Dancing in the Morning

Glorious, breathtaking, awe inspiring! The splendor of the sun-kissed scene that greeted me this morning was indescribable. Overnight, after days of damp gray dullness, golden leaves from the willow oak across the street adorned the ground, sprinkled the street, and sparkled in the shrubs like sequins on a denim jacket. The yellow gingko glistened in the light. I wanted to dance and twirl with leaves borne by the warm wind that lifted my hair and filled me with joy.

The world was blessed with a luminescence that sent me into the house for my camera. I didn’t snatch the camera and run out into that magnificent day as I wanted to. No, I began my yoga stretches, gazing out the window at the reds and golds of Japanese maples and crepe myrtles against the background of Foster hollies with their red berries shining in glossy green leaves. As I stretched, grayness returned and hid the glory of the sun. The trees no longer shone with jewel rich colors. In a matter of minutes, the unexpected marvel of the morning was gone, and I had missed the chance to capture it on film.

During the high that possessed me while the sun did its magic, I thought I wanted those bright, effervescent colors all over my house. Paint the walls with the reds, oranges, golds of exuberance. Then I remembered a previous fall season that seemed to last forever before the autumn colors faded and disappeared. I had loved the glowing colors that delighted my eyes and filled my heart, but after several weeks of such mind-boggling vivid colors, I found myself longing for the serenity of the more common blues and greens of the landscape.

That must be why God in his infinite wisdom gives us glorious mountain peak experiences for only a short while. We just can’t handle more. After the grayness took over this morning and the rain poured down, I was content to sit here in my chair at the computer and write. I’d never get anything done if I were out dancing with the leaves all day.

The Original Seven

I thoroughly enjoyed the SCBWI Midsouth Fall Conference in Nashville and was so pumped up afterwards that I could hardly wait to get back home to my computer. That’s why I’ve had to neglect this blog. I was up to my ears in revision of my novel that Kaylan Adair of Candlewick Press critiqued for me. Her interest in my story inspired me to revise it once again. I say once again because the manuscript would not be recognizable now to anybody who read the first lackluster draft. It has changed quite a bit since my critique group saw it.

One of the best things about the conference was being with my group again. Only two of the seven members had met before we were assigned as a critique group at the conference last year. Amazingly, we fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Because we live miles apart in three different states, we have been critiquing by email for the past year.

Why does the Original Seven, as we call our group, work so well? All of the members are good writers and respect each other’s writing. They have the basic skills, knowledge, and an unselfish willingness that makes them good critique partners. They carefully go over a manuscript and make suggestions to improve it in a way that makes the writer want to consider using their suggestions whether it is to improve the flow, correct grammar mistakes, eliminate erroneous information, or spark up the story. Plus, they accept criticism and consider every suggestion from the others without becoming defensive or antagonistic. We all know suggestions or corrections in this critique group are given to help the writer improve the manuscript.

Members of the Original Seven are similar in our love for writing and the desire to write novels for young people, but we are all individuals with different backgrounds, writing styles, and genre preferences. We know the others are always there, as close as our keyboards, and we know they will answer our calls for assistance whether it’s a question about writing, editors, agents, or research. We trust each other, and I love being a part of the Original Seven.

Who are these critique paragons? In the photo at the top, they are: Ruta Sepetys, Grace E. Howell, Christi Atherton, David Jarvis, Beth Dotson Brown, Maria Hurt, and Joyce Lansky.