Best Season Ever

The long-revered Palm Springs winter season has gone by the wayside. The pandemic put a nail into the plethora of activities and gatherings that usually occurred each season. But even before that, the ‘usual winter season’ was changing. Twelve years ago, when Sharon and I first began coming out to the desert, it was always ‘4:00 in the afternoon’ someplace and outdoor activities kept us mixing and mingling most days.

It's been a slow recovery after COVID for a lot of folks; us included. This season was one of the rainiest, coldest and windiest seasons we’ve ever experienced here. We did a lot less entertaining. I’ve spent little time hiking mountain trails and even less time bike riding and swimming. Health issues prevented us from going to Florida for Sharon’s brother’s wedding reception in February.  On the other hand, we were so lucky to have the kids out here on several occasions.

Family and friends gathered here to celebrate my newest play ‘Widow’s Waltz’ which was performed last November.

Both families came out for Christmas. Several months later, Brian, Melanie and I celebrated my 80^th birthday with a spectacular road trip down the PSH from San Francisco to San Diego.

Then in April, Melanie and family came out here to celebrate spring break. So, the social part of our time spent in the desert was a mixed bag; family time was great, seeing lots of friends, not so much. Now on the flip side of that altered season, in terms of writing, it was a veritable bonanza. It was the most prolific writing season I’ve ever experienced.

When I began my new writing career, I had no idea where it would lead me. My first two books proved a very satisfying experience. I was off to the races and learning the craft of writing.

Then I experimented with playwriting. That also proved a worthwhile endeavor. So much so, that I’ve written eighteen plays thus far and have had five of them produced both in Minnesota and California.

Fast-forward almost fifteen years and my writing desk is overflowing with projects. It includes novels, novella’s, plays, children’s stories, blogs, poetry, screen-writing, a comic strip and still-stumbling songwriting. My writing is like a pinball bouncing off of one genre to the next.

After premiering ‘Widow’s Waltz’ in California last fall, I wrote a second play dealing with local issues relevant to the desert, some very complex characters and several intriguing plotlines all situated down ‘By the Salton Sea.’

‘Broken Down Palace’ is a new book of my poetry which will be published in the near future. I have over thirty photographs which my editor has stylized to add another layer of mystery to the poems.

A second book in the ‘Waleed, the Skinny Hippo’ children’s series has been written. The theme is ‘being afraid’ and I hope to have it illustrated soon. ‘Sweet Pea & the Gang’ has proven to be a real challenge. It needs to find an audience before it can advance.

‘Playground for the Devil’ is my latest novel which has been placed in several book stores with limited success. It needs better marketing and more hustle on my part. Juggling writing with marketing has always been a tough road for me to travel.

‘Agnes; Memories of First Love’ is my first novella on the Amazon Vella platform. Feedback has been very positive but it hasn’t broken through the other novellas piling up there yet.

Three of my plays, written during the pandemic, are still searching for the right venue to be performed. ‘Tangled Roots,’ ‘PTV’ and ‘Wake; the Musical’ all need musical accompaniment and more fine-tuning before they’re ready for the stage.

‘Frenchy’s Eats,’ was a very special play for me to write. It is a personal narrative of my parents' back story and my early childhood and its repercussions on me and my family today.

‘Habitat for Humility,’ is a new movie script in development. The storyline deals with a mutual attraction between a divorcee and the proverbial shooting star who has just crashed into reality. There is simmering sexual tension, conflicting class status, a jealous boyfriend, an abusive ex-husband and a scheming but well-intentioned sister. Writing the screenplay will be a piece of cake compared to the complexity I will have to face navigating the world of movie-making – if – it comes to that.

So overall, I’ve got enough on my plate to keep me writing and editing for a very long time. And the ideas keep bouncing around inside my head. Like I said, it was the worst of times but, boy, was it the best of times too.