues and my need to be with my husband (He works in a town two hours away and stays there during the week.)…
Mary E. Trimble’s newest book, Sailing with Impunity, is another first-rate account of her travels. In her book, Tubob: Two Years in West Africa with the Peace Corps, Mary shares her experiences with Bruce, her newly married husband, in a third-world country. Mary’s second non-fiction book, Sailing with Impunity takes its readers on a 13,000-mile…
After seven months of pain and illness and gallbladder surgery, I’m back, somewhat. I’m not back in the saddle, but I am back to the computer with limited time. I gain strength every day and am rearing to go (pun intended). I had surgery on a Wed, my granddaughter turned 4 that Thursday and my birthday…
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