It's hard to believe that two years have passed since my last blog. Wow, how time flies.  My book has taken on new life in 2022.  I met a couple of really incredible women.  One wrote a forward for my book and the other became a chapter in my book.  My book has taken on more editing, a forward, and a new chapter.  Today I completed all of the editing that I can do at this point.  Now it is time to find this book a home and have it come to life.  I am hopeful that this is the year for it.  It's become so much more than when I first started.  

It's a new day and it's a new year.  Time stops for no one.  With the year we just had I'm hoping this new year is a brighter one for all.  I think this new year will also be a good year for reflection.  Reflect upon our pasts and reflect upon our futures.  Ask ourselves how we will choose to move forward and heal ourselves from the past.  2020 brought many of us loss of loved ones, isolation, depression, a battle with our own demons, and so much uncertainty.  It was not a healthy year even if you managed not getting COVID.   We must always remember that from darkness comes light and there is always calm and beauty after the storm.  We must push forward and not get stuck in the here and the now.  We must shut out the noise that is beyond our control and focus on our own inner peace and work on the things we can control.  We must make change within ourselves before we start trying to make change in others.   
Peace and Love to everyone as we begin the New Year.  

Cheyenne Truth is a newly created facebook group created by a woman by the name of Jenny Pipe.  Jenny is a true warrior.  She's a person who has seen what's been going on on the reservation and has said enough is enough, it's time to act.  She wants to see a change and she's doing something about it.  She created the facebook group and does live feeds which she calls 'The Jenny Shitshow" to start the conversation in her community that needs to be started.  A conversation to get people engaged in stopping the corruption, the drug use, the abuse, and all things bad on the northern Cheyenne Reservation.  Jenny is speaking the truth and Jenny is making a call to action.  This has the bad guys on the defensive and Jenny has paid a price for speaking out. 

A couple weeks ago, Jenny was ambushed by a group of people that were taking some heat for their actions that Jenny helped shed some light upon.  They kicked her, gave her two black eyes, a very scratched up face, and one of the people beating her up tried to bite her thumb off and required stitches to mend.  The police were called to the altercation, and guess who was arrested?  Jenny... the victim.  The victim of a crime was the only one who was arrested.  

But Jenny came out smiling.  She doesn't label herself as a victim.  Jenny is tough.  Jenny is a true warrior.   So many people on the reservations are afraid to come forward and name the names of their predators or perpetrators because they are afraid what happened to Jenny for speaking out will happen to them.  Many are not willing to risk their lives or the lives of their loved ones for speaking out.  

This isn't something that's happening in the movies or back in the areas that John Gotti controlled.  This is happening in tiny little Lame Deer, Montana.  

I am pleased to announced that my manuscript is complete.  The editing process is always interesting and challenging. It usually involves over thinking and reading the same sentence out loud in different ways at least six times. Thoughtful and careful sentence reframing is not for the faint of heart.  It's always fun to compare the first draft, to the second draft, to the third draft, and sometimes even more in order to have the best version for you, the reader. The manuscript evolution is fascinating. I always have to remind myself that I'm not writing a book for myself to read, but for others. To edit this book I turned to an expert in the writing field.  He gave me some great advice for writing for today's reader. He told me to channel my inner Hemmingway.  Hemmingway's writing is classic and has withstood the test of time.  My first round of edits were ones my high school literature teachers would have been proud of, but long gone are the days of long thought provoking complex compound sentences (well not completely, but for the most part).  I now have a completed manuscript that I think Hemmginway would approve of, and I certainly hope you do too. 

My first round draft and second round draft of the manuscript is complete.  It's a great feeling.  I sent the second draft to a best selling author to get his feed back.  His response blew my mind.  I read his reply a few times, and the more I read it the more it made sense.  I'm working on my third round draft edits.  I'm crushing the soul of Mr. Auker, my freshman English teacher and Jr. Composition teacher.  He gave me the love of research and writing long complex sentences.  Long complex sentences are a thing of the past. 

I'm refocusing my brain and channeling my inner Ernest Hemmingway.  I'm on a mission to complete this round of edits and have a polished manuscript by Sept 3rd.  I want to partake in an online event where authors and publishers and agents get together.  The author puts out there query and if the agent or publisher likes it, you connect.  It's a big day.  I have my work cut out for me.  

It never fails that I seem to wake up at 4 am with thoughts and ideas for my new book.  4 am is known as the grieving hour so I guess it's only appropriate that this is the hour that I'm haunted by the subject matter of my new book.  Each time I really try to fight it and go back to sleep and swear to myself that when I get up just a couple hours later that those thoughts will remain with me.  But for those next couple hours those thoughts nag at me and keep me from finishing a good nights sleep. 
This morning was one of those mornings. So many thoughts surrounding me, nagging at me, keeping me from going back to sleep.  As soon as I'd think of one thing, another would come to mind.  Finally I get out of bed, grab my printed manuscript, my notebook full of notes, and my red pen and I flip through the pages and write down notes of things I don't want to leave out of the book.  Thoughts of did I include this already or did I leave it out.  Thoughts that I hadn't previously thought of.  One thing this book has done is bring back forgotten memories of times when I myself had been in a dangerous situation. Thoughts of what if things had gone awry? Thoughts of the times where I could have been a flash in the newspapers.  Whether it be in headlines on page 1 or tucked away somewhere in the middle pages that people tend to just briefly scan.  
As I get ready for work and scurry so that I'm not rushing out the door forgetting something and running late, I scribble my notes down in red pen and contemplate on whether or not to call in sick and just stay home and work on the project all day. But I know the weekend is coming and I'll have time then.  For now I just frantically get all the thoughts out on paper in red pen and scramble to put my make up on, take my vitamins, make my lunch, scurry out the door, and race to work with the expectation to fully function with out a full nights sleep and so many other things on my mind.  

Like all good works just when you think you had discovered everything you wanted to discuss along comes new information.  Thursday night discovered new information to expand on my new book.   Spent the day today going over new information to include in the first round edits.  

My new book is complete!  I've finished the first draft.  Crossed that finish line and it feels amazing.  Now I'll be putting the final touches on it and then getting it prepared to send off to a publisher.  Hoping I don't get too many rejections.  But I know that patience and perseverance shall prevail.  This project has haunted me, kept me awake many many nights, broke my heart, rocked me to the core, made me sick to my stomach, and given me hope.  It's been a roller coaster and I've met some amazing people along the way that I hope to meet in person someday.  Without them this project wouldn't have been possible.  

I just completed chapter 2 of the new book tonight and I'm feeling a good sense of accomplishment and progress.   I've been busy keeping the cats from completely messing up my nice sorted piles of research which has been a full time in itself.  

I have my 7 inch stack of printed out articles and notes of research sorted by category on my living room floor.  Now is the time to re-read though, highlight, and start writing.