I've always loved to read and I've spent countless happy hours with my nose stuck in a book. I'd say "it doesn't get any better than that" but it does. Because creating a story and the characters who will live that story is the ultimate joy for me. I love being a writer!
So, here it is early January in Cincinnati. Now, keep in mind that I am NOT a winter person. Looking out the window across from my desk as I type this, I see bare trees, gray skies and a dreary landscape. And, it's cold out there. But, like reading, writing offers me a way to escape. When I close the drapes and immerse myself in my current WIP (work in progress), Murder at the Mine, which will be the fifth novel in my Small Town mystery series, everything changes.
Suddenly, it's a hot and humid August day at a gem mine in North Carolina and all of my senses are evoked. I can feel the sun beating down on my head as I trudge up a hill, shovel and bucket in hand, along with my main character, Kate, and her fiancĂ©, to dig for emeralds. Perspiration drips down my face and I swipe at it with the back of my hand. I’m no longer in Cincinnati; I've been transported to another place.
But escape isn’t the only reason I love being a
writer. God has given each of us a dream and I thank Him every day for
making my dream come true. The art of creating gives me the opportunity to share
bits and pieces of my life and experiences with my readers – without revealing
what is based on fact and what is solely a product of my imagination.
Imagine this. Five writers sit at a table. I
give each of them the same list of characters and the same plot and I ask them
to write a story using that information. I'm sure you know
what will happen. Each writer will write a totally
different story in a totally different way. They'll each use their own
imagination and their own voice to do that and the end result will be
five stories that have little resemblance to each other.
Why? Because, like our fingerprints and our DNA,
each of us is unique, one of a kind, and our writing styles will
reflect that. Each writer pulls from his or her own experience and
knowledge to create a story that no one else could possibly write. And, it
isn't just about the experience and knowledge we each have. It's also about our individual
perceptions of and reactions to those things, all of which makes the art of
creating a beautiful and exciting adventure.
The books we write are pieces of us. There's nothing more satisfying to me
than creating a story (and the characters who will live it) that
is unlike what anyone else on the planet has written or could
write. I wish I could say that everyone who reads my books will love them
but, of course, that's not true because our reading
tastes differ too. Some people will enjoy and appreciate my
books and others won't. But I write them in my own
distinctive way, the only way I can.
I've heard that, when you find the thing
you're most suited to do in life, you'll feel as if you've come home. When I
write, I'm home.
