The Valley of Love and Delight

I can't give up writing.

I hone my words (although sometimes I miss spelling errors) to share my visions of the Peaceable Kingdom, where we have quieted our lives enough to discover the biggest secret in life -- each other.

Perhaps what I write is what I seek -- less distraction from material things, less status-seeking and dressing for success and hero worship. A place where discussions beyond "How are you?" are possible, and we choose connection over possession. Where people aren't rejected for being different.

Of course, the utopia in my books is far from perfect. People who pride themselves on being open-minded shut their hearts toward those they view as "other". Factions stash guns and explosives on the grounds of a pacifist collective, and one of the pacifists delights in slugging the antagonists. The Seven Deadly Sins still exist, even among the good guys. But the Peaceable Kingdom is an ideal, not something to be shunned for power and fame.

Because of their perpendicular shift from dominant culture, my books have a gentle tone to them that is decidedly "girly". More My Little Pony than GI Joe. My characters have mostly holed themselves up in a safe place, but are under siege from inside and out. The emotional wars trump the explosion of hand grenades. My characters come to realize, however, that they have failed the world in hiding their light under a bushel, as Jesus would put it. If I had to describe my writing in terms of the snarky one-liners that pass for elevator pitches, I would say, "The Friendly Persuasion with otherworldly complications".

I'm still trying to figure out how much more time I want to spend bashing my head against the outside world to get published. I know I'd rather live in the world I write about, where our hearts strive to "find ourselves in the place just right,"  as the song Simple Gifts would put it.