My favorite time of year is spring. I love to get out and work in the garden, planting the new annuals that will bloom during the summer. The trick in my region of the country is to plant early, giving the plants enough of a root system to survive the heat of a Texas summer.
What does that have to do with writing? I love to start working with my characters, starting with those “seeds” that are revealed to me. The hero of my next book lost both of his children to a terrible genetic disease. That’s all I knew. Who was this man? How did he come in contract with the heroine. What was her story?
Seeing the relationship grow is like watching my plants. I have to care for these characters, spend time with them, work to weed the idea garden when something pops up that distracts from my story. Often the results of their relationship surprises me. The characters blossom in ways that surprise, but are true to the characters. In the end that story is as satisfying as see my plants in the yard.
I will brag. The beautiful picture of bluebonnets above was taken by my son.
7 comments:
Hi Leann, thanks for sharing. It sounds like a wonderful, emotionally wrenching story. And the picture is beautiful. Tell your son he did a great job...LOL.
Lynette
That sounds like a great book coming up! Love those bluebonnets. Dana
Great picture. I admire people who are connected with the soil. My aunt was. I can remember her taking me through her garden and identifying everything and touching everything.
Hi Leann:
I used to prefer Spring with its promise of rebirth and new beginnings. However, as I grew older I began to see the wisdom of T. S. Eliot’s line from the Wasteland: “April is the cruelest month” Now I enjoy the rewards of Fall with its harvest of all the hard work spent toiling in the hot summer fields. I even see Winter as the time for renewal and contemplation as I savor the warmth of the glowing hearth. It makes me wonder if there really are seasons to one’s life.
Vince
Lynette, Jonathan Littledeer (my hero) did capture my heart. His journey was long and tortuous, but he won my heart. Pamela, I love to work in the garden. When I'm stuck in my story, I go out and pull weeds. It gets the book flowing again.
Beautiful picture! I love bluebonnets. So cheery.
your son did an awesome job on the picture. Sound like a good book.
b(dot)werts@sbcglobal(dot)net
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