It is within the serenity of a quiet boat ride down the lake, a long hot shower, or a quiet drive on a beautiful day that my creativity sparks. My mind wanders into the world of imagination and make-believe. Within those moments I pull theses fragmented elaborate thoughts together, document, write, dream, and formulate. The hour glass empties and before I know it 10,000 words are staring me in the face. There in lies the journey and the start of another novel.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

This year as I prepared to blaze the Halloween trail once again, my kids decided to break free from Mom and do the infamous Trick or Treat with their friends instead. What on earth is a Mom to do? No walking for candy, no children to watch over. I peeled myself off the floor and decided to break free from my protective nature. I unlocked the key on the tightly sealed door around their very large hamster roller balls :-) and let them roam the streets with their friends, scouring each house for the next piece of candy.

And I spent the evening in a quiet house - which only lasted until they returned home - and I watched this video online. Too cute - kudos to the guy that put this together!

VIDEO: Halloween Light Show: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Writing with Purpose

In my day job, I research, fact find, and develop curriculum.  There is a correct and incorrect.

But in my own world, wrapped up in a furry warm blanket and drinking a hot Hazellatte, I spit words onto the keyboard that sometimes have no meaning.  Some words I've made up and other actual words that my story assigns new meaning - like writing your own dictionary. 
Breathing life into a character that no where in the world does this person really exist is FUN to say the least.  I can close my eyes and envision my characters - what they look like, how they act, and how they sound.
The tricky part comes when its time to live real life, outside of the fantasy world.  Putting the computer down brings a level of guilt as their lives are put on hold when my fingers stop typing.  The characters remain in a state of limbo while I go off and live my life.  They sit idle waiting for the next round of words to move them forward in their moment in time.

My genre (middle grade/young adult fantasy fiction) can sometimes be a struggle, but with my own captive audience of middle grade/young adult children I can test drive my story with my target audience.  A few squiggled noses and some deer in the headlight looks, I've tweaked it here and there and everywhere, we've pulled together a great story!  Something different - never what you would expect.