Author: Gin Getz

Writer’s lament.

/ Gin Getz / 13 Comments

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spruce

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I once read that writing is the loneliest profession.  One must love to be alone to choose to write. Or at least learn to tolerate it, or you won’t get much written.  I write best in total silence and solitude.  Days like to today, when the boys are off on another adventure, snowmobiling together in their Very Big Back Yard this side of the Divide, now is the time to write.

Completing the first draft of my third book.

And tonight I will celebrate!

Tomorrow I will put that manuscript aside to brew and ferment, bubbling and gurgling in the dark corners of my mind while again my focus returns to finish the story I was working on this time last year.  A Story of Two Virginias. It has had its time to percolate.  Now it is time to pop open the lid, stir it up, and see what we’ve got.

Don’t plan on kicking back, sipping and savoring the aroma.

More like:  Right. Time to re-write.

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dried leaves

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Back to the beginning.  The first book. The Color of the Wild…

I finally got it!

Before the storm, or maybe in the middle of it, by snowmobile Bob brings home a box from town, and there inside are a dozen hard copies of my book.  My first book.  It is beautiful. Wow. Sammie, Dee, Nadene… my friends  at Norlights Press… it really is beautiful.  Thank you.  My first signed copy goes to Forrest.  Maybe now he’ll read it.

So, here it is, finally.  On my coffee table, a book with my name on it. Forget how many years it took to get here. It’s here.  There, alongside a book of poetry from Wendell Berry, and a new copy of Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and a well worn copy of John Palmer’s How to Brew.  I like it.  I could get used to this.  I hope I do.  Hopefully this is the first of many.

By this morning, I already see dog hair, dried crumbs and spots of red wine on the cover. It’s a part of the house. Old news.  Time to move to the next…

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But not so fast…  I used to think it worked like that.  (And believe me, I wish it did!)  All I had to do was write. But now I’m learning about this marketing thing.

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Wait. Before we go there. First, a few cold hard facts.

  1. My awesome publisher and growing friend, Sammie, has started a blog.  You can see it here:  http://norlightspressblog.wordpress.com/.  Writers – it’s worth watching. The thing I really like about it is this.  She is putting a face, a real living, breathing person behind the otherwise overwhelming and austere profession of Publishing.  She comes at it from an interesting angle.  She’s also a reader AND a writer.  Many of us writers look at publishers as a separate species. Sammie shows you otherwise.  How the good ones at least (and I consider her now among the best!) think.  To think they are no different than you and me!
  2. The Color of the Wild is now available at Barnes & Nobles on-line, and this week, starting at midnight tonight, there will be an autographed copy of The Color of the Wild on the GoodReads Giveaway.  We’re working on some wonderful bookstores, too.  I’ll keep you posted, and please, keep me posted if you have any ideas and suggestions and I’ll be happy to contact them myself.  I like to keep it personal, and I think bookstores do matter.
  3. Which brings me to this. One more thing I’ve learned from Sammie and this marketing adventure.  She calls it the “Grass Roots” approach to what had for a lot of years turned into Big Business.  Now we’re turning the tables and bringing it back home again. It’s not just Sammie and me.  It’s a big part of this whole industry. We’re being human beings. Real people. Writers, readers, publishers, printers, even cover designers and all the rest that go into this exciting process of making books.  And when we do that, you know what?  It’s nice. It’s easier for me.  I can be myself.  I can’t pretend to be something else.  And I think I’m not alone in this thinking.
  4. And the Grassroots approach does mean this.  I need you.  For spreading the word. And, yes: Reviews.  If I were closer to some of you, I’d be prodding a few of those who agreed to read and review, and might not quite have had time to do either one just yet.  I need your help! Reviews matter!  And in this grassroots world of marketing that we are entering into, it’s all about people like me and YOU.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Color of the Wild by Gin Getz

The Color of the Wild

by Gin Getz

Giveaway ends March 07, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

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Phew.  Enough for today.  I need to get back to work. Writing.  You probably need to get back to work too (don’t tell your boss you’ve been here reading…).

More on the marketing tomorrow…

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raven out the window

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Among the crying trees.

/ Gin Getz / 2 Comments

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un named plumes of papoose fire

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I remember the day it burned.  I remember the giant plume and we were up here, out of touch with the rest of the world I have never been able to be much of a part of anyway, and together in our awkward silence we watched and worried and wondered what was burning, something big and angry and then we saw the news.

I remember walking up the Box one fall during hunting season with my son when he was still close to my height, maybe even just a little smaller.  We had left the old Blazer by the summer homes at River Hill and Bob dropped us at the bottom of the Box and Forrest and I kept to that trail all the way back up, high on the hot hillside above the river, following the one-horned big horn sheep we nick-named Tighty Whitey.

I did not cry going through there yesterday.  I did not think. I did not judge. I did not contemplate how I “felt.”  I simply observed.  I took over five hundred photos.  I was with my boys and they made me laugh as they skated down the river on their knees.

It was a good way to see it, starting a little bit distant from the center of the frozen Rio Grande, the hillsides softened still by snow, the air warm and river singing loudly below us as she broke open to her black abyss at times and left you wondering so many others.  By afternoon the new days water ran over the old winters ice and the dog learned to trust it would still hold him up.

On one side of us where the fire had raged were a lot of black sticks in white snow and long grey shadows.  On the other side, the south facing slope, the snow had mostly melted off exposing places where spot fires had burned and the ground was ash and thick and dull and scratched into by the melting snow.  Sometimes a footprint of no more than a single tree.  Other times the size of a Walmart parking lot.

I look at the pictures now and want to cry but can’t.  I feel I should because I know it is sad and a tremendous loss. But I am over it or distant enough or maybe still in denial.  I know I should be concerned still because of the fragile soil, destroyed wildlife terrain, and inevitable years of a blank stare that these hills will remain where we are all so excited to see a new blade of grass and a spouting willow emerge but will never see a spruce forest again in our lifetime.

But there is finality there.  An open slate. Ready for rebirth.  And in that starkness, there is great hope.

As we drove home, back up the mountain and found ourselves passing by the last of the burn and then into the beetle killed hillsides, then is when the sadness hit.  I stared out the smeared window as the trees moved by in blur of paling green and fading brown.  These hills are still dying, slow and steady, in their silent way.  I was tired.   Too tired to shed tears.

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dripping sap

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Among the crying trees.

Today I walk the trail to Sweetgrass Meadow.   The tallest of trees still standing though not a needle remains on their dried branches.

Almost fifty out after lunch and the warmer air gets the sap running.

A new batch of dying trees emerging.  A new generation of expiring trees. The next wave of the slow tsunami comes to conquer.

Trees with green needles.  Like watching them take their last breath, an extended exhale that will last all spring until the needles fade and fall and so silently they weep, without drama and attention, flames and fanfare, plumes or headline news.  No one hears, no one listens.

I stare at a long drip line of sap sparkling in the afternoon sun and let my eyes lose focus in the light and for a moment it is almost beautiful.   Watching the life blood leave the tree.

I wrap my arms around one tree and press my nose against the slipping bark and dried sap and breathe deeply and smell very little. How can I describe this odor?  It is dry.  It no longer smells alive.  Yes, you can smell death.  With my trees, it smells like nothing at all.

Now I can cry, we shed our tears together, and to them I say farewell.

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new sap on still green needles

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Into the burn.

/ Gin Getz / 6 Comments

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into the burn 16

 

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Yesterday we went into the burn.

Down Box Canyon, along and on top of the Rio Grande, from the River Hill Camp Ground all the way through the Box to the road on the lower side of mountain where the hills are speckled by vacant subdivisions and within sight of a paved road, though we saw no signs of so-called civilized life stirring. That’s not what we were searching for. Though I sincerely thank our dear friends and summer neighbors for helping make this possible by bringing our truck down the mountain so we could get back up. What a welcome site that was to see rattling down the road towards us when we made it through.

Eight hours, about as many miles and it seemed like we each hauled that many pounds of food just to keep us going.  My husband, my son, my dog and me.

Today I’ll share only my photos, not my words.  I hope the images speak for themselves, each to all in a different way, but words of truth. These images are completely untouched, only reduced in size to share with you.

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into the burn 17

 

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into the burn 15

 

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into the burn 18

 

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into the burn 14

 

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in the burn 3

 

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into the burn 13

 

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in the burn 12

 

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in the burn 4

 

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in the burn 11

 

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in the burn 10

 

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in the burn 5

 

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in the burn 6

 

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in the burn 9

 

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in the burn 8

 

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in the burn

 

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looking back up box

 

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from box canyon trail

 

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from our mailbox

 

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littel squaw

 

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on road home

 

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in the burn 2

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In search of a living blue.

/ Gin Getz / 2 Comments

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bleeding aspen

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Allow me share this with you first, a minute of Book Business since that’s what seems to be consuming the majority of my time right now.  And then come with me, back to the mountain…

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The Color of the Wild is almost a week old.  I still haven’t seen a hard copy.  I understand it’s beautiful, and have the publisher, Sammie and her team at Norlights Press, to thank for that.

Again, sincere thanks for all the reviewers.  Please keep them coming.  They also mean so much to me.

Starting today, GoodReads  is having a Giveaway for The Color of the Wild.   For those active on GoodReads, you know it’s a great chance to get a free copy.  The promotion lasts today through the 23rd.  If you’re a member of GoodReads, give it a try, even if you already have a copy.  You could always share one copy if you win another.  If you’re not a member, and you love books, it’s a pretty neat sight – I’m new to it, just learning, and definitely enjoying.

A  special note to Bookstores, Book Clubs and Libraries. Thanks to those who have expressed interest and inquired.  For all of you, and any others interested in carrying The Color of the Wild, please contact Sammie, the publisher, directly at publisher@norlightspress.com ; or give her a call at 1-812-675-8054 .

Everything you read tells you the Amazon numbers are the Big Ones.  But the numbers only matter so much to me.  What I’d like to see is people reading what I wrote to share,  and old fashioned as I may be, I still think a lot of those readers are finding their books at the local library and corner bookstore.  As it’s been three months since I left the mountain, I confess, I’m grateful for Amazon.

So, please keep the book in mind when browsing your local shelves, and ask for it if you don’t see it.  If y’all hadn’t noticed, I’m not a big name yet. (Gin Who?)   So they might not know about it otherwise.

Now, let’s put the Book Business aside and get back to the mountain…

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dead needles 2

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Muddy horses for the first time in months.  It’s early for mud season.

Big brown circles of fresh, wet dirt beneath the trees.  Odors I have not savored in months. Earth. Rich and raw.

The air is alive with song stronger than the coming of the spring winds.  Redwing blackbirds, chickadees, juncos, grosbeaks.  The Woodpeckers this winter here have been as plentiful as flies on a bloated carcass  Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s an exaggeration .

Lovely birds, but I know what their presence means.

Where there are woodpeckers there are bugs. The more woodpeckers, the more bugs. This winter has been good for both.  Not so good for the trees.  You can see it coming.  Or rather, now you know it’s here.  Hidden beneath the bark.

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redwing blackbird

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The thermometer reads 47 F (over 8 C) and I don’t know what to wear.  It’s warm.  It’s snowing.

I strap on snowshoes and hope the snow is too warm to stick.

A walk in the woods.  Or rather, a snowshoe.  The temperatures are unprecedentedly high and have been all winter up here but for the most part, our world remains white.  The blanket it getting thin. The only patches of dirt are on the south side of the cabin and exposed steep slopes.   The only dirt I step on still is three, maybe four steps with my snowshoes grating on rock and mud.

Thunder.  I’m sure I heard it.  A quarter mile later, I hear it again.  Ten thousand feet elevation, mid February, it’s almost fifty and still it snows.

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slipping bark 2

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In search of a living blue.

I’m on this photo safari looking for a live Blue Spruce for the cover of the next book.  I’m inspired.  A wild woman on a crazy mission.

At first glance, you’d think there they’re all over the place. A whole bunch of trees with blue green needles.  Right. Now take a closer look.  You don’t see these things from the airplanes flying over assessing damage nor from your truck window rolled up to the cold.

Yellowing of the needles on the lower branches.

Slipping bark.

New growth of mistletoe.

Pin holes  and dripping sap.

Needles on the snow.

And a pile of chipped bark around the base of the big ones.

You get good at it. Seeing through the last of the green to the tell-tale signs behind.  You get used to the yellowing color, like a child sick with fever.  And the slipping bark. As if the very core of the tree has given all it could to rid itself of the beetle and pushed its own life out in the process.  The bark looks loose.  I don’t know how to describe it.  Like a snake skin preparing to slough off.

You get used to seeing the signs and learn to find them fast.

I try to find a live spruce tree.  I’m not so sure I see one.

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dead needles 4

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I hope you’re still with me.  I wanted to share this with you.

Calm now, in the soothing comfort of remaining snow and silence.  The time of solitude remains with us, allowing us healing, the mountain and me. I rest, she recovers, my pain and fear are comforted. Life goes on. We adapt, adjust.  Find the beauty in the beetle kill, in the burn.

I want to walk in the burn.

I have not left the mountain since sometime in the middle of November.  I still do not care to leave her, but want to go down to her darker places, below the Dam, in the still long blue shadows and grainy snow that has not and will not set up, and post hole through and be out there, in there, with her.

I think I can handle it now.

The burned face of my beloved.

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dead needles

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Yesterday.

/ Gin Getz / 9 Comments

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melting rio grande

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Yesterday.

The river begins to open.

The release of the season starts.

Our frozen white highway over which we dragged nearly ninety logs bares elusive glimpses into the dark face of the Rio.

She laughs loudly now beneath our feet.

Her waters rise, ice thins, snow loses its strength. And we stand upon her remaining hard surface and what else can we do but hope she’ll hold?

We light the last of the slash piles upon the ice and listen.  Open water beneath the flame.  Floating fire.

Our tools are gathered, brought back to this side of the river.  If the warm weather continues with daytime temperatures climbing steady into the 40s and 50s every afternoon as they have been, the Rio will no longer be passable.  At least, not on her surface and I’m not big on swimming up here.

The timing is just right.  Our work across river is done.

We’ve harvested what we need to build our home and shop.  Should we need more for the barn, well, it’s safe to say there will be a new round of dead trees to harvest next year.

So now, the work on this side begins.

This is progress. We are pleased.  Still there is a little bit of sadness too, for we have loved our time together by the river, silent as she had been, knowing she is there with us in the long blue shadows and heavy hoar frost and steaming breath and laughter and bloody noses and fat lips which were our only injuries and many a hot dog roasted over our slash piles over what in summer would be the middle of the river and our intimate involvement with our dying trees.

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logs our side of the river

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An update on the birth of the book.

Thanks to so many for so much.  For your support, encouragement and kindness.

For those who have been waiting, it is my understanding that the Kindle version will be available on Amazon later today.

For all those that did write and leave reviews, I can not thank you enough.

To so many, I send such sincere thanks, love and gratitude.

So, yeah… everything is going great… you’d think I’d be just floating on cloud nine with the wonderful reception and reviews that the launch of the book brought us.

But I’m not.

They warn you to expect bad review. It’s going to happen. Not everyone is going to like what you write.  Some folks in particular will really not like it because they don’t like you, or they don’t like the fact that you did it and they did not or whatever goes through someone’s mind to justify saying mean things.

But what about no response at all?  Brings back memories of all those years sending out my manuscript.  I was lucky to get the rejection letter.

So yes, to hear from those who enjoy my writing… that means a lot.

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You know what they say is true:  If you dare to put yourself out there, you better be prepared to be burned.  Even if what burns is hearing nothing at all.

That’s the downside.  And it’s down.  It’s the pits, and it hurts.  Some folks manage to bounce it all off their hard shell.  Not me.  It gets me.  I’m softer than I care to admit.

Don’t be so sensitive, some say.  Be stronger. Care less.

If I followed that advice, my writing would not be what it is, would it?

And for better or worse, I would not be either.

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leaf in snow

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Those who have been through this before, the big first book deal, compare the process to giving birth, with a longer gestation, (in my case, would you believe, five years in the making?) and a little less physical pain.  That’s not too far off, having been through childbirth too.  Hey, Mom and Dad, you were there when I did that. Remember all my screaming and cussing?  Guess what – I did the same over these past five years and then some “birthing” my first book.  My one hope is that each subsequent book will be a little easier. Dang, I hope so.

Some even say if you knew back then how hard it would be, I bet you wouldn’t have done it.

But for those of us who do write, I think we can’t not write.  I am incomplete with out. Be it my gift or the part of my private self I can share.

It’s not just words. It’s a part of me.

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leaf in spring snow

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And at these times of introspection, we’re forced to ask ourselves this questions:

Who do I write for?

Family?

No.

My brothers both forgot. The lack of support (even acknowledgement) from most of my husband’s family on this accomplishment should not have surprised me but still did.

Thank goodness for good friends and new readers.  And a few wonderful surprises along the way, including some close family and distant friends.

Who do I write for?

Not for myself, for although that is the advice of some successful writers, it is not what I care to do.

I guess I write for you.   For the few still here with me reading whilst the rest have run off to other things, pressing issues, important matters, and something shiny and new.

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ute creek trail head

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Today!

/ Gin Getz / 21 Comments

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cover

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Today is the big day.

The book, The Color of the Wild, is released and available.

It can be found on Amazon.com in paperback and through the Publisher. The e-book and Kindle version will be available shortly following.  The book will also be available soon through Barnes & Nobles and Smashwords as well.

I would also like to ask for your help.

Please start by reading the book!  I sincerely hope you will enjoy.

If you do, please share the news with your family and friends.  Spread the word, through your e-mail lists, acquaintances, co-workers, social networks, book clubs, reading groups, the local paper or someone you know from a glossy magazine, old friends, friends of friends, the woman next door…  You get the idea.

If you can, please leave reviews, especially with Amazon and Goodreads.   This is how the word spreads beyond my little circle.  And that’s what writing is for. To share.  (So even if you don’t like it and leave a bad review, it still helps me, believe it or not.  Though of course, I’m hoping you’ll like it!)

The success of this first book is up to people like you and efforts like this.  I thank you all for your support.

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aspen leaf in warm snow

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Since starting High Mountain Muse at the end of 2008 and then moving onto this site a few years ago, I was surprised to learn one of the best parts of writing is sharing and reaching out. I have had the honor of getting to know some wonderful people. Some of you I know and have known for years though we have never met.  You’ve become a part of our family, are on a first name basis around here. Like Amy in BC, Maggie in New Hampshire, Don in Vegas, Ann from Greenville. Some of you I have had the pleasure to meet because of writing, like Al from Garland, and Julian from across the ocean who we’ll have the pleasure of meeting here soon.  And some of you I only got to know better, like Karen in Keller and Pia in Poland.

I don’t know why I’m sharing this now, except somehow I know it matters. Because at the end of the day, that’s what writing is all about.  I read recently a renowned author state, “You must write for yourself and be-damned with the rest.”  Well, maybe I’ll never be renowned, but I write for my readers.  I write for you.

Maybe I’m caught up playing the heart strings today.  Why not?  It’s Valentine’s Day!

Thank you once again for your support and your help, your understanding and your encouragement.

An extra special thanks to the publishers of this book – Sammie & Dee and Nadene of Norlights Press. You guys are awesome!

With the warmest of wishes,

And best wishes for a Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Gin

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looking towards starvation

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Just another day.

/ Gin Getz / 6 Comments

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old leaf in new snow

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Logging continues.  Now it’s the three of us and the dog.  Sure he helps.  Supervising. He lies in the deep snow of the river bed, head up, alert, and every time you look over at him, he’s looking over at you.  When that gets old, he’s off barking something we never see.  It must be working, all that howling, because nothing got us yet.

It’s forty degrees and snowing and we’re standing on top of the Rio Grande roasting hot dogs on long willow branches over the burning pile of slash.  You can hear the river louder now, a little angry and thus a little frightening.  A few places you see the black void broken through the solid white. The great unknown. You wonder how deep it is, how thick the ice upon which you stand.

More snow.  Heavy, wet snow.  Coming in waves.  Too warm even to stick to my snowshoes.

And in the middle of it all, the red-wing blackbird arrives. A week early.  Always seems like they choose stormy weather to herald their arrival,  and I feel justified in leaving out seeds each morning on the picnic table outside our kitchen window so, selfishly, I can see them.  There is comfort in attracting what little life remains on the mountain around us.

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logs

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If the silent land

Would learn to scream

Then would we finally

Listen?

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winter flag

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Balancing.

/ Gin Getz / 2 Comments

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last seasons colors

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I never wanted the same old thing. I was not ready for this winter to turn out like all the others.  It did not.

After a dozen years and ten winters here, there are expectations.  I fear such thing.  Comfort can allow complacency.  I would rather remain stirring in the winds.

The enticement and exhilaration of change.

It can be additive. We crave the new, that which is just out of reach, as does the horse pressing on the barbed wire to get hold of the grass on the other side.

Or so I thought.  Yet I have comfort in this familiar view, the same steaming coffee cup in my hands, the same warm body to wrap my legs around at night, the sound of my dog’s heavy sigh close by as he rolls over contentedly in the early morning when I rouse.  The sound of my son’s steady breathing as he sleeps in the other room with the open door and I tip toe about the cabin building the fire, getting the percolator on the stove, sitting down to write with a cat curled on either side of me.

I don’t want to cling to the familiar, but desire a balance between that which I can hold onto, with that which will not stop from shifting through my fingers.

Without this balance, would we not be floating with our feet firmly planted in the clouds, or in fear of lifting off from the ground and trying to fly?

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action shot

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History in the making, we are all seeing it in our changing world.  It is frightening but fascinating.  I don’t want to miss it.  I don’t know if there is a thing I can do but help open a few eyes and remind people of the simple beauty of the wilds.  These dying woods are more than just a resource. They are a part of our collective soul.

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fresh snow on bottom of elk trail

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A little bit about the book…

Getting ready for the big day. Ups and downs. Talk about expectations!

Maybe it won’t be anything special. But of course it will, because every day is, no matter what they say, and that one is Valentine’s Day.

I was just a writer.  I had time to write. Once you’re published, you become an author, and suddenly, your time is taken up marketing and you don’t have near the time you used to have to write. What’s with that?

When all I want to do is share my words, what I see, a story.  I don’t want to be selling you something.  Like myself.  I ask you this, how do we share our words without selling out?  Make the most without making a mess?

That said, I’m grateful for so many who have shared so much helpful information on just how we to go about promoting our books – if not to sell ourselves, than back to the main focus – sharing our words.  This site, Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn, tops my list at the moment.  Worth checking out if you’re looking for some good marketing suggestions and how-tos.

Finally, a quick question/request.  Are any of you active members of Goodreads?  I’ve just signed up and am trying to learn the ropes. I’m also looking to see if any of you might willing and able to read and post a review on Goodreads to get the conversation going there. Please let me know if you can help out or have some ideas and suggestions.

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forrest gunnar bob

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Field of snow.

/ Gin Getz / 6 Comments

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rose

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Haven’t paid much mind to a sports game in about twenty years.  I think after last night, it may be another twenty before I do so again. Here in Colorado, I thought it would be the thing to do. I’m sticking with snowshoes and horses.  Me, my dog, the wind and wilds.  No teams, no scores, no bets and big bummers.

I just don’t get it. We call it a sport but sit on the sofa to watch. And at the end, one team wins, one team loses.  Like politics and religion.  I’ll stay away from them all.

I send a text message to the boys in Denver. Tell them they’re better off watching the Weather Channel.  Plenty of good news there.  Another storm on the way. And another. And another.  That’s how we like it.

Why I live here.  Reason  #873. A random number.  As long as it is high, for the reasons are many.

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aspen

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Seventeen below yesterday morning.  Thirty-seven above by the afternoon.  Not a cloud in the blue bird blue sky. This morning, another storm rolls in, enwraps. Such comfort in this covering.

Winter is ours.  The sour summer squalls, and I don’t mean the weather, we’ll outlast, out live and best of all, outshine.

I’m in no rush for it to warm up, melt out.  Open ground and exposed earth are a long ways away. The grass I grow in the front window for the dog and cats gets mowed weekly with hand scissors and is presented to the horses as a treat.  We’ll be just fine.

For now, cover them with ice, silence them with snow, as we breathe alone in this still white vast peace.

This is my world.

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colors

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Simplicity in a shiver. Standing out there with your head tipped back as the snow falls on your lashes and lips and melts on your cheeks and the steam of your breath stings your nose and the dog has the right idea as he flops down and rolls.

How easy it is to forget when summer is so fleeting, the fires the drought the flood. These changing times and changing guard. Now the mountain regains control.  I can’t help but laugh as I watch them flutter away crumpled and useless as last years leaves.

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last years leaf

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And us?  We are left with the open page, pure white and fresh and free as the field of snow before me.

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gunnar in the snow

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Thank you!!!!

/ Gin Getz / 9 Comments

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snow on aspen

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A big warm hug and a huge hearty THANK YOU to the 25 brave and generous souls, the “volunteer victims” that agreed to read and review The Color of the Wild.  Thank you so much, each and every one of you.  I sincerely hope you enjoy, and I am truly honored to have your help.

After hearing from readers, writers, friends, friends of friends from such varied backgrounds, interests and all over the world, I am convinced of two things. First, there are some great people out there, and I am mighty lucky to know a few!  Second, people do read.  Books are not dead. Changing, maybe.  But reading, and readers, are plentiful.  Competition may be fierce, there might be a ka-zillion books in print, but there are also a ka-zillion enthusiastic readers.  In whatever form one chooses, e-books or paper, people are still reading and love their books.  I am glad to see this.  Not just selfishly for me, but for our society.  I can’t imagine missing out on the pleasure of reading. Long live the written word and the art of sharing a good story.

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snow on aspen 2

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