Taming Fire

For me creativity is best when shared. One of my favorite examples is the first time I had the courage to read one of my short stories. Karleen Koen (Though a Glass Darkly and other historical novels) and Janean Thompson (an artist) started Women in Literary and Visual Arts – WILVA. They were tired of the loneliness of working in their studios. I joined the group shortly after it started for similar reasons. At one of our annual exhibit of members art and writing, I finally had the courage to read one of my written works. The group knew my art, but I was a closet writer. My knees shook as I read my short story. When I finished Karleen jumped out of her seat, took my hand and told me how wonderful the piece was. I call that incident, the five minutes that changed my life. Still glowing from my success, I petitioned my fellow artists at Archway Gallery to let me begin a reading series for creative writers. The Archway Reading Series began, with the help of my friend, Donna Perkins. I always made sure I had new material to read each month. In 1999 I selected three of the works I’d read at the Archway Readings, entered them in the Texas PEN Contest and won. Currently I’m part of the 35-year old Steamboat Springs Writing Group, an organization formed by Harriet Freiberger, a fellow local writer. The members read their new work and a short critique follows. Many of the members are published. Although I’ve been writing seriously for 20 plus years, I’ve chosen not to publish. Being a visual artist, I know that once your work is on display, the public expects a certain type of work. This limits the artist’s creativity. I didn’t want that to happen to my writing. Although I’ve written and completed novels, a series of young adult fantasies and short stories, I’ve kept them in the bowels of my computer, where I hope they’ll mold and ripen into something fabulous. So now, I’m opening this moldy private area and sharing the contents with the public.