Reading Into It...

Avid readers,

Were you the child that sat in the classroom, chin in hand, staring out the window, the voice of the teacher drowned out because you were somewhere else? Are you still the one among family and friends that has a vivid imagination, that craves the telling of a good story.

I was the child staring out the classroom window 'day dreaming'. My parents got plenty of complaints. They were not book readers. Newspapers and the church bulletin were their literary fix. The earliest reading adventures I had, though, were Golden Books. Some of them were small, and I can still see in my mind the watercolor pictures of castles and princesses.

One book that sparked my desire to read and to write was a story about a little girl who wanted to be so small she could live in her family's garden. The illustrations were fun and provoked my imagination. This fearless, tiny heroine flew on the back of a butterfly and lived in a tin can. Sounds weird, but it was a really good story.

What has nagged at me though, is I cannot remember the title or the author. I wish I could discover it again.

When I write, I visualize everything and everyone in a scene. It is important, because if the writer cannot do this, we shouldn't expect our readers to. So writers, challenge yourself to write so well that you see, hear, taste, and touch all that your characters are. And readers, next time you pick up a novel, ask yourself if you see the characters the same way as perhaps the writer did.

Here is a couple lines from the novel I am writing. . .book 3 in the Daughters of the Potomac Series, 'Beyond the Valley'. Do you see the scene in your mind's eye?

The rattle of the carriage wheels over the sandy road seemed endless, until it slowed and drew to a halt and the din of the sea overtook the quiet. The coach door swung open.