#Saturday

(c) 2020

I’m writing this way ahead of time, just so you know. Today is the day we lay my mother-in-law to rest. She died in April and today is the soonest we were able to schedule the graveside service to inter her cremains.

My MIL was a strong and opinionated woman who provided gentle guidance when I first married her youngest son. My husband is her baby, the youngest of six kids. She had an iron fist while also encouraging her kids to be themselves.

She lived her entire life in Tucson, loving the desert. She planted drought- and heat-tolerant plants in her garden while battling the drying winds and temps. She loved rocks and geodes. Her garden and the fireplace hearth was filled with the sparkling crystals. We have some of them now and it’s nice to see them sparkling in the sun and reminding us of the good times.

Sonja

What I Love The Most…

Photo by Anna Gru on Unsplash

The comment I receive the most about my writing is how my descriptions transport the reader into the world I have created.

That makes me smile. I love to “see” where my characters live and play. It’s what I love to read. I’m so glad that what’s in my imagination translates well onto the page. My favorite book is the Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary, by Marc McCutcheon. There are some sections that I don’t use, like “French Cooking Terms” and “Surgical Procedures.” But if I want to know what a “hand-and-a-half sword” is, then there’s a definition for it. (It’s an intermediate or small sword, smaller than a two-handed sword, by the way). There’s also a section on clothing, separated by major historical eras or shifts.

Hey, have you heard of a “ha-ha”? No, it’s not laughter. It’s a sunken fence or moat around a garden to keep animals out of the area.

Fascinating, huh?

I love creating scenes that you can fall into and live alongside the character. It makes the story more real.

Enjoy your own setting. Sonja