This video is inspired by the Ishtarfest 2024 presentation “Become your own (s)hero like Ishtar with transformational stories” by Lori Angel Nagel. I used her transformational story template to tell my story of how my breast cancer journey brought me closer to Inanna.
Category: Creative Writing
Inanna, Fierce Mother Lioness – Pagan Devotional Poetry (video)
I wrote this poem to perform at the Gathering of the Ancient Bards last night during Ishtarfest 2024. It is a devotional poem to Inanna thanking Her for always protecting me, and helping me make it through during difficult times.
Dedication Poem to Inanna (Video)
I am excited to participate in another Ishtarfest this year! In preparation, I made a video of the poem I wrote to present to Inanna at the dedication ceremony at Ishtarfest in 2023, when I was first formally dedicated to Inanna.
Inanna and the Huluppu Tree – Children’s Book Progress
I’ve been working on a new children’s picture book based on the Mesopotamian myth of the Huluppu Tree. I’m hoping to have it ready to release next month, by Thanksgiving (and the holiday shopping season!)
I wrote first draft of the text last month. I based it mostly on the popular translation by Samuel Noah Kramer, but simplified for the children’s picture book format. I did change “Lilith” to an owl, as respectable Assyriologists now agree that the Sumerian term ki-sikil-lil-la-ke from the original Sumerian version of the myth isn’t related to the Semitic folklore figure Lilith. One theory is that this inhabitant of the tree was simply meant to be an owl. It may have also been meant to represent a spirit or demon of some sort. For the purpose of a children’s book, I think that an owl is the best translation to get the point across. Owls are mysterious creatures of the night, while still being something that a child raised in the modern world can understand (without having nightmares).
In addition to the draft of the story adaptation itself, have also completed the story board and started working on the illustrations. I’m about a third of the way through drawing the illustrations right now. In the illustrations, I have interpreted the Huluppu tree as a willow-like tree. There are other interpretations of what kind of tree the Huluppu tree could have been, but willow seems to be the most common interpretation. I’ve also seen it proposed as a date palm. Aside from the willow interpretation being more popular, I think the symbolism and magickal properties of the willow tree work a little bit better than the date palm. Willows feel like they have a more feminine type of energy than the date palm to me, and they can symbolize rebirth, healing, and rapid growth. (The date palm would also have been a good choice symbolically, as they can represent fertility and abundance, though I feel like the willow is slightly more fitting for the purpose of this book).
I still need to finish the illustrations, write the text for the front and back matter (glossary, brief historical overview, about the author, etc), and revise and edit the text and illustrations.
If this project goes well and there is any interest, I may eventually make a whole series of children’s books based on Sumerian myths. I will likely focus mainly on myths involving goddesses, especially Inanna.
I got the idea to write children’s books based on Mesopotamian mythology from the one existing picture book I found based on Inanna’s Descent. That one got the story completely wrong and changed so many details that it was completely unrecognizable aside from the characters’ names. I’d like to write my own children’s book version of the Descent myth and the myth where Inanna receives the mes from Enki. The challenge will be adapting them to be appropriate for modern-day children while still remaining accurate to the original myths.
I also have an idea for an novel (or more likely, novella – right now I’m estimating about 30,000-40,000ish words, though that could always change drastically as I add and/or remove ideas – I’m still in the very early stages of planning) based on the myths involving Inanna as well. I’m working on researching and outlining it now, and I’m planning to start writing it next month during NaNoWriMo. While I plan to write during NaNoWriMo, I think I’m going to do the challenge in a non-traditional way this year. I’m planning on writing the first draft for this short novel, and also finish up the children’s book during November, but not get caught up on word counts. I want this book to be more of a lyrical, succinct style, reminiscent of books like Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and the like. Something that has spiritual value, and that feels more like a classic rather than just another run-of-the-mill fantasy based loosely on mythology.
Whenever I do NaNoWriMo, I tend to get too caught up on quantity of words, rather than quality. This means I end up with a manuscript filled with useless nonsense that I never feel like wading through to salvage a story that I actually want to share with anyone. I like NaNoWriMo for the fact that it pushes me to write even when I don’t feel like I have the time, but I also recognize that it does encourage the bad habit of writing in a way that focuses on higher word counts over quality story telling.
Current Projects
I meant to update this blog at least twice a week, but I didn’t have a chance to write a second blog post last week. I’ve been busy with my AmeriCorps position and working on my own projects. I did have a little COVID scare this past week after being exposed while working at our mobile food pantry, but I luckily tested negative. I was able to get my COVID booster shot already since I work at a childcare/education facility, so I should be fine.
I’m still working on my “Black Cats are Good Luck” children’s picture book. I have the text finished for the most part and I’m working on illustrations now, then I’ll work on designing the book for print and digital formats.
I also just decided I want to rewrite my old story Ferdinand and the Dinosaurs as a middle grade book. I wrote the original version when I was right out of high school and didn’t really have a good grasp on what audience I was writing for (I’ve moved the story around between different places over the years, but you can currently find it on Letterpile if you’re interested. I’ll admit, it isn’t great in its original version). I’m changing the main character to a young girl named Dinah, and making the story more appropriate for the middle grade age group. This story is going to need A LOT of work, but I think the basic story I was trying to tell will work a lot better for younger readers. The dinosaur companion character is going to be able to talk in the new version, because I just want to have a talking animal, and its more fun if the main character’s new friend can actually hold a conversation.
I also have some rough ideas for short stories set in the world of Autumn and the Spiced Pumpkin Village. I’ll most likely publish any of those I end up writing on Letterpile.
In a few weeks, it will be time for NaNoWriMo, so I’ll be setting my other projects aside and churning out a rough draft for a new novel starting November 1st. I still don’t know what I’m going to write, but I have a few very rough ideas floating around in my head.
Autumn and the Spiced Pumpkin Village
My YA fantasy novel Autumn and the Spiced Pumpkin Village is now available as a Kindle eBook and in paperback. This book is a short, fun, Halloween-themed novel for young teens and tweens featuring a bisexual protagonist. I essentially set out to write a book I needed when I was that age, but that didn’t exist.
Autumn was in grave danger. This magical world was no fairy tale after all, and no prince, nor princess, nor knight-in-shining-armor was coming to her rescue.
Autumn is an average sixteen-year-old girl who loves fall and pumpkin spice lattes. Autumn never imagined that magic could exist until she finds herself transported to a village inhabited by pumpkin spirits after getting lost in the woods with her best friend, Summer, the night before Halloween.
Once she arrives at the Spiced Pumpkin Village, Autumn meets a pumpkin spirit girl named Curpepa and they fall for each other almost instantly. The pumpkin spirits mistake Autumn for one of their own and insist she stay in their village until All Hallows’ Eve is over, as the veil between the spirit world and the human world is weakest during this time of year and humans pose a great threat to the inhabitants of the spirit world.
Eventually, Autumn’s charade is discovered, putting her and Summer in great danger.
Along the way in her adventure, Autumn learns self-acceptance and the true meaning of friendship.
~35,000 words
Autumn and the Spiced Pumpkin Village Update
I’ve been working on revising and polishing my rewrite of Autumn and the Spiced Pumpkin Village this week. I’m trying out the free version of AutoCrit and a free trial of ProWritingAid to help with my editing and revising. I’d say ProWritingAid is more helpful to me so far because it gives better suggestions for how I can improve my writing (not that it’s perfect by any means, but it doesn’t twist your arm and force you to implement its suggestions. Human sensibilities will always outweigh robotic AI, at least for creative pursuits like writing.) I will probably end up purchasing the lifetime license for ProWritingAid, though I may wait until next tax year unless there is a really good Black Friday sale.
Some changes I made from my original version of this story include:
- Making the protagonist a teenager instead of a college student so that she is more relatable to 12-16 year olds.
- Making Autumn be out as bi instead of her sexuality being a big secret. I’ve gotten so tired of the sexuality-as-the-big-secret trope since writing the original version of this story. Give me more stories where it isn’t a big deal, and LGBT+ characters have worries other than being “outted.” In the original version, Autumn was only interested in girls, but I wanted to have some bi representation, especially a bi character that is kind of awkward and kind of shy about relationships. Bi characters are too often represented as… uh… the opposite of that.
- Added a new character, and more scenes where we get to know the side characters better.
I’m hoping to publish this book on KDP before Halloween. I’m taking a few days to step away from my manuscript, wait for some reader feedback to come in, then I’ll reread it a few more times to see what further changes I need to make.
While working on this book, which features a teenage girl as the protagonist, I couldn’t help but remember some feedback I got on another story I wrote for a class while working on by Creative Writing degree. My story featured a teen girl, a bit younger than Autumn, who’s personality at the beginning of the story was very must what you would expect a young teen’s to be. She definitely had a lot of room to grow as the story progressed, and she had very valid reasons for acting the way she did, even if she didn’t yet have the emotional maturity to handle things the way an adult would consider appropriate.
The professor, an older man, hated my character. She was too annoying and he couldn’t sympathize with her. Of course, this story wasn’t written with old white male college professors in mind: it was for young teenage girls who were a lot like my protagonist.
I guess the point of that anecdote is that the less some stuffy old white man can relate to your protagonist, the better, especially if you are writing YA or juvenile fiction. Or really if you are writing for any audience that hasn’t historically been represented very well in fiction.
Anyway, I haven’t had as much time to dedicate to my writing this past week, and won’t again until after next June. I just started my new position with Americorps this week! I took a half-time position with Horizon Education Centers working with preschoolers. I will be doing social emotional lessons for my students, as well as other activities to help the children, families, and the community. This past week was mostly training, but I did get to help out with a food pantry for the local community on Thursday. I’ll try to blog some about my Americorps experiences throughout my service term, and I’ll likely write some articles related to my experiences as well as I think of things that may be helpful to other members or prospective members.
Well, that’s all the updates I have right now.
Stories from “Stardust and Ash” Now on Letterpile
All of the stories that I had originally published as an eBook called Stardust and Ash are now available to read for free on Letterpile. I have revised and edited these stories and moved them online where they can be read for free.
Stardust and Ash is a collection of seven science fiction short stories and eight poems, each tied together by a theme of tragedy, loss, and accepting our own mortality. Each story shows the darker side of the human condition. Whether planted firmly on Earth or residing in the far-flung corners of our galaxy, whether living in the present day or in the distant future, the human experience remains much the same. Though we can experience much joy in life, we also must experience much sorrow and pain. The stories in this collection illustrate the latter. Don’t expect a happily ever after from the stories collected in Stardust and Ash.
Stardust and Ash
I’ve recently begun to process of revising all of the science fiction short stories I published in as an eBook entitled Stardust and Ash years ago and moving them to Letterpile.com. I’ve removed the eBook from Amazon and Smashwords in preparation of the move, and now I’m working on revising each story before republishing them online. I feel like my old writing can be greatly improved, especially works that I published before I finished my bachelor degree in creative writing, so I want to revise a lot of it before re-releasing it to the public.
I feel like short stories might work better as freely available web content than as eBooks anyway. I know short stories, poetry, etc doesn’t bring in a whole lot of search traffic, but my stories will be more easily accessible this way. They will also be available to read for free, while also allowing me to earn a little bit of revenue through ads.
In addition to the stories, I published all of the poetry that originally appeared in Stardust and Ash on Letterpile: Outer Space Poems: A Selection of Science Fiction Poetry. These are sci-fi themed poems that appeared in between each story of Stardust and Ash. I originally wrote most of them specifically for the book. I wrote the original version of Civil War in high school, however.
I also just posted a revision of my short story Abduction to Letterpile.
I’m also in the very, very early planning stages of a new novel that I hope to publish eventually. I hope to get most of the planning and outlining done by November, and write the first 50,000 words of the first draft during NaNoWriMo. Needless to say, publication for this book will still be a long way off.