Honeysuckle, pirates, and magic wands

Well, spring has sprung (and may be almost gone) in this corner of the world; the honeysuckle on the front gate has exploded into bloom, perfuming the front walkway and drifting into the house — heavenly! Along the lake, the peach blossoms are fading already, the wild onions are heavy with their strange, bulblike flowers, and the dewberry vines are rife with delicate five-petal blooms, wreathing the low bushes where the boat-tailed grackles strut their stuff. And the wisteria — I went to the voodoo pew on the north side of the lake today, a roof of pale purple wisteria and a bench that looks like a thousand little crawdads. I just sat there for twenty minutes, breathing in that southern scent. If I didn’t know what was around the corner (already, it will be in the high eighties next week), spring would be my favorite season here.

The garden has had some setbacks, unfortunately. A blight has flattened my poor lettuce — except for a few brave plantlets — and although four or five plump red strawberries are ready to go, the broccoli and turnips aren’t faring so well. Harlequin bugs have turned the greens into lace. They’re beautiful bugs, gaily painted orange and yellow and black, but heck on cruciferous vegetables.

And I’ve been writing again, falling into that dreamland I love so much. It has been a bit more challenging to reach it lately, with all of the ‘businessy’ details of the writing life. And today I mainly did pre-writing work, a.k.a. ‘research’ — which for me means expensive trips to the bookstore. I’m reading about pirates right now, which is a fascinating subject; isn’t writing amazing? You can go just about anywhere in your daydreams; and with your magic wand (pen, pencil or laptop) you can bring your dream world to life.

And I’m meeting lots of new writers — both in my mystery class and in everyday life. It’s so exciting, watching the spark of possibility light up in someone’s eyes. I can always tell when someone has the fire inside, and yesterday, I had a lovely, lingering lunch with a soon-to-be novelist. Great fun! We all have stories to tell; sometimes it just takes courage to let them come out.

Hope your writing is going well… I’m off to fall into the pages of a book now! (Pre-writing work. Honest!) 😉