Giving Thanks for Family

It is no secret to my friends and family that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Part of the reason, no doubt, is that I was born on Thanksgiving Day. I cannot remember any Thanksgiving where I was not surrounded by at least some family. Many, many Thanksgiving Day feasts have been personally prepared and hosted by me (with family members bringing favorite dishes, of course). This is the year of our "Big Thanksgiving" at my home in West Virginia. We call it that because not every year has everyone, or nearly everyone, attending. This year will be jam packed with a new baby, a newly married couple, a new college attendee, a granddaughter who just made it to"double digits," a much-loved sister coming all the way from Egypt, and a son-in-law who just ran the NYC marathon in 3 hours 34 minutes. And all the rest of us with joys, accomplishments, and memories to share.

As I anticipate and reflect on the coming weeks of preparation and excitement, my thoughts turn to my stories. All three of my major novels and some of my shorter works have an underlying theme of family or the search for family. Two stories have high points occurring in November and scenes of Thanksgiving gatherings. As I gather with loved ones for this wonderful holiday of thanks, I like to have my characters also surrounded by love and family. May all of you who read this blog be especially blessed with the love of family and friends this coming Thanksgiving.

Flexing Muscles

I recently came across a quote from On Writing by Stephen King. "The more you use your creative muscles the stronger they will be." At last night's critique group meeting, members flexed and strengthened their creative muscles. After a brainstorming session on developing group guidelines to help keep us on track and to aide possible new members, the sharing began with the final chapter of a exciting, funny "Narnia-esque" middle grade fantasy adventure that ended with a lullaby created by the author's friend and fellow writer. Sharon brought her dulcimer, enlisted another member (me) to sing, and we closed her story in style. It was a happy, tearful ending to a story we have all grown to love.

We comment frequently in our group about how different our writing is, our voices, our humor, the concepts themselves. But one thing is clear: the creativity that has blossomed in each of us over this past year. Not only have we grown as writers polishing our work, our twice a month association has been infectious, spurring each of us on to go beyond ourselves in what we write and dream.

The second story we heard is also a middle grade fantasy of astounding creativity. It is at the "mid point" Jim says, and gave us a little diagram lesson on "plot points" that he has gleaned from a book on writing screen plays (or any good story) by Sid Field. Jim's story is full of wild characters and fantasy. We can't wait to see how it develops. In our last critiquing effort for the evening, we hovered over a query letter, pointing out strengths, eliminating, helping the writer to be concise and eye-catching.

We missed several members at last night's meeting, but their presence was felt for their encouragement has contributed to our journeys. Love you all!