I’ve said, many times, that I’m not sure exactly what I should put in my blogs. I’m not sure what would be interesting to readers.

I’ve never considered my life particularly exciting, or any different really, from anyone else’s. I work, pay bills, try to balance relationships and friendships with the mundane. Cook dinner, do dishes, feed to dog…

So, I asked for some input. Help me know what would be interesting to you. What are some things you would like to know?

Today someone asked me a question that I hadn’t been asked before… “What’s it like? How do you figure out what to write? What does it feel like when you’re creating these characters and these worlds?”

Thank for that question! It made me really think. It made me dig deep down to find the answer.

What’s it like? Some days it like magic! Some days it feels like work. But most days it’s somewhere between the two. It feels like this story is tugging at my sleeve all the time. Some days whispering softly and some days demanding my attention.

Stories have always been my way of coping with the world around me. When things got hard, or confusing, I would disappear into a story my imagination would create to help me make sense of what was happening around me, or sometimes just to escape to a better place. A place I could make any way I wanted it to be. Stories helped me slow down and take the quiet moments to put things back in place. In stories I could be whoever I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted to do. They helped me find the words I needed to say. Find the emotions I needed to express.

Writing gives me opportunity to ask, “what if?” What if someone made a different choice? What if love showed up where it wasn’t expected? What if someone turned out to be braver than they ever imagined they could be?

I love that moment when a character stops feeling like words on a page and becomes a living, breathing, entity. I love when they surprise me, challenge me, or refuse to behave the way I planned. I love when I stop in the middle of writing a paragraph and can actually see what they want me to see. Hear what they want me to hear. That’s when I know it’s right. When the story and the characters take on a life of their own.

So, what’s it like? It’s like I get to live in two worlds. It’s amazing, and full of wonder and awe. And I’m so humbled and grateful to be able to share my stories with people who fall in love with the characters as much as I do.