'Tis The Season

The cold leaches into bones turning fingers and toes numb while plumes of frost dance on each breath and Jack readies for the coming snows.

Leaves of green shed their emerald coats to assume the reds and golds, the beacons to the coming hunt of old.

Loki’s army, jokesters that they are, prepare in nooks and crannies for the mischief that must be.

Children feel the anticipation and mistake it for the joy of costumes to hide their innocent hearts.

Fires spring to life to chase away the chill, to hold the last heat and light of the growing times, to endure the dead.

Whispers fly on the winds of change, a call, a chant and stir to action. The Hunt is coming, the time is near.

The curtain falls, the veil is thin and the blood moon rises for the games to begin.

On All Hallows Eve, the children laugh while goblins dance in the streets and witches take that leap.

Every Little Ritual

Every writer has their own way to get in the zone. Some need to have their space set up just so. A certain order of events might have to happen for others. It’s a sacred ritual that many writers rely on, and I’m no exception.

I don’t have to have my writing space just so, I can write either at my desk or scattered across the kitchen table. I’ve also been known to nest into my easy chair with files and folders and papers spread all around me. I tote around my current WIP every where I go. Each space has to have a set order and its own unique ritual before I can pull the story from the Library.

My tools also have to be just right. I can’t use just any pencil, it must be mechanical with a rubber grip, size 5 lead, on the wide side with the clicker on the end and a good eraser. Not one of those rubber bits that just smug the lead, but a good one. I have to have wide ruled loose leaf paper. I also have to have a good red ink pen. Not one of those gel pens that smear if you don’t let it dry long enough. I like roller ball pens but they have to be reliable. I can’t sit there scratching waiting for it to warm up.

One thing that is universal in all my writing locations is the order in which I write. The first thing I write up is my goal list. What do I want to accomplish this time? Do I need to research anything? What other things do I need to write before I can start my WIP? Then I start on the smaller projects. A blog post, say, or a short story maybe. After that I dive into some research, but I only research the items I need to know for that writing session. Then, and only then, can I start the novel.

My Magic Morning

I’ve grown to really love my mornings and the silence in the house, the sleepy scene playing outside the window. I get to watch the sun set the mountain side of fire, see the flames lick down to the field below. Sometimes it kisses the dingy sides of cows, others the blaze highlights great birds in flight. Today, that field is empty, except a lone deer with her head bent to taste the dew.

Both girls are sleeping, little faces twitch with dreams and cheeks so rosy red. The cat is out, either hunting a rabbit or stuck in the tree. Mr. Fo, the forever fish, rests at the bottom of his tank. The only sounds inside this room: the click of keys, the sputter of coffee and the hum of the fridge.

I know this wonder will be short lived. I know soon enough the sun will finish her journey and her fire will leave the mountain a lush green. The babies will wake and fill the house with their unique music and the cat will beg for food as she hasn’t eaten all night, poor thing. Cartoons will drown out the crisp tap of words and the slosh of milk will over power the tinkle of coffee.

I find myself waking earlier each day, just for a few more moments of this magic morning. I gladly give up that little extra sleep for this time that is mine now. And as joyful as these few hours are to me, as priceless as they have become, I wouldn’t want it to last forever. That would ruin it, I believe. So, I’ll take this time and when the house awakes, I’ll bid it ado until tomorrow with a little grin and fully recharged to meet the crazy that is my life.

To Battle a Mirror

This has got to be the hardest thing I’ve ever set out to do.

I’ve driven across the country with less then $400, a 3 month old baby and an injured shoulder. That was an easy stroll to check the mail compared to this.

Working two jobs just weeks after having a baby was like tossing a TV dinner in the microwave when put next to what I’m doing now.

Fighting to join the Air Force was nothing more then a casual conversation with old friends, while this, this is a life or death pleading in an unknown language and I don’t even have a phrase book to help me along.

I’ve battled demons, tackled dragons and nightmares, and kept my feet when the earth heaved. I’ve overcome plagues, mutilation, sociopaths and horrors. I’ve fought a battle against an army with only a Shield of Crone, the Sword of Motherhood, and the Hope of Maiden.

But this, this path I’ve been laid, goes so far beyond that, my knees bend in awe, my heart trembles with fear such as I’ve never known before and my mind fights against the knowledge of what must be.

All of that was nothing more then a peaceful fall evening under an Oak. This, this is hard. This is rushing blind folded and bare footed across a newly paved six lane highway during LA rush hour. But my babies welfare sits on the other side.

And what is this? This horrific feat I need to do? This, my dear friends, is write. And that, believe it or not, is the hardest thing I will ever have to do.

Why? Because in order to write I must battle the worst demon you can ever imagine, myself. I stand between me and the book, the page, the word. The armor I wear is damn near impossible to get past. I brandish a flaming sword in one hand, a poisoned tipped cat-of-nine-tails in the other. I know my every move before I do. I can throw obstacles in my way I know are far beyond my skills to over come.

How do you fight a mirror? How do you get past yourself?

With head held high, the power of Knowledge by your side and little help from the Web Mistress, Liberian and knowing that you must.