writing progress

What I’m Working On – January 16, 2023

Jake in front of one section of the “Roots of Knowledge” mural.

We just returned from a trip to Hailey, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah to visit friends and celebrate Christmas with our kids. The weather felt like spring and I found myself wishing I could bring it back with me. When we got home, I discovered our weather, while slightly colder, is warm enough to bring rain. Maybe this is a lesson on being careful what you wish for because rain in January in Northern Minnesota will very quickly turn to ice. Despite this, I’m enjoying the warmer temps.

I didn’t get much writing done while in Salt Lake City. We spent our days exploring the city. One of my favorite things we came across was the “Seven Pillars of Humanity” at Holdman Studios. It’s a gorgeous story of humanity across cultures and generations depicted in stained glass. Each pillar is over seven feet tall and about three feet wide. I spent over an hour marveling at the detail in each section. The way the variety of colors of glass were used to capture the depth of the scene and the painted details of the faces were fantastic. The piece is like a painting out of glass. You can take a virtual tour of it online at https://www.rootsofhumanity.org/7-pillars. However, if you ever have a chance to see it in person, I strongly recommend you do so. Stained glass is an art medium that looks better to the naked eye than in a photo.

Our love of the “Seven Pillars of Humanity” led us to the “Roots of Knowledge” stained glass mural at the Fullerton Library at UVU in Orem. This is a permanent display that is just as incredible. You can take a virtual tour at: https://www.uvu.edu/rootsofknowledge/tour/. The mural is a timeline of historical events leading up to the future. I enjoyed the storytelling of the mural and the amount of detail in every panel. When you look at each panel, you can see how items in the past shaped the future. Along the way, there are non-glass objects like rocks and computer parts put into scenes. The mural starts with a tree that has roots that stretch through the bottom panel of every scene until it reaches the ending tree, which has a hand passing a torch to the future generation. The future tree has branches that run along the top glass panels all the way back to the beginning tree. Again, if you ever find yourself in Salt Lake City, take an hour or so to visit the mural in Orem. You won’t regret it.

This week, I have two short stories I’d like to finish and a novel I plan to start. I also have a drawing booklet that I’d like to start for a beginner drawing community education class I’m teaching in February. If you live near the Silver Bay, MN area and want to learn to draw, you’re more than welcome to join in.

I hope everyone has a good week.

What I’m Working On – January 2, 2023

Happy New Year!

The end of our driveway after the snowplow went by.

I hope every had a safe and fun holiday season. Through the month of December we received nearly three feet of snow and -25 below windchills. There were a few days where even my snow-loving husband had gotten tired of shoveling every day. The snow piles are above my head. The day our blizzard hit, I spent a large portion of it shoveling and missing the fluffy snow in Hailey, ID. The snow here in Silver Bay, MN was heavy because the temperatures got up to 37 degrees.

As for my writing, I finished the romance novel (right before Christmas) that I had been working on. I sent it to my copy editor at the end of November. I expect it back by the end of January. I also finished a few short stories in December that I submitted to some anthologies.

The New Year brings hope and excitement. I have some big goals for the New Year, which means I have a lot of writing to do. I plan to post weekly updates on what I’m doing, photos of our area, and anything else that comes up. One thing I’ve noticed about writing stories is that the more I write, the more ideas I have, so I’m not worried about getting stuck wondering what to write next. I love it.

I’ve also been writing a blog series for my art blog to help me figure out the most important things for beginners to know for drawing, acrylic painting, and nature journaling. I’m scheduled to teach three community education classes that start in February and go through April. Art is almost as much of a passion for me as my writing and as I’m creating the class materials, I’m seeing that I know a lot more than I realized.

When I have my art blog functioning, I’ll put a link to it for those of you who are interested.

May you have an enjoyable week.

What I’m Working On – 12/1/22

Photo of Sugarloaf Cove in November (before the snow) by Jake Woldstad

I can’t believe November is over. Snow has blanketed the North Shore. Lake Superior is moody. Some days it’s calm and others it’s wild and unsettled. My husband and I have spent a few afternoons watching the water while sitting in camp chairs that are low to the ground and a blanket draped over our laps. The turbulent water is my favorite, but there’s something beautiful about the steel gray calm waters as well.

There were some personal things that I had to work through, including the death of my grandma. She is deeply missed.

On the writing front, I finished my romance novel last week. I’m giving it the final read through this week. The plan is to send it to my copy editor by the end of the week. I’m excited to have it finished. I love how it turned out, even though it was twice as long as I planned. That’s something I love about writing, I never know how long a piece is going to be until it’s done.

I’m currently finished writing a short story that will go into a Christmas short story collection. I had hoped to have it started over the summer, but adjusting to life after a big move took more time than I anticipated.

There are three other short stories I’m working on for the month of December to send to some anthologies for considerations. I also plan to start my next novel. I have a few ideas, but I won’t know which one will win until I start to write.

I hope everyone is staying warm as the temperatures drop.

What I’m Working On – September 8, 2022

I had an exciting thing happen to me this week. I hiked just over half a mile up and down and on the side of steep hills. To some of you, this doesn’t sound like a big deal. For me, it totally is.

For the last ten years, I’ve had a debilitating ankle tendon pain that stopped me from hiking. (I’ve seen 13 health practitioners about it and tried all their suggestions – except surgery.) There was a small window of time where I hiked around Colorado with no pain, but eventually the pain grew so bad I was limited to roads and flat dirt trails. Uneven terrain triggered a burning sensation so intense that I’d have to stop immediately, drop to the ground and wait 15-20 minutes before I could continue. A few times I’d hike with my forearm crutches, but it’s not as relaxing because I’m more focused on where to put my crutches than on seeing the beauty around me. Standing for longer than fifteen minutes is excruciating.

I read a book titled: “Fixing You: Foot and Ankle Pain” by Rick Olderman after having a terrible meeting with a chiropractor who told me I needed to treat the symptoms of my ankle tendon, take some enzymes, wear orthotics, and accept that my ankle will never get better. The only reason I didn’t believe this chiropractor was because I had seen one that had helped me immensely before we moved from Eau Claire, WI area.

The author Rick Olderman is a physical therapist who specializes in helping people heal from chronic pain. The book is short and reminds me of reading the anatomy chapters from my biology books in high school. He goes into a lot of detail about his observations working with a variety of injuries and pain points. I figured I had nothing to lose and approached the book with an open mind.

The most surprising thing I learned was that I lock my knee when standing and walking, which caused discomfort in my ankle. I also walked with a 100% heel strike (a normal heel strike should be around 50-75%). While I waited for the support tape to arrive for the exercises he advises, I focused on walking with less heel strike and keeping a bent knee. Those two things got me to where I hiked the half-mile trail with no pain. I think I could’ve gone further, but my husband worries about me overdoing things (rightly so) and advised we celebrate the small win.

This week the support tape arrived, so I’m rehabbing my foot. I hope to rebuild the strength so that I can hike anywhere and workout without worrying about triggering severe pain in my foot.

The one advantage with my ankle issue is that I have time to write and create art.

Writing Update

I’m still writing my romance novel. It’s fun to see the twists and turns it’s taking. I’m excited to get it finished because I have a few ideas for other stories bouncing around in my mind.

I also started a short story for a market that invited me to send them something. I expect to have it finished by tomorrow.

The novel that’s finished is just about ready to publish. I need to make the cover and assemble the book.

Other than that, I plan to enjoy the warm weather we’re having before the temps plummet. The high temps here are below 70 degrees. The other day I dug out a sweatshirt because it didn’t get above 60. It’s a little strange coming from the high desert in Idaho where they still have temps in the 80s.

Have a great weekend.

What I’m Working On – September 1, 2022

Caribou Falls a short hike from Highway 61 along the Northshore of MN. (35 ft high)

Between writing, art, reading, juggling work items, and exploring our new area, I listen to a wide variety of podcasts. This week I listened to two interviews (by different podcast hosts) that talked about the importance of play when we create art. Both of the artists (one a sculptor, the other a comedian) talked about how a sense of play made them feel happier and stoked their creative fires. It also helped them view the world in a more positive light.

I’ve heard this idea before, but the reminder was timed perfectly. I fell into super-serious mode and forgot that writing and painting are fun. I got wrapped up in trying to find just the right words, colors, or techniques instead of letting playfulness be my guide.

Since today is the first day of the month, I want to approach my writing and paintings with a sense of play for the month to see what happens. Maybe I’ll think of a paper and dice game that I can create to go with it.

What am I playing with this week?

My romance novel. It took a few turns that I’m exploring. I’m enjoying the characters. I’m guessing I’m about 75% done with the draft. If I play well (haha), I think I can have it finished by the end of next week.

My fantasy novel came back from my copy editor. It’s awaiting my attention. I plan to have the edits and cover designed by next week.

That’s it for the writing updates. As usual, I plan to continue to play tourist along the Northshore of Minnesota. There’s so much to see and do.

Enjoy your week. I hope you get time to play.

WHAT I’M WORKING ON – AUGUST 5, 2022

This writing update comes to you from the shores of Lake Superior. It’s a balmy 64 degrees Fahrenheit at Black Beach, one of my favorite beaches around here. There are at least 50 tourists congregated at the tiny inlet on the other end of the beach near the picnic tables. I’m not sure why they don’t come down to my corner, maybe they know something I don’t, like a monster is going to appear from rocky bottom waters and pull me into Gitchi Gumi, the seagulls might turn into vampire gulls, or there could be an ancient curse that the tourists sense that I’m too dense to notice. Whatever the reason, I’m glad that I have a private outdoor “office” space.

This week I got my fantasy novel back from my copy editor. I plan on making the edits within the next week. If all goes well, I hope to have the book published by the end of August.

I’m making progress on my romance story. I’m enjoying the little surprises that my imagination added. It’s coming along nicely. My goal is to have the draft done by next Friday.

This weekend between writing sessions, I plan to continue to explore the area we moved to. I have a book that gives locations of 150 waterfalls around Lake Superior. I’ve visited many of them over the years, but there are some that are super close to us to explore.