Tag Archives: Jodi Thomas

Point of View

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TRAILS END – The novel

Point of View

When I first attempted writing, I knew what every character was thinking and doing, how they felt, and why. I simply told the reader all they needed to know. Learning to write from one character’s point of view and letting them show the reader the story, became intimidating. For a while I became stifled, unable to make any progress with my story.

With the help of my good friends in Wordsmith Six, and attending the Jodi Thomas Writers Academy at WTAM, I’m learning. There is, however, a POV I still struggle with. Trails End is a main character in my novel, and I really want to incorporate the horse’s POV a few times through out the story. I just finished such a chapter, and I have no idea if it will fly. My Wordsmith Six group might have to fix it.

Have you seen the movie “War Horse”? The book was loaned to me by Natalie Bright because it’s written entirely from the horse’s POV. What a great story. So at least I know it can be done. I can only hope my novel will be as compelling.

Thanks for reading,

Joe

 

THE BUS

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THE BUS

by Sharon Stevens

Years ago my daughter traveled with the Girl Scouts to the birthplace of Juliet Low in Savannah Georgia. Their bus was involved in an accident in Memphis Tennessee. They reported that their bus driver saw a light pole at the intersection ahead moving back and forth. In his experience he knew a wreck was occurring and reacted accordingly. He slowed and swerved till he could safely stop the bus. With his actions he was able to avoid a horrific and deadly tragedy. There were a few minor bumps and bruises among the girls and their leaders, but nothing that prevented them from continuing their journey. It could have been so much worse!

Dad used to drive the bus for the WTSU band kids and the football kids, spiriting whoever needed a ride to a school rivalry or athletic function.

My father-in-law and my husband both drove a school bus not only to get the kids safely to and from school, but they also drove the band bus, the spirit bus, the football bus, the fan bus to away games.

I remember the story my mom would tell about my grandfather. He would come home from working all day and see how tired grandmother was so he would send her downtown on the bus to window shop while he watched the kids just to let her get out of the house.

Servicemen stationed at the Amarillo Air Force Base rode the bus to get to town, to go to dances, to go to the movies, or just to see the sights.

I rode the school bus, my sister and brother rode the school bus, our daughters rode the school bus, and our neighbors rode the school bus until such time as we could afford a car to make the journey. Precious cargo!

I wonder how many college students make ends meet by driving a school bus every week, back and forth, to and from, day in and day out?

Our Canyon High School drama group traveled to Dallas one year to see Our Town performed by the Dallas Theater. A sweet memory I will carry with me forever. The Randall and Canyon High School choirs rode a charter bus to Dallas to take a flight to New York City to see the sights and perform at St. Patricks Cathedral and several other venues. One of the highlights was to sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at Shea Stadium for a Met’s game. What a journey that was.

My mom rides the bus at the Craig Retirement Center to go to the doctor, to get groceries, to eat out with other residents. The bus driver is always gracious and helpful as they get on the bus as well as when they exit.

Jodi Thomas, our local best selling author and Writer-in-Residence at WTAMU told me her dad used to drive a city bus in Amarillo.

Countless times I have watched across the street as school buses from around the panhandle as well as those from the charter bus companies unload passengers to tour the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

Rosa Parks and also The Freedom Riders will forever be linked. Their memories of riding a bus differ from mine.

I was reminded of all these stories when I heard that members of the TEXAS Musical Drama were traveling to The Gaylord in Dallas Texas to perform for the opening ceremonies for the American Bus Company.

What an opportunity! What an experience!

TEXAS has been named for several years as one of the top ten destinations for the bus companies. Here in the panhandle this means they visit our restaurants, our museum, our shops and our TEXAS.

But more importantly when they get back on the bus they take a little bit of our heritage and hospitality home with them.

Can you imagine the stories that are shared between the passengers after each stop? Many have some tie or connection with either our community, WTAMU or the history of our area.

I will never forget standing in line at Luby’s in Amarillo several years ago. Ahead of me in line was a group from Kentucky traveling by charter bus. One of the men stepped out of line and made his way back asking if anyone knew about the area. Always the tour guide I spoke up. He shared with me that he was working on a book and was wondering where he could do research in the area. He was scoping out places he could return to later on.

The bus had visited the museum, but this man didn’t know about the archives and their rich storehouse of information for every aspect of pioneer life from architects, ranchers, cowboys, business and writing. I told him about the Cornette Library and their special collections, and I racked my brain for all the out-of-the-way spots where he could find information.

I also pointed out that we were home to the Panhandle Professional Writers, one of the oldest continuous writing groups in the nation and that every year we sponsored the Frontier in Writing conference in conjunction with Amarillo College. He was excited to say the least! In one moment he had scored a hit just by getting off the bus.

This last year a tour bus from England stopped at the museum. Several tired of walking the halls and wandered across the street and came into our Buffalo Bookstore. One of the women visited quite a while with me and shared her story. Later I encountered this same group when I went by United and Hastings here in Canyon to run an errand. They had just been to Feldman’s for lunch and wandered over to visit the shops next door. The same lady who had talked with me for so long was excited to see me again. With a twinkle in her eye she smiled and said, “Isn’t it ever so nice to have a chat.”

And this brings me to the crux of my blog. A bus driver drives the bus. They may travel hundreds of miles from their home on their journey. They have a life, a family, a story. Who knows when they might recognize an adventure at hand or a tragedy about to unfold.

I have a great deal of respect for bus drivers. When passengers get on the bus they are putting their life in the hands of an experienced man or woman, trained to deliver them safely to their destination.

Who knows who they will bring to visit our community and what memories they will take back with them.

So many times as writers we are so focused on the story itself we can’t see all aspects surrounding the tale. We want to make our writing fit the page, the paper, our visions, our ideas and can’t bear the thought that we might have to go in an entirely different direction than what we anticipated.

If only we could gaze out the window at the scenery passing before us, by us, behind us and let the bus driver drive the bus.

He knows the way.

Sharon Stevens

STORY

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STORY

by Sharon Stevens

“The telling of a tale links you with everyone who has told it before.

There are no new tales, only new tellers in their own way,

and if you listen closely you can hear the voice of everyone who has ever told the tale.”

by William Brooks

From POWER OF THE STORY

by Rives Collins & Pamela J. Cooper

I always jump at the chance when asked to volunteer as a storyteller for the annual Panhandle Plains Historical Museum (PPHM), “Cemetery by Twilight Tour”. Who wouldn’t be excited with the opportunity to research and celebrate the lives of those at rest in the historic Llano Cemetery.

For one minute after answering the call I am utterly elated, and the next terribly dejected. The task before me begins to swell like a Tsunami, simply because what I am expected to accomplish. One, I have to complete the assignment before Saturday October 15, 2011 at 3:30, and, two, condense one hundred years of community history from a mountain to a molehill within just one area family. And three, I have to limit my story to eight minutes or less. With hours of research facing me this is just a tad bit overwhelming.

The simple fact of the matter for me is this…the stories never stop. You can’t get them to slow down long enough to put a handle on the memories. You can’t just put your hand up and command thoughts to wait their turn, or to back up and make room for the important facts to come forward. It is like putting your fingers in a dike to stop the flow of water when another hole beside you opens up. In the case of the drought we have been experiencing here, no doubt it is the panhandle dust that will bury me deep underneath.

My load would also be a great deal lighter if I had limited experiences and resources to choose from. But my choices include a full weekend of programs that intersect on every level with what I am compiling.

On Thursday night October 13, 2011 at 5:30pm WTAMU in conjunction with the PPHM will be hosting The Remnant Trust lecture by Dr. Wade Shaffer speaking on “The City in Early America, The City Upon the Hill”. All free and open to the public.

Friday October 14, 2011 the Friends of the WTAMU Cornette Library will be hosting Jodi Thomas, New York Times Bestselling author and Writer-In-Residence at the college for their fall luncheon at 12:00pm. Her talk will be on “Working in Harmony-Combining Art and Craft” and also for her reception for that evening from 4:00 to 6:00pm.

Then there is the Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Chuck wagon Supper on October 15, 2011 at 5:00pm at the Palo Duro Cowboy Church on Highway 60 West of Canyon with cowboy poetry, storytelling, music and authentic chuck wagon food.

How can I choose what is relevant to my journey? Who knows where an idea might fall into place at just the right moment?

And I can’t forget about the resources. Does anyone have any idea as a writer how many places I connect with to follow the story? The Archives at PPHM or the Cornette Library, or any library within the Harrington Consortium, or every library around the country can and will assist me at any time. If I want to find out about the schools I can research through the school districts. Churches have people just crying for an opportunity to help with their faith, their members and their church history. Reading someone’s Master’s Thesis is an outstanding source of information from architecture to theater. Scanning through area magazines with a local flair like “Accent West” and the “Amarillo Magazine” unwittingly connects me forward. The Internet offers links around the world, but directs me to treasures and information right here at home in city newspapers of the Amarillo Globe News and Canyon News with archives online for today as well as years ago.

And the people, so many people. Wherever I am I mention one name and invariably someone will step out and share with me a story attached to a name, a place, a kinfolk, a time, an adventure. How can I choose? How can I limit? How can I condense?

The simple answer is that I can’t, and that’s okay!

In his book from RUSH TO DESTINY, Larry Jay Martin writes about the appreciation for the characters out of America’s past. He remarks, “Without all of them there would be no story.”

In the eight minutes I appear before you at the Llano Cemetery I can’t share every memory I accumulated while researching the epitaph carved on a tombstone. I know I will never be able to list the accomplishments of the family buried there beneath the earth.

My message is simpler than that. In that moment where we congregate together honoring the movers and shakers of our area, we are simply sharing of all that is good that surrounds us. I am a “new teller” telling the same story so that those listening might be encouraged and inspired to research on their own at the museum, or a library, or to talk with someone to connect with their heritage and history, then to pass it on.

I know that my version of the story is not the only one out there. That evening there will be storytellers throughout that will share about the people they represent. Trudy Hanson, professor at WTAMU, usually brings her students along. Hanson is a passionate professor and gifted storyteller and she is also the one who requires the book, THE POWER OF THE STORY. She is a true storyteller.

Come visit Llano or attend any of the other events in our area. If you stop at the Wolflin burial plot I can’t promise you I will limit my talk to only one story,I can only follow where my heart leads. And that, my friend, is the ultimate power of a story because…

“If you listen closely you can hear the voice of everyone who has ever told a tale.”

Sharon Stevens

ROLLER SKATES

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ROLLER SKATES

by Sharon Stevens

In honor, memory and celebration of

Jerry Williams and Ruth Holladay

Who says, “you can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd”? Just because Roger Miller celebrated this fact in a song he wrote and performed doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It’s just not a good idea. One, it disturbs the buffalo and two, skates don’t skid well through patties.

Take my hat for example. I have a hat, the most wonderful chapeau you could ever imagine, made special for me to celebrate a Kentucky Derby event at my mother’s church. I had Nikki Sams at Stevens Flowers transform two cowboy hats for this. I felt like Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” when I entered their magical world on the courthouse square in Canyon. With outstretched arms I begged them to help me with an idea for my mother and me to celebrate together. Mother’s needed to be respectable while I wanted mine to represent everything patchwork. What they came up with was nothing short of miraculous. Mother’s hat was black sparkly crochet on a gold background with pearls hanging down the back. Mine was every color of the rainbow, interwoven together, connecting each hue to the next. It was covered in crochet, lace, and bright expressions of “bling.” I have never had anything with “bling” before.

We were a hit wearing our hats and had more fun. After the event my mother put hers away and I hung mine on a hook at our bookstore, and this has been a real conversation starter for anyone who comes in.

At the bookstore I wear many hats, but none more special than this one. I take it down and wear it on story-telling occasions in memory of “Patchwork.” It is my way of honoring Ruth Holladay and Jerry Williams. Both true storytellers inside and out. Jerry would wear a silk patchwork top hat while Ruth donned a patchwork vest with pockets galore. Ruth never knew what story she would tell until she got up before her audience and put her hand in her pocket. Whatever object she pulled out would determine the story she would weave.

I can’t wear my hat without being reminded of all the wonderful stories that surround all of us to be written and shared. Also, when this is perched brightly on my head it brings me courage and inspiration. Downright silly in the wrong setting, it fits perfectly for all ages with its sparkle and bling in the right one. And its not that I’m invisible underneath, but it helps to hide my sheer terror while the audience gushes over the designs and colors woven intricately together.

So I was reminded of my chapeau while running across to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum to deliver books to the author Jodi Thomas, guest speaker for the Canyon Chamber of Commerce-Women in Business breakfast. I left my hat behind at the bookstore; it would have been out of place at a professional event such as this. I try to reserve it only for special projects at the museum, library and story time hoping to make a memory for someone.

To me this object represents a MacGuffin. When Harrison Ford promoted “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” he mentioned that the skulls were a “MacGuffin,” a storied item worth seeking, such as the Ark of the Covenant. This was a phrase first coined by Alfred Hitchcock in 1939 and picked up by Steven Spielburg and George Lucas. Hitchcock describes the meaning as “whatever impels the villains and virtuous characters in a movie to pursue each other through the convoluted plots. The mechanical element that usually crops up in any story…the object around which the plot revolves.” Lucas further strengthened the idea. “A MacGuffin should be powerful and the audience should care about it almost as much as the dueling heroes and villains on-screen.”

My hat, the MacGuffin, signifies thousands upon millions of precious stories I can connect together at a drop of a hat. Nikki Sams created and crafted my jewels with the artistry of her grandmother, Montene Stevens who taught her to crochet. Nikki’s mother, Debbie Stevens and grandmother Shirley White shared their passion and the heritage of beauty not just in flowers. Stevens Flowers is also a family business which will be celebrating 75 years this year in the community.

Every time I come into their store I am inspired and linked to another story and memory, and not only because of my hat. When I leave I am renewed in my faith to set my thoughts down in some form or fashion to share with generations to come.

Even though those gifted in the flower shop are not milliners, I can only imagine that Stevens continues the tradition of our prairie foremothers (as opposed to forefathers) who must have fashioned bonnets with bits of ribbon and lace, fabric and scraps to renew that which adorns our heart and soul.

Yep, I didn’t wear my patchwork hat to the Chamber of Commerce breakfast. It just wouldn’t do. I know enough not to roller skate in a buffalo herd either. But you can bet your bottom dollar I will be wearing my special “lid”, my precious chapeau, at our Buffalo Bookstore during the WTAMU Homecoming parade Saturday October 8, 2011 or I’ll eat my hat. Believe me, with all that bling it won’t be very tasty.

This year’s theme is Mardi Gras, and me and my colorful cowboy hat will fit right in, a mixture of our western heritage and silly celebration. I might even have to go next door to The Hide Out and buy some beads to add more bling. Isn’t that what Mardi Gras is all about?

Don’t look for me to lead the buffalo mascot and accompanying herd in the homecoming parade though; it’s just not my place. Wait a minute, what if I can find a pair of roller skates. Hmmmm. Can you imagine what a MacGuffin that would make?

Sharon Stevens

“Put feet to your dreams.”

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“Put feet to your dreams.” –Jodi Thomas

by Sharon Stevens

I took my first creative writing class at Amarillo College in 1993 with the encouragement of a friend, Connie Hirsch. The class was taught by Jodi Thomas and DeWanna Pace, not only teachers but authors in their own right. I was surrounded by every conceivable genre known to man…or woman…or beast as the case may be. One gentleman was a Civil War buff, one lady historical romance. There was a man who was writing a book on the murder of his daughter by her husband, but also wrote the most moving stories of his family during their time in a hospital ICU. You could tell there were some serious writers as well as those who wanted only to publish the great American novel bypassing the work it took to get there, obviously impatient with the entire process.

I didn’t fit into any niche. My passion was not to write a novel or publish a book. I just wanted to set down simple family stories into a tangible medium to preserve from my generation to the next.

Connie had told me that the first night they used a writing exercise about coming across a single shoe and telling its story. The wonderful thing about Jodi and DeWanna’s class is that you never had to read aloud if you didn’t want to. You could just listen to the other stories and share if you wished.

I never wished. I agonized over my story again and again. I knew what it entailed and where the characters were led. I understood the dynamics and shared the pain and the joy involved with my lost shoe. But I never could finish. There was something so painful in the memories that led up to the shoe being lost. These weren’t ugly memories per se, and there was love involved within the family so it wasn’t a pure loss. But for some reason my thoughts made me cry and tugged at my heart. Maybe because I knew the ending ended with sweetness, or that I knew it would never end that way, could never end that way, should never end that way.

I have written so many stories since that first night of class, wonderful, joyous celebrations of community and heritage. Surrounded by family and friends my heart has been full as I witnessed kindness and care, but also ugliness and stupidity with bullies and charlatans galore. I have seen true acts of faith and patriotism coupled with treason and discrimination, all in one day. Each and every one has found a place in the thoughts I put down on paper.

Over all I have taken three separate creative writing classes from Jodi. I joined the Panhandle Professional Writers, attended several Frontiers in Writing Conferences, submitted articles for publication, some published, most not, and was one of the co-founders of the Jodi Thomas Fan Club with friends Connie Hirsch and Natalie Bright. I shared “Sowing Jodi” with Claudia Wilson as she and her husband traveled around the country as park host, and visited local libraries to celebrate the books of Jodi. I wish I could list all the others who have crossed my path on my writing travels, but it would be endless.

I also can’t tell you how wonderful it is to celebrate the journey of Phyllis Miranda and Linda Broday as they come into their own right with their “Give Me A Texan” anthologies along with Jodi and DeWanna. At the recent book signing for the launch of their latest anthology, “Give Me A Texas Outlaw” at Barnes and Nobles in Amarillo, DeWanna shared with me that August would be celebrating thirty years since she and Jodi took their very first creative writing class together at Amarillo College. As I watched Linda, Phyllis, Jodi and DeWanna sign book after book and visit with fan after fan I was overwhelmed. Never once, not once in all the times I have known these wonderful ladies have they been unkind, or impatient. They have answered questions, shared tips and celebrated the success of every writer who crosses their path.

I may never finish the story of the lost shoe. Jodi and DeWanna understand. But you can bet if I do complete the memory they will be the first to give kudo’s.

My shoe was lost by the side of the road. It was real, it was tangible and it was there, and will remain there until I am ready to go back, pick it up, and place it among my heirlooms to treasure. After all its only one shoe. I realize now that Jodi and DeWanna share the other.

Congratulations on their journey!  Sharon Stevens

HAMILTONIAN

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HAMILTONIAN

by Sharon Stevens

Author Jennifer Archer encouraged us to celebrate National Book Week by choosing a book close at hand, turning to page 56, reading the fifth sentence, then posting it without listing the title of the book or author.

In an old used paperback I had culled from the shelves, next to my writing space (Natalie Bright, August 8, 2011) I found, “They ain’t nothing but animals, they really ain’t.” (1)

What fun! Intrigued I then took it one step further. My husband and I were stocking college textbooks on the shelves of our Buffalo Bookstore getting ready for the fall semester at WTAMU and I came across the words “In addition, some youngsters got involved painting artistic travel posters to decorate the area.”(2)

In another book I found “As if they were spiritual consumers, young adults are shopping around among a wide range of religious traditions, in the process they are finding new ways to incorporate religion into their daily lives:”(3) Last but not least I read in still another book, “Explain why the tour ABCFECDBA is not a Hamiltonian circuit for the graph below.”(4)

A journalist remarked that of all the generations this was the best time to be a reader, that with libraries, Kindles, Nooks, bookstores as well as Google and Bing you can read any time and any place. Since we own a bookstore filled with used paperbacks, local authors and college textbooks, and with being a living American and breathing free, I wholeheartedly agree! I can go anywhere and pick up whatever suits my fancy at any moment to coincide with my mood at the time. I am then free to put it back down if it doesn’t suit my fancy, (as in studying about the Hamiltonian Circuit) and pursue my passion somewhere else.

Each book to me is a treasure shared from the author directly to my heart. I celebrate each letter, sentence and chapter. Being involved in a writers critique group and a member of Panhandle Professional Writers I know what it takes to put words down on paper and pursue ideas to publication.

I found a chapter on literacy for children, “Many people seem to think that reading is pronouncing the sounds of letters and that writing is about copying print or putting sounds together. These people have forgotten that the purpose of reading is to make meaning.”

And I guess this is what I treasure the most in reading is to “make meaning”. Everything I read connects to some part of my life, my heart, and my soul. I read for pleasure, I read to learn, I read to relish, but I also read to share. What else is a good book for but to pass on to others. On that note, it is amazing how one of my favorite authors always seems to put words together meant just for me, “The silence seemed to stretch miles between them.”(5)

I have a Webster’s Dictionary from 1890, and the fifth sentence down on page 56 is written, “ANTIQUITIES-The remains of ancient times. In this sense it is usually plural.”

The next sentence goes on to relate that “Antiquities comprehend all the remains of ancient times; all the monuments, coins, inscriptions, edifices, history, and fragments of literature, offices, habiliments, weapons, manners, ceremonies; in short whatever respects any of the ancient nations of the earth.”

Thanks Jennifer Archer, as an author, for reminding me to celebrate everything I hold most dear. I couldn’t have written it better myself.

Sharon Stevens

1. Royal Stud, by Stuart Jason

2. Let’s Begin Reading Right,by Marjorie Fields, Lois A. Groth, Katherine L. Spangler

3. Sociology The New Millennium, by Jenifer Kunz & Claudia Stuart professors at WTAMU

4. For All Practical Purposes, Mathematical Literacy in Today’s World by Comap

5. Texas Blue by Jodi Thomas