Weeding the Garden

Although I live in beautiful Florida with my dear friend for most of the year, I am privileged to own a stunning home on a lake in northern West Virginia. My son keeps the home fires burning for the most part, but in May I want to be there to go through my gardens, see what plants are thriving, pull out the weeds. As a person who loves any reason to be outdoors, weeding and mulching my flower beds are labors of love. The fresh air and bird song from the surrounding woods calm my spirit as nothing else can. I have lots of "volunteer" plants in my back garden, plants that spread themselves from their original location. I almost always let them stay where they've decided to be. Makes a wild mixture sometimes, but I like the natural feeling.

Working outside allows my mind to wander, stories form, plot twists appear. Just this morning I realized that pulling weeds in a garden and finding plants in unexpected places is not unlike the editing process I go through when I have written a story, let it sit for a while, and then delve back into it almost like a new reader. Then I can remove the "weeds," the unnecessary words or phrases that clutter up the overall picture I strive to create. And during that process, new descriptions pop up, adding color and texture to my original work. I can see then where the story is thin, needs more development. Characters and settings can be enriched, nourished as easily as plants can be pruned, transplanted, and fed. And the result, when enough time has been put in, satisfies as a well-tended, much loved garden.

Review of The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Extremely well-written and organized, this fantasy tell the story of almost magical horses that are meat-eaters and live in the sea. These beautiful, dangerous animals come on land during the late fall of the year. The location of this story is a fictional island called Thisby which I imagined to be off the coast of Scotland or Ireland.

Two main characters propel this story forward: Puck (Kate) Connolly and Sean Kendrick. Sean is 19 and a genius with horses, particularly the capaill uisce, the water horses.Some have been captured and are traditionally raced along the shore in the annual Scorpio Races held on Nov. 1. Sean has won for the past four years on a fiery red capaill named Corr. This year he races to win the right to buy Corr from owner Benjamin Malvern. He also runs to protect Puck who has entered the race as the first female ever to compete. Braving convention, her parents dead, she needs the money to save their small farm. Puck does not have one of the faster capaill uisce, but she has her beloved mare Dove who runs fast, straight, and true.

This exciting story is strengthened by the antagonist character of Mutt Malvern, the son of the most powerful man on Thisby, Benjamin Malvern. Benjamin is Sean's boss. Sean's ability with Mutt's father's horses earns him the esteem of everyone on the island and Mutt's irrational hatred.

What I admire about this story is the high degree of tension that the author maintains and her ably written descriptions. The minor characters are well-drawn, too, especially Finn, Puck's younger brother. Other characters enriching this story are islanders Peg Gratton and Dory Maud and especiallty George Holly, an American tourist there for the festival and races. Richly woven and totally engrossing, The Scorpio Races is a YA masterpiece.