Season of the Dove | marieqrogers

Posts Tagged ‘Season of the Dove’

Joys and Sorrows

Posted in Marie's Musings, tagged Blackfork AR, BookFest Awards, Family Heritage, Florida Writers Association, Hospice, Royal Palm Literary Award, Science Fiction, Season of the Dove, Short Stories, Trials by Fire, Unpublished Book of the Year, Young Adult Fiction on July 31, 2026| 2 Comments »

I’m back!

It has been over a year since I last posted. I haven’t been idle—that’s part of the problem—I’ve been overwhelmed with family and volunteer responsibilities, as well as trying to keep up with my writing.

Family comes first. My mother turned 95 in September, 2025. Over the past few years, she suffered physical setbacks and had been sinking into dementia. The bulk of her care fell to my sister Elaine, who lives next door. The rest of us pitched in as much as we could. Eventually, Mom needed around the clock care. Since we were determined to keep her at home, those of us who lived out of state went to Arkansas as often as possible to give Elaine some relief. I made so many trips to Blackfork, my Roadtrek tried to turn west toward Arkansas whenever it left the driveway.

A few times, I flew. Once, my flight from Jacksonville was delayed by a thunderstorm. By the time I reached Dallas, I’d missed my connecting flight to Ft. Smith. Fortunately, the airline paid for a hotel room, so I didn’t have to spend the night at the airport.

A few weeks later, when I checked in at Ft. Smith for my return trip, there was a thunderstorm in Dallas! The plane was delayed, I missed my connection, and once again they put me up in a hotel. I concluded that it takes two days to fly between Florida and Arkansas.

I don’t regret the time and effort I made to keep my mother comfortable in her last days. Between family and Hospice, we were able to care for her at home. Hospice was wonderful. Blackfork is so remote, the nearest paved road is in Oklahoma, yet nurses visited frequently and supplies, such as oxygen, were delivered to her door. Mom was in good hands until the angels came for her.

Between trips, I managed to go to Orlando for the Florida Writers Association banquet where the winners of the Royal Palm Literary Awards were announced. I had two entries, a short story and an unpublished novel.

In 2020, I had entered my first novel, Trials by Fire, which was a finalist. Since we were in the middle of COVID, there was no banquet that year. The awards were announced by Zoom. I waited with anticipation while the other genres were called, alphabetically, Young Adult being the last category. Unpublished novels were announced first. I held my breath when they moved to “Published YA.” The announcer read a tagline that sounded familiar. They were talking about my book! I was now an award-winning author!

Every year since, I have submitted to RPLA. Often my work was a semifinalist or a finalist. Every year, entrants are sent the rubrics from the judges, valuable feedback for improving one’s writing. In 2021, I entered Season of the Dove as an unpublished novel. Feedback indicated that it needed “light work.” Over the next two years, I gave it more than light work and entered it again in 2023 after it was published. I also entered the book in a few other contests.

That year Season of the Dove was a finalist, so fingers crossed, I attended the banquet. I sat through the other awards, waiting for Science Fiction. They announced the unpublished winners, then the published. Then they moved on to the last few genres. Oh, well.

For some reason, still sitting at the table, I checked my emails. One had just arrived from The BookFest Awards. Season of the Dove had come in second place in the Dystopian – Climate Change category! At a later date I received word that, while the novel hadn’t placed in the Eric Hoffer Awards, it was a finalist for the Montaigne Medal for the most thought-provoking books. I’m quite proud of that distinction.

In the meantime, I kept writing. In Trials by Fire, a character narrates the story of Moses and Rila, the original pioneers to their planet. The idea of a full length novel based on this story kept growing in my imagination, until I wrote it. In 2025, I entered the still unpublished Tale of Moses and Rila, plus an unpublished short story “The Drawer” in the RPLA contest.

When I received emails that both entries were finalists, I was delighted. The chairman asked for a tagline and short excerpt to be read if the work was a winner. I’d been so busy, and not immune to procrastination, by the time of the banquet, I’d forgotten whether I’d sent those in. Wouldn’t they have reminded me if I hadn’t? Maybe not if I wasn’t a winner. It was rather late to worry about that now. If I hadn’t sent them in, and I didn’t win, it would make no difference. If I did win, I supposed the folks running the contest would come up with something.

I attended the awards banquet. With two, in my opinion, well-written pieces, I hoped to come away with some award. If not, such is life. Five other finalists sat at my table. As the prizes were announced, one by one, I watched them make their way to the stage to receive their trophies.

Finally, we came to Science Fiction/Fantasy. The Bronze winner was announced. Then the Silver. I prepared for disappointment. Then it was time for Gold. I heard the announcer say the word “Moses” and continue with the tagline I apparently forgot I had written. I floated out of my chair, up to the stage, where I received handshakes, congratulations, and my trophy. Wow! My book was a first place winner!

Short Stories was announced next. I’d heard that there were twenty finalists, so I wasn’t optimistic. That was okay. I had my trophy. I could bask in satisfaction through the rest of the evening. Bronze was announced. A lady at my table happily proceeded to the stage. Silver came next, then Gold. I heard, “A lonely old man steals a dresser form a second hand store…” Did I hear right? I navigated the ballroom to the stage to receive my second trophy. Unbelievable! Both of my entries had taken the Gold!

After the genre winners had been announced, all that was left were the Grand Awards, the Best of the Year. Next to last was Unpublished Book of the Year. When I heard “Marie Q Rogers….” I knew I had died and gone to Heaven.

My head is still reeling. What do I feel? Happy, of course. Definitely, gratitude. But more: I feel validated as an author.

Time to move on. I’m still revising Moses and Rila, which needs a better title, but I’ll publish it soon. Winning the award should help get “The Drawer” accepted by a magazine.

Dear reader, when this happens, I’ll post it on this weblog for you to read. Stay tuned.

Read Full Post »

Total Eclipse of the Moon

Posted in Marie's Musings, tagged Category 6 Hurricane, Dystopian Novel, Earthquake, Earthquake in Georgia, Hurricane in North Florida, Lunar Eclipse 2022, Lunar Eclipse 2123, Science Fiction, Season of the Dove, Sunshine State Book Festival on November 9, 2022| 7 Comments »

There was a lunar eclipse the other night, or rather, very early in the morning, about 3 a.m. I didn’t wake up for this one, because I had heard, incorrectly, that it was to be merely a partial eclipse. Only after I missed it did I learn it had been a total. Oh, well. I’d stayed up for another total lunar eclipse just a few months ago.

That was Sunday night, May 15^th. It had been raining off and on and the weather forecast called for cloudy skies and a chance for more rain. I prayed for the weather to clear. We needed rain, but couldn’t it let up for just a few hours? I wanted very much to watch this eclipse. It was to be a dress rehearsal for one that is to occur June 8, 2123. Yes, I said 2123, 101 years from now. Why, you might ask, would I be interested in an eclipse more than a century from now? Surely, I don’t intend to live that long, do I?

No, I’m not likely to live another hundred years, but I hope my novels will.

Season of the Dove takes place in 2123. For a story to be interesting, the lives of the characters must be thrown into chaos. This happens when a Category 6 hurricane devastates North Florida, where I live. To date, the worst hurricane I’ve weathered was a Cat 2, and that was enough for me. The largest storm is rated Category 5, but in the next 100 years they’ll probably have to add additional categories. In this fictional future, the worst is Cat 7.

In the book, after things settle down a bit (Or do they?), I wanted a second crisis, a turning point for the novel. After I witnessed the Solar Eclipse of 2017, I thought a solar eclipse would be just the thing. I searched the internet, but unfortunately none were predicted in the US in the time frame of my story, even if I adjusted it by a year or two.

How about a lunar eclipse? Good news! A total eclipse of the moon is predicted to occur on the night of June 8^th and 9^th, 2123. Perfect timing. My heroes will be in the mountains of North Georgia at this time. Will it be visible in their part of the world? Yes! The eclipse will be visible over the entire eastern US, including Georgia. It’s predicted that the moon will turn orange or red during the eclipse, a phenomenon known as “blood moon.”

Blood Moon in 2021

In the story, the eclipse starts late at night and is at maximum around midnight. I wrote clear weather into the story so my characters could experience the entire spectacle. In this dystopian future, my heroes are reasonably intelligent people, but US civilization has degraded to the point that the masses are poorly educated and superstitious. When the moon turns red, spectators become anxious, fearing it to be some kind of omen. To complicate matters, I threw in a minor earthquake at the moment of maximum eclipse, just a little one, enough to be felt, enough to knock a drunken man off his feet and cause panic among the gullible.

If my novel survives into the 22^nd Century when this eclipse occurs, what will my readers think? That I’m some kind of prophet? Or will they realize I had access to the internet and the calculations of astronomers? It would be fun to stick around and find out.

The Appalachians are not widely known as an earthquake zone, but they do have small quakes, more often than you’d think. I haven’t personally experienced one, but two of my family members have, and I used their accounts of the experience in the story. Earthquakes not being as predictable as hurricanes, I’m not aware of any foretold for the year 2123. If that were to happen, especially at the same time as a lunar eclipse, well, that would be just a little too weird.

Back to the present. The May, 2022 eclipse was predicted to occur at the same time of night as the one in June of 2123, with the same coloration of the moon. I wanted to see it for myself. I didn’t spend the entire night outdoors—the mosquitoes would have eaten me alive. I know, you can view these online, but I prefer to watch them in person. I peeked out every few minutes to see how the eclipse was developing.

At 10:30, the brightness of the full moon began to diminish. By 11:00, the shadow of the Earth fell over half the moon, making it look like a fat, silver crescent. At 11:30—Oh No!—clouds covered the sky and I couldn’t even find the moon. Fifteen minutes later, the sky cleared enough that I could see a small orange disk in the southern sky, about 30 degrees above the horizon. Over the next hour, I watched light play along the lower side of the orange ball, from the right side to the left as the eclipse progressed.

At 1:00 in the morning, a beautiful silver crescent appeared on the lower left side and grew larger as the Earth’s shadow passed. The moon again brightened the night, and I retired for some well-earned sleep, satisfied that my description of the 2123 eclipse was accurate enough.

I’m not going to give away more of the story right now, but Season of the Dove is available on Amazon and Kindle Vella. You can read an excerpt of it in either location.

Check out my other books on Amazon, the award-winning Trials by Fire and it’s sequel Quest for Namai.

Read Full Post »

What I’ve Been Doing for the Past 3 Months

Posted in Marie's Musings, tagged 2022 Book Festival, Matheson History Museum, Oaks Mall Gainesville FL, Omicron, Quest for Namai, Season of the Dove, Sunshine State Book Festival, Trials by Fire on April 4, 2022| 2 Comments »

The last time I posted, in early January, I was looking forward to our third annual Sunshine State Book Festival at the end of the month. As penalty for diligence and hard work, I’d found myself chairman of the committee. My equally hardworking comrades were putting the finishing touches on the Festival. We’d rented the Oaks Mall in Gainesville for Saturday’s event. Nearly 100 authors, both local and from elsewhere, were registered. I was one of them, with a new book to offer. Five interesting speakers were scheduled for the next day at the Matheson History Museum.

Then Omicron. As infection rates skyrocketed, so did our anxiety. Authors began to drop out over concern for their health. We, too, questioned the advisability of holding a large indoor event during a wave in the pandemic. We hated to change our plans, but people’s safety was at stake.

So much uncertainty. How long would Omicron plague us? What if we change the date and there is another surge of the coronavirus? None of had a crystal ball, but we had no choice. For the second time, COVID disrupted our plans. We postponed the festival.

That meant changing the dates with the Mall and the Matheson. Fortunately both were available on the 9^th and 10^th of April.

If, in January, we were ready to launch the Festival in three weeks, three months should have us uber-prepared, right? Hold on. When you’re forced to punt, you can’t score until your next possession. If your opponent is worthy enough, it can take a good deal of time and effort to get to your next possession. That’s where we found ourselves.

We had been advertising for months. Promotional materials had been printed and distributed. Not only did the registered authors need to know of the change, the public and local media had to be informed. A lot of leg (or laptop) work. Besides correcting things, we kept finding stuff that should have been done earlier, plus a few things that just weren’t going to get done. Let’s hope they’re not critical.

There you have it, my long-winded excuse for failing to post in over three months. We are supposed to be using our social media to promote the Festival. Have you seen anything on mine? Oh, I was waiting until the last minute, to balance out those people (you know the type) who are prompt with everything.

So, if you are anywhere within driving distance of Gainesville, Florida on the weekend of April 9^th, there’s plenty of parking at the Oaks Mall. Pop in and visit the Sunshine State Book Festival. Look me up at table 47. I’ll have copies of Trials by Fire and my latest book Quest for Namai. I’ll also have bookmarks with the QR code to Season of the Dove, which is on Kindle Vella, but not available in book form yet.

On Sunday, don’t miss the speakers at the Matheson.

If you can’t come, check out my books anyway. You’ll be glad you did.

Fire