Welcome!

Are you aware that a sizeable number of very dedicated, talented people have built a world that revolves around you--that depends upon you--the reader?

Margo Candela summed it up nicely, Underneath It All, “I write knowing someone else is supposed to read what I write...” This should be the important mindset of every person, in every phase, working to get a book published.

In addition, never forget that the best writers, editors, agents, and publishers are voracious readers. They know what it feels like to have a book come to life in their hands, and they’ve known disappointment when a book falls short.

Everyone can benefit from constructive criticism--so, give voice to your reading experience. We soar when we receive praise--therefore, give back some of the joy that you received. You have the power to do that, because you--the coveted readers--are that important.

"Writing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I wrote short stories when my creativity kicked in, which was usually around midnight and beyond. After I married, my husband told me that wasn't working for him. So, I turned to creating business plans, presentations, brochures and everything else we needed as business owners.during the daytime. Close to three years ago, my husband of thirty-six years died, and I returned to writing."

Beryl is a published non-fiction writer, a writer of flash fiction, personal essays and is currently working on a novel.

Angela owns a graphic design business in Orange County, is an award-winning artist and a published short fiction writer. She is currently working on a collection of intertwined short stories for a novel.

AN EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLE
OF THE POWER OF WORDS:

Reading affords us the opportunity to open our minds, exercise visualization and have experiences beyond what our lives offers us. As readers, we can access these gifts without number, through books available on every subject.

However, the hunt is always on to find that special author who spins eloquent tales, educates painlessly and paints vistas that transport us anywhere on earth, even into outer space.

This month's column holds a special treat because we asked Sandi Ault, Wild Indigo, to share her heart and an exceptional find -- by means of the written word.

This was our request: You speak of the amazing petroglyphs you've discovered. Sandi, is there one that stands out in your mind? We would love to see it through your words.

Sandi favored us with an incredible display of how powerful and moving words can be. When you finish reading this, go to her interview and you will find the picture. Amazingly, she filled in what the picture couldn't show us. I believe you'll agree, the picture--without her description, would have robbed us of the wonder Sandi experienced when she made this discovery. So, first things first, read what Sandi has to say:

First, let me say that it is very difficult to choose. Very difficult. But if I were to pick one to describe, it is not a petroglyph (carved or pecked) but rather a pictograph (painted).
I will not say where this is, out of respect for its preservation, but I will say that it is placed high on a cliff wall over a dry wash that intersects with a slot canyon. Surrounding it are dozens of like pictographs, a mural, if you will, estimated to be between five and eight-thousand years old.
On a nearby cliff face are more murals, some that have been scrubbed out and "graffittied" over by Ute drawings. Across the wash are still more murals, spanning a thousand years. This place, this meeting of water and stone, was obviously a sacred spot to many people over millennia. Today, it is extremely remote from where our civilizations have chosen to settle, and it is very hard to get to. For that, I am grateful.
The figure I have chosen is that of a human, or perhaps an alien. He is eight-feet-tall, faded red ochre on pale tan sandstone. His body is limbless; a broad upper torso with round shoulders tapering to such a narrow bottom that he almost becomes a point. Across what would perhaps be his upper abdomen, the rock face has chipped away, leaving a band of tan sandstone like a thick stripe angling across his body.
His head is a wide, flat oval on a tall, very slender neck, and his face is almost completely occupied by two large eye-holes which almost meet in the center. Atop his head are two downward-hooking horns or antennae, and from them radiate very faint emanations of red ochre shooting upward. His horns or antennae look virile to me, as do his broad shoulders, and so I call him he.
On either side of him are snakes, or lightning bolts, or crooked staffs (although he has no arms or hands to hold them). These "snakes" run in curvy parallel to his long body.
On the right side, as I look at him, one "snake" is in outline, and the other is painted solid. From the outlined one, a chain of circles rises upward, and the circles have painted-in centers. They're linked together with straight strokes of red ochre, and from the bottom "link" in this chain, a small jellyfish-like creature flows out to the side.
My figure is surrounded by other giant figures like him, as well as small paintings of odd critters with wings, fins, and horns. If this were The Last Supper, my figure would be Jesus. He stands in the center of this holy gathering, and there is clearly sacred paraphernalia all about.
Is he a shaman with enormous, all-seeing eyes, capable of handling cottonmouths or lightning bolts attracted by the water, which must have pooled here after rains, snow melt and flash floods.
Does he have a chain connecting him to the above, or has he been pulled by a chain from the water where the jellyfish once swam? Or are those chains of bubbles because he can breathe underwater? Or are they thoughts or boluses of power flowing to him from the heavens?
I feel that he and his gathering of disciples are guarding this wash. You cannot come into it without seeing them surrounding you on three sides, staring down from the cliff walls at you with their large eyes, observing you in silence. I offer cornmeal and ask permission to take his picture. I'm enclosing his photo in case you would like to use it.

As readers, we thank Sandi for allowing us to experience her precious find. As writers, we thank her for her example of description, one worthy of emulation.