How the Garden Grows--Father's Day Edition

My husband is the gardener and I'm the harvester. So grateful that we are mostly self-sufficient in this department. No pesticides, no chemicals, just fresh food produced with water, sunlight, soil, and if using hydroponics, adding mineral salts. The kids came over for a steak supper on Sunday to celebrate Father's Day and we were thrilled with the Christmas-Easter-Father's Day gift Ian made for Michael. He started it last fall at Clemson, but with getting married, starting a new job, he's been so busy... but beautiful things are worth waiting for. We love it. So perfect for Bodach Books and Brews. Michael did his first brew in the new system on Friday--he should have enough to supply the men's group and have a bit left over for home use. 

We've been eating a lot of salad. I add a lot of herbs and microgreens so it's very flavorful. Alas, some caterpillars find their way into the salad bowl as well. And wouldn't you know it, Dagny found one on her plate :) She does examine her food more closely than the rest of us. 

The watermelon and sweet potatoes are growing but I hope we get more fruit and not just leaves. The crabs had better leave my melon alone. I love smelling the sweet flowers when I'm on the porch.  

I love that Dagny has such a loving father. It set the standard for whom she would marry. And we love that they live in Charleston. We enjoy our time together so very much. And it reminds me that to love, you first have to know love. That's why I want everyone I know to read Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen. Know that YOU are the beloved of God. 

Happy Pentecost!

What an amazing weekend! We had the great pleasure of listening to the Charleston Symphony perform some of the most beautiful pieces of music--Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei (swoon), Schubert's Mass in G (my heart soared at the Sanctus), and more. I bought tickets at the last minute because we weren't sure whether we'd be going to the priestly ordinations at the St. John the Baptist Cathedral that very night, but with six priests being ordained, I knew there'd hardly be any room. So we went to the concert instead and given that all of it is a prayer, I felt good about offering it for the new priests. Dagny made an interesting observation--that one can sing these beautiful Mass settings for a concert, yet in many places, the Latin Mass is being suppressed. How can that which has always been holy be restricted is beyond my understanding. But that's a discussion for another day. Many in our Charleston Sound Chorus were able to come to listen to our own Danielle Simonian sing. She's amazing. Listen to her hold a looooong note at the very end in her quartet Encore: How Many Hearts Have You Broken (near). 

Saturday we sang at Fr. Justin Damask's first Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was the old Pentecost Vigil, lesser only than the great Easter Vigil, and so very beautiful. Fr. Wilson gave a rousing homily, reminding that in the early church, vigils would go long into the night as the faithful listened to the Word, prayed, and were exhorted to live a good Christian life, and so we participate in that tradition of the Apostles and Mary. Yes, she was there! He spoke about pride, how language becomes a tool to control and the great reversal of Babel at Pentecost. From the beginning, the church is Catholic. It doesn't erase differences, but brings order to chaos. We see the New Covenant reflected in the Old, the Holy Fire, that doesn't annihilate, but transforms. And when we are open, the graces that rain down to us from above overflow. So many blessings! 

Finally, I share a bit of my own artwork. On First Fridays, our local library hosts Crafternoon, so I go there to play for a couple of hours, then off to First Friday Mass (devotion to the Sacred Heart). Given the plethora of AI-generated art that's trained on the work of humans who are not compensated, I wanted to share my first efforts at painting animals. I made the collage for Put a Ring on It quartet that sing the cutest song: A Dress with Pockets (my mother sewed pockets in all of our dresses). The stained glass is a gift from Dagny. Fitting for Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit! May this be a summer of great growth in all the gifts that God has bestowed upon us.

Piccolo Spoleto Debut

Saturday afternoon was amazing! We sang well and best of all, we stayed in tune. The chords were definitely ringing. And that space--Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul--was so lovely to sing in. It was so much fun to sing in our hometown to a very responsive audience. This is why I love performing. Thank you to all who came to support us. I loved every moment. While the quartets tested the space before our warmup, I took some pictures. 

And thanks to Laurie Yoh, pictured above, we have videos and the poster below. Seriously, I am so awed by all the talent in our chorus. It's fabulous to sing alongside them.

Our opening number tells you everything about our chorus: As Long As I'm Singing

Take a Chance I couldn't help but think of how much this also applies to the writing life, especially when we're querying and submitting. But I know that no writing is every wasted. Just ask my mewses :) 

We ended with One Moment in Time. I love this song because of all the hopes and dreams and desires I still have. May they be aligned with what our Lord dreams for me. 

 

We're having a guest night on Monday, June 9th. Local ladies, come sing with us!

How the Novel Grows--Short Story and Music Edition

My very first writing teacher said that I was a novelist hiding behind the short story. She's right--I'm a reluctant novelist. I'm always looking to compress everything into a short story, finding the essence, that kernel that expresses everything. I like poetry for the same reason. 

Anyway, this whole novel-writing is spawning other ideas (and I'm not even in the middle of the book, which is where the ideas come fast and furious). My brain cannot just sit with the slow unfolding of events but wants to make a short story, a science-fiction one at that. So I turned to Jeff Tanyard's wonderful short story, Mr. Wilson, and I loved re-reading it. But this time I read like a student, paying attention to how he moves back and forth in time, how he handles emotions. But I discovered it has a reference to Sittin' on Top of the World, which we sang at our barbershop competition. Here's a clip of that song and a poster that a very talented lady in our chorus made using pictures from the contest: https://www.facebook.com/reel/730296856233855

My goodness, we are all so excited to be singing at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival this coming Saturday. We have so much fun together singing and to perform in our hometown is something special. Local friends, come join us. So yeah, busy reading, writing, and singing!

How the Novel Grows--the Plot Edition

I've been singing more than writing--practicing for our newly ordained deacon's first Solemn High Mass as well as our barbershop concert at Piccolo Spoleto festival (local friends, please come!), but even so I've begun working on a new novel, a sequel/standalone to BOUND. As I got familiar with the characters again, nearly 20 years after the events that occur in Bound, I realized I needed a proper structure to tell the story. So when a writing friend from over a decade ago (we met at a Highlights workshop) came for a visit we had a chance to talk shop and the discussion turned to plotting. I promised her that I would send her my favorite resource: in nine boxes. I learned this first on Verla Kay's Blueboards (that were bought out by SCBWI, but now sadly shut down, and who knows whether they'll bother to offer that safe and friendly gathering place again online--I was a longtime moderator on the boards and miss it for its congeniality and generosity of the members). I love how organically I can think about my story and the scaffolding it needs so that all the elements fit together. This doesn't address the subplots, but typically, as my characters develop, so do the subplots. Each character will have his or her own journey through the novel.

I'm also fond of the Hero's Journey. But not being content, I took a deep dive online to see what else was there. And holy smokes I came across a compilation: 16 Narrative Structures to Plot a Book With. I love how different people think about story structures and how they might fit. 

Here's a picture of some of them all on a page. Enjoy! And let me know what's your favorite plotting method, or if you write by the seat of your pants. I did try Writing into the Dark (and in essence, that's what I've been doing these past few weeks exploring my characters), but I find that at some point I need structure to guide my writing, otherwise I end up meandering all over the place. My mewses help! 

NB: Has anyone noticed the palindromic nature of the dates beginning 5/20/25? Fun.

How the Garden Grows

 

May is the month of Mary and how lovely it is to offer a flower or two to her. We had a lovely procession after Mass inside the church because it's been raining so much and I do so love all the Marian hymns, invoking her prayers and protection over us. I really enjoyed this recording of children's voices singing our parish hymn: Hail Queen of Heaven... 

Pomegranate

Purslane

New this year are the microgreens--amaranth, arugula, broccoli, radish, etc. They are delicious, bursting with flavors. A great addition to any meal. Outside, we have basil and tomatoes, sweet potatoes and collards. I hope that fig tree survives. Michael has fixed the deer fence so we hope the deer won't be jumping it to eat all our goodies. The raccoons are digging up our ginger and turmeric. They don't eat it but they're so nosy about what we've planted.

 Madonna and Child by Enric Monserday Vidal

Hail, Queen of heaven, the ocean star,

Guide of the wanderer here below,
Thrown on life’s surge, we claim thy care,
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea
Pray for the wanderer, pray for me.

O gentle, chaste, and spotless Maid,
We sinners make our prayers through thee;
Remind thy Son that He has paid
The price of our iniquity.
Virgin most pure, Star of the sea,
Pray for the sinner, pray for me.

Sojourners in this vale of tears,
Blest advocate, to thee we cry,
Assuage our sorrows, calm our fears,
And soothe with hope our misery.
Refuge in grief, Star of the sea
Pray for the mourner, pray for me.

And while to Him Who reigns above
In Godhead one, in Persons three,
The Source of life, of grace, of love,
Homage we pay on bended knee:
Do thou, bright Queen, Star of the sea,
Pray for thy children, pray for me.