It started April 7, with an aggravating change in my summer schedule that made me a bit angry. But after a long, brisk walk and thinking honestly about what I’d like to do, now that my plans had changed, I suddenly felt glowingly, energetically free! Circumstances favored shelving a difficult, do-able, not yet completed project, and inviting a creative flood in its place.

 

How very emotional of you. But what do you mean, exactly?

 

Glad you asked, Lily. I have halted work on the new Living History portrayal of Abigail Scott Duniway and am embracing the opportunity to return as Sister Catherine of the Sisters of Providence, Nisqually Mission, on August 10!

 

But you did so much reading about Abigail Scott Duniway!

 

 

I did, 9. Fortunately, like you, I enjoy reading biographies- -though her novel in verse was a bit much to take. However, that reading is complimentary to a novel I’m working on, set in 1896 and featuring an independent young woman of that day, who would certainly be interested in universal suffrage. And so many other things that were current at that time, including Spiritualism.

 

 

 

And Spiritualism is what, exactly?

 

In its purest form it’s a religion dating from the 19^th century that has two core beliefs:

 

1. The importance of following the Golden Rule
2. Humans all have the innate ability to communicate with the dead, even if they never develop it

 

So members of this religion perform séances?

 

 

Yes and no. Séances, as I understand from the book, are often a commercialized, showman-like offshoot of what people who cultivate this skill can do. The mediums (those who see and communicate with the souls of the dead) actually see and hear these souls in their day-to-day lives. But not every medium is a member of the Spiritualist Church, and not every member of the Spiritualist Church is a medium.

 

I’m getting confused.

 

It’s a lot to wrap your mind around, for sure. That’s why I read whole books about this type of subject, to get a strong grounding for what I need to portray in fiction.

 

Honing my current research to the novel project is only one aspect of the creative flood I’m experiencing now. I also decided to use my freed up time and energy to do some new writing, not necessarily for the novel but to keep my writing muscles flexed. The simplest way to do this is to enter contests with well-defined parameters and submission deadlines. I found two in the current issue of Poets & Writers magazine, due April 30 and May 5.

 

The first one is a Drabble, defined as a short story of exactly 100 words. This will be about a house that haunts. The second is historical fiction, a short story I wrote for a contest in 2015 (it did not win), featuring the main character from the new novel. I’ve done major revisions on this one, both to hone the writing (nice to know I’ve learned a thing or two about this in the past decade) and to pare down the word count by 20% to align with contest parameters. Conveniently, this part of the creative flood is highly likely to become part of the new novel-in-progress.

 

But wait! The creative flood is not limited to writing projects. I’m also firing up some domestic undertakings.

 

Huh?

 

Stuff around the house, 9. Home decorating is something that comes to me slowly. I’ve been in my present house for nearly 7 years and have at last chosen a contrast wall color for the guest room. Also, a badly painted three-shelf wooden bookcase that the previous owners left behind will be integrated into the decorating scheme, rehabbed in a glossy contrasting color.

 

 

Speaking of color, I always intend to plant cutting flowers in the annual garden but never seem to remember this until it’s too late in the growing season. Not so in the creative flood of 2025! This year, I’ll do an entire bed of four different blooms, meant to harmonize with a new tablecloth and napkins- -the first time I’ve refreshed the table linens in 25 years.

 

 

 

Being freed of Abigail Scott Duniway lifted a tremendous psychic burden from me. Nothing to do with her personally, but there was still a long way to go in writing, editing and memorizing the presentation. Plus, Abigail was a fancier dresser than other people I’ve portrayed, a former haberdasher and woman of style who would not have questioned wearing a corset, bustle and fashionable hat, all in rich black materials, in the year 1899.

 

I’m keeping her on the horizon for next year. She is highly relevant for our current times and is likely to remain so, as the executive branch of our federal government seems determined to instate a backward-looking patriarchal order that marginalizes the rights of women (Duniway was a leader in the universal suffrage movement), racial minorities and other than heterosexual fundamentalist Christians.

 

Sister Catherine, too, represents a liberated woman for her time. When she took her vows in 1848, becoming a nun was one of few alternatives to marriage, and the continuous cycle of pregnancy and childbirth that often resulted in the death of the mother. By entering a religious order, she could not only serve the poor, the sick and others in need, she could also further her own education and, as a missionary, travel to distant lands to perform her duties. True, the Catholic Church was dominated by a patriarchy of priests, but out west the Sisters had many opportunities to act autonomously.

 

Hang onto your hats, Lily and 9, and ride the creative flood with me. It’s going to be a busy spring and summer!