The Valley

              There’s a beautiful valley in the Black Hills where we hunt that has been dubbed ‘The Windmill with the Purple Flowers’. Not the most creative name. The valley is exactly as described. It has an old rickety windmill that is a working water pump and purple flowers (usually!) This is possibly my favorite place in the entire world.

              To get to this valley, you need to be willing to drive a decent distance. It is not a quick or easy drive. It has many twists and turns on roads that you question have earned the name. Sharp curves and rocks dare you to go on, telling you it’s not worth it, to turn back. This is not a place to bring your shiny new truck. Tree branches reach out to gouge your vehicle, while rocks stick up from below to remove critical parts of the undercarriage. To me, all of these obstacles make the valley all the more appealing!

              This special valley is truly a hidden gem. Even when the wind howls and the pines bend, you can always find turkeys tucked away in one of the many fingers that branches off. They love hiding in the sheltered meadows or meandering along the dry runoff beds. We have two methods to find them, glassing from above or driving slowly then stopping and calling. The valley never fails to produce birds even in the toughest years.

              Another thing that makes this valley special is the elk. The Black Hills has a growing elk population, something that would have been a rare sight twenty years ago. Now I am disappointed if I go out and don’t see any. Ranchers have a love hate relationship with the elk. Elk tear down fences as they are too lazy to jump them. A herd can destroy fifty plus yards of fence in one crossing, causing hours of frustration and labor for the ranchers. The flip side to this is that the money made off of elk hunts is a good income which acts as a salve for irritated landowners.

              I almost always see elk when we come to the valley. One of my all-time favorite memories was an evening hunt there. I sat on a hillside overlooking the windmill and water tanks, hoping to catch birds crossing the green meadow as they headed to roost for the night. While I didn’t see any turkeys, I did see elk. It started out as a pair coming down across the valley from me to the water. Then three more behind them. After a while, I saw another five come from the hillside to my left. Next four bulls came out from the far finger. After that, I quit counting! Elk literally came from every possible direction down to the valley to get a drink of water in the twilight hours. They would slip down, drink, graze for a few minutes and then disappear back into the trees. In the end, I think I saw around twenty to twenty-five elk, cows, and bulls alike. It was magical.

              Few places are this unique to me, but this valley in particular holds so many great memories. Between the elk and incredible hunts we have had, it will always be important to me.

Soundtracks

As I sit here listening to the original score of Top Gun from my boombox (yes, I’m a nerd) I let the opening song wash over me. The guitar riffs make my nerves buzz with excitement making me wish I could soup up the bass even more on my boombox to get the true movie feel out it. There’s nothing else out there like the 80s guitar sound and I love to blast it from the car or from my boombox.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m very musically minded. I can literally listen to a soundtrack and the entire movie will play in my head. Now, I have to have watched the movie quite a bit, BUT it doesn't take long for a catchy movie to stick with me especially if it has great music. A favorite for me is How to Train Your Dragon. It’s great on long trips, I just turn on the soundtrack and let the movie play out in my head. As I sit here typing, listening to Top Gun, I can tell you which part of the movie the songs go with. Soundtracks are always playing in my brain!

I could make a long list of movies that I have recorded in my head…The Lion King, Balto, The Hobbit movies, and many more. I am most partial to soundtracks from the 90s and on down. I really wasn’t sure why that was until I recently learned that a majority of current movies do not have songs written specifically for them. A lot of the music comes from other places and is then tailored to fit the movie. Somehow, I had unconsciously picked up on that because a lot of movies didn’t have soundtracks that were as personal. Weird right?

Soundtracks are extremely important to me for my writing. Some composers are definitely more my vibe than others. I’m enough of a nerd that I can watch a movie and recognize who wrote the soundtrack after just one or two time watching (no I don’t peek at the box!). James Horner is by far my favorite composer! I can almost always identify his music. Many of my stories are written to one of his soundtracks.

Another composer that I easily recognize is Basil Poledouris. He wrote the music for the Hunt for Red October, my favorite movie. He has a certain sound that he likes to use in his music, it’s like a signature or DNA. Most composers have a certain sound that you can recognize them by if you listen to them enough. John Williams does, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer they all do.

Writers are the same way. You can feel their identity through what they write. We have a style that makes us unique. You can try to mimic others, but in the end the more you write the more you find your own voice. I love that everyone is unique! To me its honestly very comforting because I know what to expect. There might be different twists and turns, but the story still carries the signature of the author. I want to encourage anyone who is starting to write to not worry about finding their own voice. The more you practice it will come out on its own. Let your love of the craft be the most important part! Always strive to improve, but don’t let perfection be the goal because we should always keep learning.

List of Awesome Movie Soudtracks to Make Your Writing Better:

• Top Gun (original score) and Top Gun: Maverick

• How to Train Your Dragon

• The Lord of the Rings

• The Hobbit Movies

• National Treasure

• The Rocketeer

• Ford v Ferrari

• Balto

• Jaws

• Indiana Jones the Raiders of the Lost Ark

• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

• 13 Hours

• Avatar

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• The Hunt for Red October

• The Magnificent Seven

• The 33

• Enemy at the Gates

• The Legend of Zorro

• Spirit Stallion of the Cimmaron

• White Fang

• Guardians of the Galaxy

• Stand By Me

• The Sandlot

Smells

Smells….are Important!

            Smells are important. We don’t think about smell because its such a basic part of our life. We take it for granted. Yet, smell is intricately linked to our lives. Smell is what helps us make memories. Crazy right? Try to remember your best and worst memories, you will find that smell is a critical part of them!

            Using smell in your writing is extremely important. Just writing the word cinnamon elicits visions of cinnamon rolls and French toast in my head. I smell apple cider and apple pie wafting from the kitchen. My stomach rumbles making my mouth water and ALL I DID WAS WRITE THE WORD.

            What other words jump out at me? Bread. Sage. Grass. I make my own pizza crusts and homemade bread from time to time. This requires yeast. Rising yeast has a fabulous scent that warms the whole house. You walk into it and feel home. It’s such a comforting smell! It makes me want to curl up with a book and a blanket and not leave the house for a week.

            Sage is a scent that evokes a sense of wildness for me. Sage sends my heart racing, I breathe deeper, a shiver runs down my back. I can hear the soft yelps of turkeys roosting in the trees. Rough prairie grass crumples underneath my boots. I can see the sagebrush bushes stretching across the prairie and under the pines. The bushes scraped against my clothes leaving behind their pungent aroma. Sage sends me straight to the Black Hills.

            Fresh cut grass makes me want summer to never end. I love to mow the lawn. It’s relaxing, plus you are being productive. How often do you get to be relaxed and get stuff done? Grass reminds me of country songs on the radio. It reminds me of the swimming pool. It reminds me of walks down the road in the evening. Fresh cut grass smell also makes me want to run outside in my socks…. I know… you get stains all over the socks, but have you tried it? Soft grass plus socks is incredible!

            These are some of the things that come to my mind with smell. I am just as guilty as anyone for forgetting to use it in my writing. It adds such a level of quality when I do remember it though! What are some smells that are important to you? What jogs your memories? Is it bread? Or maybe something not so nice like wet dog? Use this! Let your imagination take you on a wild ride with whatever smell is important to you.  

Books, Books, and more Books

Books

            My husband says I have a problem. He thinks I may even be a hoarder. I have a problem with books. I love books, like REALLY love books. They make me happy nestled in my hand or sitting within reach. I have a book in almost every room in the house. I need them close to me. They are my friends, my adventures, my comfort. Most of the books in my house I have read many times. A few are still waiting for me to open them, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

            Books seem to follow me home. I am an expert at finding free books. I enjoy walking through the big name bookstores, but my money stays in my pockets unless I find a great sale. Secondhand stores are a different story! There are all sorts of treasures to be found there! Let’s not forget library sales and giveaways too. Books seem to pile up in my car, waiting to be brought in the house.

            I am a firm believer in rescuing old books and copies of classics. So what if I have three copies of Tom Sawyer or Misty of Chincoteague? Someday these books may be hard to find. My heart jumps when I see original copies of Trixie Belden or Spin and Marty. Old books will never be turned down. I recently picked up a paperback copy of A Journey to the Center of the Earth from 1965. The pages were brittle and yellowed with age. I took special care to not tear the pages as I reread this wonderful classic.

            My favorite book to read when I’m sick is the Lord of the Rings. It’s my old standby, my dear friend that takes me on a well trod adventure. Isn’t it hard to read, you ask. Not when you know the story almost by heart. The descriptions of Tom Bombadil and the stinking fens of the Dead Marshes don’t deter me. Friendship, struggle, and good vs. evil make this one of my favorite books. The courage of hobbits gives me courage.

            When I bring home a stack of books checked out from the library, I rarely read only one book at a time. I’m afraid that the quality of writing has declined over the last few years. I can devour a book in one day if it keeps my interest, but often I start one book at breakfast and by dinner have read from two others. I think I have book ADD.

            Some books I read for the thrill, the Cryptid Hunters series makes me laugh while keeping me full of suspense. Hero’s Song keeps my heart racing with its twists and turns. Other books fill me with bravery like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My Side of the Mountain and Snow Dog are stories about battling the odds, swelling me with their staunchness. Some are more somber, like the Redwall book Martin the Warrior or Where the Red Fern Grows.

            Whether happy, sad, thrilling, or more sedate, books are a part of me.

Horses and Dragons

            What’s the difference between horses and dragons? I volunteer there is very little. Though a horse does not have wings to fly across the sky, to gallop over the earth is just as powerful. The rolling thunder of hoofbeats matches the mighty wing beats of a dragon powering through the air.

            To touch a horse is like touching the wind itself in solid form. Feathery whiskers and a moleskin soft nose breathe warm puffs of air against your cheek. Silky hide covers coiled muscle that bunch and loosen with each stride. Sunlight dapples the haunches, giving the false impression that beauty is more important than the strength hidden under the shine. When your fingers cling to the heavy mane, feeling the roughness, an impulse wells up inside you to run this creature to the ends of the earth and feel the ground slide away beneath you.

            I imagine a dragon to have a similar effect on you. A dragon is much bigger than a horse, but just as majestic. Eyes bright with intelligence, full of deep wells of magical knowledge. Scales that shimmer vibrantly in the sun, magnifying the tiniest movement. Though a bit cumbersome on the ground, an airborne dragon’s wings are fantastic sails filled by the wind. Sinewy muscles stretched across its back power the wings slicing through the air at incredible heights and speeds.

            I think I would be just as exultant riding a dragon as I am on a horse. To race the clouds at the very highest heights! Yet running across a field full throttle with a thick mane whipping in my face is a shot of adrenaline one cannot easily set aside. The wind would sting your face in both cases, you are partly clinging on for dear life, and each would have an incredible rhythm whether from wings or hooves.

            There is also the feeling of power that would come with either creature. To watch a horse rear and paw, snorting wildly, you can easily envision fire coming from his nostrils. He trumpets a whinny over the grass, calling out a challenge to any who dare to cross his path. A dragon has real fire to breathe. A fiery blast, engulfing anyone foolish enough to anger it.

            So, is there much difference between a horse and a dragon? I think not. Though dragons live only in our imagination, they are no less real to us who imagine them! I believe the closest thing to experiencing a live dragon is a horse. Horses give us a chance to feel the incredible power of wing beats, even if we never leave the ground. The speed of a running horse is the closest you will ever get to flying.

            If you love dragons, then go to your closest stable with a pocketful of treats. Visit the wingless dragons that live there, with the speed and power to give you a sense of flight. Let their soft noses and tickly whiskers whisper their secrets of earthbound flying to you as you enjoy their company.

Writing, Music, and Emotions

Writing for me is a mood. I can sit down anytime and write, but I write my best when I am in the mood of my characters. Music soundtracks constantly fill my background throughout my day, giving me fodder for my characters and their plot lines. How to Train Your Dragon is one of my favorites. A significant portion of my stories were written to that soundtrack.

            I am one fourth Swedish, one fourth Norwegian, and one half mutt, which I think is why I enjoy Scottish/Viking music. The little bit of Viking madness running through me shows up in my audacity to decide to write books without any prior knowledge or training. It also makes me confident that I CAN write something worth reading. I don’t need anyone to tell me whether or not my story is good. I think my story characters often feed off of this emotion. Perhaps in the beginning they don’t believe in themselves, but by the end they are sure of their identity.

            Music is what keeps me and my characters sane. As long as I have a good playlist to keep me going, I can write for hours at a time. If I go too long without listening to a good soundtrack, my story suffers. My poor characters become dry, and my world building is flat. Yet when the music runs they quickly fly off the page, taking on a life of their own.

            The volume that I listen to music is also important. For me, 2022 was the summer of Top Gun. I absolutely BLASTED the original soundtrack nearly everywhere I went. I spent a great deal of time thinking about my latest story character. She’s a flawed heroine running from the ghosts of her past, like Pete Mitchell. Redemption is going to be her theme, just like Maverick must realize in Top Gun.

            Not everything is sunshine and fast jets though, in my second book some of the main characters have lost loved ones dear to them. When I wrote that storyline, I had gone through the recent loss of several of my own family members. I could write sympathetically to my leads as I was suffering through my own grief. Using those emotions was an opportunity to grow as a writer, to let my characters be an extension of my processing. Again, music was a huge part of my writing. Go Rest High on That Mountain by Vince Gill played over and over as I wrote. Tough to wrestle with, but a positive experience in the end.

            For me, writing is not just one single thing. It’s not just my imagination. It’s music, places I’ve been, movies I’ve watched, books I’ve read and the people around me. Throw all of these together in the crazy place called my brain, and stories start to appear.

Nature and Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding

            People often ask me how I come up with the places and ideas for my stories. Frankly, I find it extremely easy to come up with ideas. The outdoors is where I draw most heavily from. Hunting, horses, and fishing are deeply woven into me. For me, the year goes by as seasons of what I can do outside. Spring is turkey hunting in the Black Hills of South Dakota, summer is horseback riding and fishing, fall is the start of a marathon of deer hunting that runs from October first through the end of December. Then winter hits and I take a break.

            When I create a world in my head, I draw from places that I know. The Black Hills of South Dakota is the place that I take most heavily from. Recently, I was thinking about why that is…why a state I don’t even live in and only visit a couple of times of the year? I do have family out there, but I have family other places too.

            I still don’t have a great answer, but one thing I realized is that I KNOW the Hills. At least the places that I hunt. There’s a phrase that goes your knower knows what it knows, and I have to say that is one hundred percent true for how I feel about the Black Hills. I KNOW the mountains, the grass, the birds, the air, the soil. I can feel them in my bones. They don’t surprise me. I understand them, which sounds silly, but it’s true!

            When I imagine the mountains in my fantasy world, I don’t see the Rockies, I see the Black Hills. We have unofficial names for many of the places that we hunt; God’s View, Little Round Top, the Altar, the Pond With the Dead Tree, Transmission (Trany) Alley, Windmill With the Purple Flowers being some of the most entertaining. I see the grassy prairie flat of the Altar running into it’s deep canyon when I envision the Wilds of Arda. The top of God’s View is how I envision the view from the Tiered Mountain of the dwarves.

            Place after place speaks to me. Trany Alley is a rocky nightmare to drive your truck through. In my stories, I see it as a challenging maze of rocks that my characters must scale to reach their destination. In my stories, Lonrach Lake, next to Amaroth, comes from Angostura Reservoir at the bottom of the Hills.

            Then there are the sounds and smells. I hear the birds happily trilling away, bluebirds sitting on a fence post or the noisy meadowlark singing his proud song. The shriek of a red-tailed hawk above me makes me dream of dragons bellowing in the sky. The smell of sagebrush after a rain is so strong in my mind, I can taste it just thinking about it.

            All of this goes into how I feel about the world of my stories. I know I am far from a perfect author! But I hope that I can give my readers a taste of the places that I love through my stories.

The Good Soldier

What makes a good soldier? Is it how well they are trained? Is it bravery? Is it the ability to carry out orders no matter what? Is it actions or what is on the inside of a solider that really counts? We idolize and set up soldiers as heroes in our society. Rambo and Captain America are some of our favorite fictional characters to shower our affections on. We love these two because they embody everything that we as people are not. We make movies and write books about some of the bravest soldiers that our country has produced in real life, putting them forth as someone to be emulated.

I have read and watched my fair share of these. One of my personal favorites is the movie and book 13 Hours that tells the story of the Benghazi debacle in the operators own words. Their story is incredible. You simply cannot watch the movie or read the book without being profoundly moved. They were real heroes, but in their own eyes they were simply doing their job, trying to stay alive and trying to protect those around them. They would tell you that they are not necessarily proud of all the things they have done. Their job was to kill or be killed, to protect at all costs, and to never surrender. They completed their job and saved many lives, but does that make them good?

There is also a dark side to the soldier. What about the soldier that is in the military because there was no other place for him or her? The troublemakers that cannot exist with the rest of society because they are too brutal for it? The killers who love to kill, the angry who love to give back the pain they received, the haters who love to hate, they also exist in the ranks of the soldier. They too are well trained and carry out their orders, they might even receive a medal for their efforts, but does that make them good?

I ponder this from the perspective of Christianity. As Christians we are all soldiers of the cross. We fight a battle between good and evil, light and dark. Long have I struggled with watching others who profess to be Christians commit horrific atrocities against believers and unbelievers alike. I cannot fathom what would ever make someone who loves Christ do and say such terrible things, yet I know within myself I struggle with the same sin issues.

I freely admit that I have a much easier time forgiving an unbeliever of slights and hurts against me than I do my fellow Christian. My conscience bellows, “They should know better!” which is true, they should know better. However, they are still dealing with their own sin nature as part of the renewing of their minds. None of us will be made perfect until we are in Heaven with our Father. To stand between us in the meantime is grace. Grace is the one thing that frustrates me to no end, yet at the same time I am grateful beyond measure for it because without grace I would be sentenced to eternal death.

Then there is God’s love. Something else that I do not understand! How can the Supreme Creator love something like me? Or anyone else for that matter! I am not a good soldier. I march forth into battle, but for all the wrong reasons, pride, anger, envy, revenge, religion, fear of others, my community standing, and simply my own stubbornness. How could God possibly use someone like me? And even more important why would He make even the slightest effort to reach out to me?

He does it because He loves me. I cannot fathom that, but it is nonetheless true! God sent His only Son to die and take my punishment for all my evil and foolishness. And then to top it off Jesus rose from the dead to give me hope and a chance at true life! Again, why? Because of love, love that never ends and does not fail.

To show us His never ending love, He sent to us part of Himself, the Holy Spirit which indwells in us. Jesus’ death and resurrection gave us complete access to the Father no matter what. The Holy Spirit then fills us with the love of the Father so that we can love others, even the most unlovable. It sounds so simple! We can just let the Holy Spirit do all the work right? Wrong! We are at war within ourselves. God gave us free will and our own will wants nothing to do with His Spirit.

Head knowledge must become heart knowledge. Mind, spirit, and soul must all surrender to the Holy Spirit. As Christian soldiers this happens through the process of sanctification, renewing of the mind the Bible calls it. As we allow the Spirit to work on us, we begin to understand God’s love more and more. We learn to understand the true meaning of, “hate the sin, but love the sinner,” as it applies to both saved and lost. When we let love, God’s love, change us then we finally become the good soldier.

Thrive

We were made to thrive. We were created to be curious, to explore, to conquer, to puzzle, to sing, to love, and to live. Our current situation has caused many people to no longer thrive the way they should. Fear of a virus looms over us and lurks in the corners. Fear sucks away the joy of life until we sit meekly at its feet ready to obey its every whim.

This should not be! As a Christians we should instead turn to the many verses in the Bible that say, ‘do not fear’. A favorite of mine come from 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, BUT a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. That’s so encouraging… and sobering. If fear does not come from God where does it come from? It comes from Satan. He wants to destroy you.

You stay home, you social distance, you follow all the rules, you’re physically healthy…yet you’re still afraid. Is this really living? No! We were made to thrive and grow. It hurts my heart to see so many people just trying to ‘get by’ until we are cleared to go back to our normal lives.

We are given a limited number of days on this earth. We don’t know if our life ends today or in fifty years. Life is a precious gift, use it! At this point I think that most of us have gone through a bit of a grieving process for the freedoms and lives that we have lost. That’s healthy, we need to process, but we also shouldn’t stay stuck there.

Now is the time to stop settling, to enjoy the moment, and to look ahead. Let’s use a kingdom mindset instead of an earthly one. Ask God for the joy and peace that you are lacking. He loves to answer our prayers! Pray for the church body as a whole. Pray for a revival of hearts and renewed commitment to Him. Look for opportunities to share His love even when you’re at home by blessing a spouse or other family member. It may be a simple as a phone call.

Bake a cake, grill out, read a book, start exploring your local forest or park, don’t settle! Don’t make the best of the situation, make it the BEST situation.

Early Mornings

There is something peaceful about waking up before everyone else and rising with the sun. At one of the camps I worked at, it was the responsibility of the summer wranglers to bring the horses in every morning from the far pasture. Since the other two girls who were wranglers were not as in love with waking up early as I was, I got the job.

            Every morning I got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and headed for the barn to get there around six am. I usually threw on a sweatshirt too, in order to keep off the morning chill and dew from the trees. I’d walk down the gravel road to the barn with my hands in my pockets praising God for another beautiful day.

            I’d get to the barn, punch in the access code, and head straight for the little kitchenette. I had a stash of muffins and grape juice hidden away just for me. I’d slug back some juice, grab a muffin and walk back through the barn to open up the heavy garage door. With the muffin stuffed in my mouth I would wrestle the door up with a heave.

Then I would swing a leg over the four wheeler we left parked inside every night. Starting it was tricky. This was always the hardest part of my morning. The four wheeler was old and persnickety. It had a mind of its own and had to be babied to get it running. Setting the muffin on the seat in front of me, it would take several tries before the cranky old thing ran.

            Finally, it would start and off I went, muffin clutched in one hand and the other on the handle bars. The horses were rarely in a close pasture. Which meant I had to zig zag up a very steep hill through the woods and cross a number of open pastures to get to them. It was heaven on earth.

            My goal was always to get my muffin eaten before I reached the bottom of the big hill. I needed both hands on the handle bars of the four wheeler so the muffin had to go! The sun was usually peeping over the horizon by this time, filtering through the trees as I drove carefully up the hill. It was always a balancing act between having enough speed to get up the hill and driving slow enough to avoid hitting a tree. There wasn’t exactly an officially path for me to drive on. But some places were better than others so I tried to stick to where I could weave between trees.

            I tended to get wet from low hanging branches and the trees dripping, but when I eventually made it to the top of the hill the sunrise was always worth it. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “The heavens declare the glory of God…” Wow is that true! On top of the hill, staring out over the valley below with the sky waking up above me never failed to put me in awe of God’s glory.

The vault of the sky would have the most brilliant colors stretched across it. Vibrant pink’s and red’s fading into gold and then to the clearest blue as the sun rose over the horizon. There’s a moment of every morning when the sun is out, that the whole world seems to glow with a golden light. If you’re not careful you will blink and miss it. The moment when all of creation holds its breath in wonder of God’s splendor. A tiny taste of what heaven is like.

            I always tried to catch this moment, even on the busiest days. To breath deeply the summer air and let the new day wash over me. To let God’s awesomeness be the center and start of my day. Then I would continue on to my task of bringing in the horses. The horses seemed to feel the same way about mornings. Most of the time I would find them sleeping peacefully and grazing quietly. They loved the cool morning air.

Once I got them moving they often kicked up their heels and took off at a dead run for the barn. Watching them buck and caper across the grass never failed to make me smile. God’s critters love to live the life He’s given them.

I sometimes think about those early mornings with the horses. I want to strive to have that joy in my life all the time. Even in trials and sorrow God has joy available for us. We simply have to decide if we will allow Him to fill us with that joy. Sometimes in our lows we feel like joy is far away and impossible to attain. Yet this isn’t true. God has never left you.

We can’t always live on the mountain tops, but God fills us with joy to sustain us through the ordinary and the pain. Live life with joy!

Fac Recte Nihil Timere: Do Right Fear Nothing.