Triple Star Day

Today is that monumental birthday day--sure to be listed in the Guinness Book of Birthdays.
3 generations born on the same day!
My dad,
my younger brother--Glenn,
and his handsome son--Luke

And not to be forgotten is Jody (Glenn's wife & Luke's mom) whose birthday was yesterday.

Happy Birthday, Everyone!!!

Testing 1, 2, 3

Since I've got a bit of a cold and the creative bulb on my thinking cap is only emitting the most feeble light today, I'm trying to learn a new blog craft--rather than actually trying to write something. I'm attempting to import an image from Photobucket. Hopefully this will be a success. (All thanks to Tanya!)



And hopefully tomorrow my bulb will be burning brighter.

Soul Food

I sat in a bookstore today, perched on the second floor overlooking the entry way. What a vast variety of people entered through the revolving door--
a young lady clutching a cell phone
an elderly man with gray hair walking with purpose
a child with mother in tow
a neatly-attired teenage boy with wire-rimmed glasses
a woman shouldering a large, glittery bag
a middle-aged man in suit and tie
an entire family--father, mother, and two bickering children wanting to head different ways.

So many people and all with a need for words, for stories, for facts.

A quote above the door from Desiderius Erasmus (a 15th century writer) said,
"When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food."

What a wise man who feeds his soul first before his stomach!

Bookstores: grocery stores for soul food.
How heavenly!

Bird Foot Trefoils

Summer is a time for surprises--even in the ordinary. Today while walking my dog Holly around the neighborhood, I glimpsed some bright spots of yellow dotting the low-cut grass. While Holly chased a flying bug, I bent down and studied the tiny little wildflowers. Perfectly petite with one unfolded petal and two other petals clasped together like praying hands. Beautiful!



If you'd like to see a picture of these flowers and read more about them, go to

http://www.wildflowerinformation.org/Wildflower.asp?ID=14



And if you'd like to see how one artist captured the beauty of a variety of wildflowers in watercolor, find a copy of A Child's Book of Wildflowers by M. A. Kelly and illustrated by Joyce Powzyk. Ms. Powzyk shows in 4 steps how she draws and paints her lovely illustrations, and Ms. Kelly offers interesting insights into some common wildflowers that you might find growing close by. On page 27 of the book is CLOVER. This sweet wildflower, much loved by bees, should be easy to find right now.



Take a walk. Take a look. How many surprises can you find today?

Best & Worst Lists

Lists can be important catalysts for writers. In Aimee Buckner's Notebook Know How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook she suggests ways to use lists to spur creativity. She has her students make both a Best and Worst list on a topic, like family vacations. Then the student chooses one of the most appealing items from the list and writes the story relating to it.

Just ask anyone to sit down and start writing, and it seems an overwhelming task. But by narrowing the writing down to a specific topic and by creating a list for the topic, the process is greatly simplified. This allows more time to be creative and less time to be stressed on what to write about. And the more writers write the better writers they become.

If you're interested in exploring the ultimate writers' list go to Writers Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers: http://www.writersdigest.com/101sites/categorysearch.asp?year_101=2007

Humor

I recently received a letter from a girl named Erin who thinks rainbows are cool. She explained to me that rainbows make her feel happy inside and out. And she shared more happy thoughts with me by including a number of her favorite jokes like this one:

Why is the six afraid of the seven?
Seven ate nine!

Humor is an essential element in most all of my writing. For kids, humor comes as easily as breathing. If you need some help handling humor in your stories, you can read this article posted at the Institute of Children's Literature website--Humor with Ruth McNally Barshaw, the author/illustrator of Ellie McDoodle, Have Pen Will Travel.

http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/barshaw.shtml

And if you want to enjoy a few more laughs, check out the funny sites listed on my website under For Kids/ Cool Links at http://www.cynthiareeg.com/kids/links.html

Writing Insights

As always, I'm reading and one of the books I'm reading of late is Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words by Ralph Fletcher. My last two posts have been about CHARACTERS, and Ralph has a great quote from Carolyn Coman in this book concerning characters.

Carolyn says, "I don't create characters so much as I make room inside my mind and heart for them to come and get me."

Wow! What an amazing perspective. So now it's just a question of seeing how roomy I can make my mind and heart because I can already hear some eager characters calling out to me, wanting to come in.

How about you? Can you make room for some characters???