Abstract:
The creative writing project Circles in the Sand began as a collection of
interrelated short stories but is now the three opening chapters of a novel, a chapter and an
early draft of what was originally the ending to a novella, and one short story. The
landscape is the upper Mojave Desert in Southern California; the principle community is
Ridgecrest, California, although other locations are integral to the work: Darwin, Garlock,
Inyokern, Trona, and others. Throughout these stories the primary focus in on the
characters and their connection to each other and to the land, and how that relationship
can change over time. In the opening chapter, "Zip Protocol," Frank Grier must adjust to
returning to the desert community of his childhood while his wife, Jen, is caught up in the
secret world of military research and development. In "Desert Lakes," Tommy Jenson
encounters an old flame, Stacy Bennett, and develops a friendship with her young son,
Scott. In a relationship destined to go bad from the beginning, Tommy discovers that he
can't avoid the joys and sorrows that come from interacting with others. In "Desert
Solace," Morris, a World War II veteran learns that even in the silence and calm of the
desert, the outside world has an unpleasant way of intruding into long buried memories.
"Desert Showdown" is an early attempt to bring a close to the first two chapters "Zip
Protocol" and "Desert Lakes." As the name implies, the principle characters have a
showdown in the desert. "Angels of Grace" is a short story that is separate from the novel
material, but the characters come from the same community and landscape. In this story,
Robert Jones gradually comes to understand the difference between religious fanaticism
and true belief as he observes the examples of his father, an Assembly of God minister, and
his grandmother, a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
