Penny4athought's blog

Writers create little worlds of wonder but where do these stories come from? I know it is different for each writer for we have our own rhythm and flow…require different stimuli…and know what effectively works for us may not work for everyone. For me, when I write, it is visual…the words flow from what I see, or I should say what I imagine. I walk through the scenes in my mind’s eye almost in a trance, imagining and typing the descriptive words...

1/1/2021, 12:02am...I sit on my porch watching the fireworks bursting in the night sky over the rooftops of celebratory neighbors, reflecting on those drizzling, dazzling colors of isolated celebrations and it takes me back in time. All the New Year day celebrations I've partied through with bright eyes filled with the promise of a new year, celebrating that hope with friends and family...and yes, that look back is very clear to me…as turning...

The full Halloween moon shines eerily on empty roads, devoid of trick-or-treaters or any human souls. The shadows play in fields of corn and forests filled of ancient oak trees. The veil of separation thins tonight to peek within is dare or fright. Halloween stirs the otherworldly imagination and delights with chills and thrills of fright. I cast my spell upon my home with decorations on my lawn and although this year will bring no trick-or-...

One day when I was really feeling down about something, my mom taught me how to crochet the pattern for her blankets. I was young and had so much going on beyond home that although at the time I did learn how- I only made small attempts to make one of my own, never having more than a row or two for my attempts. While my mom was alive and could have helped me, I never found the time to start another one and after she was gone, I couldn’t remember...

I've got too much time on my hands –but that’s not a complaint exactly, it’s a cry for organization. I am still home and staying safe waiting for the cases to decline again and I decided to use this time as a gift and give my writing a daily focus, which while I was working full time was never a possibility. So I’ve restarted several stories I’d left unfinished- but somehow I’ve started them all at the same time. That wasn’t the plan; it just...

I've been trying to expand my sight – my writer’s sight that is- I've always leaned fully into the romance genre and the magical adventure story and I do add touches of science, so I’ve begun to wonder if I have it in me to write a straight science fiction. The plot isn't the issue, I love science, but the characters are challenging. I bend towards highlighting the attraction between characters...so to a true write science fiction adventure, I’d...

A writer knows when a character has taken full form. They become real to them. The dialogue flows like true conversations and the next line writes itself, because the character's personality dictates it. That’s when a writer will tell you, they are in the zone. The story is practically writing itself. The words are images of movement and you know immediately when a line is not right, it doesn’t fit the character, it wouldn’t be what they’d say...

The golden sunshine gleams off the cars ahead of me as brave birds dart across my line of vision flying from stoplight pole to tree limb. It’s a perfect day outside. I lower my visor to block the glare as I keep the required car lengths/per mph distance behind the car in front of mine. This has become the new way I take a walk, using my car and, with the amount of traffic increasing everyday, I must not be alone in this change of walking mode. I...

A new story has grabbed my writer’s attention and I’m slowly falling into that place writers go, that trance like state when you’re thinking up a new plot. I love the newness...the twisting, turning possibilities...the fun of something new. It's the essence of creativity having that blank canvas before me…I can slowly see the story forming and for me it's always at night that I find my creative spirit thriving. I'm not sure why but I guess I'm a...

I have not been posting much lately as I've been on a journey of learning the world of self publishing, learning how to format an eBook and a paperback- both apparently have different guidelines, and I’ve had to learn book cover guidelines as well. Doing all of this manually and on your own is daunting for a not always so computer literate being as myself...so It’s been a slow process of getting it right but I am slowly...very slowly...figuring...