Leaf River Writer

Deborah Ann Lucas

Down the Long Lane Helping Women Write

Memoir . On Writing . Book Coaching

Perseverence, Passion, and Patience

The four winds whisper words of wisdom as I walk,
telling me to trust in fur and feathered friends;
spirits of the wild guide me through winter’s woes,
forever watchful as I whittle away at melancholy’s embrace.

Lazy leaves drift on a light breeze until they sink,
to touch the earth and tumble across far flung fields.
I lie wrapped in rust and mustard and make peace with what is
and what cannot be, my longing tenderly lulled to sleep.

From my fifty moves in forty-five years,

I’ve learned perseverance, patience, and passion,

essential skills I use when I write and coach

Becoming a writer, artist, healer & horse whisperer

I started to blogging as Leaf River Writer in February 2011 telling stories about my horses. They healed me as I worked to heal the neglected land I now call home. They help dropping their nutrient-rich manure as I carry out broken glass and half-buried equipment parts, some with trees growing between the steel bars.

After acquiring the page with my name, I work to integrate my multiple identities of writer, book coach, artist, healer, and horse lover in one site.

While renovating and restoring the buildings we live in, I’ve traveled a journey to understand the mammoth literary machine.

I’ve studied the craft of writing, creating essays, poems, two novels, and two memoirs. They are all in the revision process, each working its way in its own time toward publication.

I’ve published essays in Midwest Literary Journal, Word of Art, and a poem in The Weekly Avocet). My memoir Dance While the Fire Burns is in final stages of revision and will be released soon.

How I learned to write

Over the last eight years, I’ve searched to acquire solid resources and collaborations—through writers’ conferences, local support groups, and on-line classes—for all the forms I write. I particularly enjoy my local poetry group, although I’ve been mostly absent since committing to multiple programs with Author Accelerator. I worked with book coach, Erin Lindsay McCabe (author of I Shall Be Near To You) for a year, taken workshops, and attended retreats with the fabulous Jennie Nash,(author of Blueprint for a Memoir and many others). I’ve learned essential skills that give me a clear understanding of the writing process, and continue to learn as I write and read.

Now, as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach, I am an active member of a generous literary community network, where book coaches ask questions, provide resources, and share good news.

Some of my older blogs are available on this site, and I have resumed monthly updates, so if you’d like to receive them in your mailbox, please subscribe below.

Let's stay in touch

https://deborahannlucas.substack.com/Otherwise, watch for me on Facebook as LeafRiverWriter on my personal page, as DeborahAnnLucas on an author page, and on my art page TrotTownStudios. I also like to hang around Instagram as Deborah_Ann_Lucas (but not as much as I would like because I need uninterrupted blocks of time for my writing).

So, I’ll see you here on my webpage or around the web. By signing up for my newsletter or following me on social media, you’ll learn about my journey of finding home and healing my past through writing.

I have plenty of horse stories of how I’ve been healed through my connection with animals—especially my horses—and by experiencing nature close up. My horses, dogs, and cats are my children and I’ll be sharing more stories of how I’ve learned to care for and communicate with them. And I’ll share my art—paintings, quilts, clay sculpture, and photographs—all inspired by what I love.

So, thanks for taking the time to visit with me. I’d love to hear from you, here in comments, by email, or through social media. My older posts you’ll find here and around the website. Newer ones maybe be added, but many will be posted to my page on SubStack.