I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. It is still the best time of year for me. I really knock myself out cleaning, cooking, baking, shopping and doing all the things that tradition dictates I should do. But this year things seemed a bit different. For some reason, the mercury didn’t rise on my enthusiasm, but I did the best I could.

On Saturday, the day before Christmas Eve, I left our daughter’s house where my husband and I had gone to spend Christmas and did something completely out of my league. I went shopping! In a store with wall-to-wall lines and shelves that reminded me of a pre-Hurricane Irma supermarket. But I stayed, hoping to get something to put under my daughter’s Christmas tree. As it turned out, I left the store hours later with two items, a bad case of frustration and a back that screamed for mercy.

After picking up a few items, I waited in line for about an hour and a half, before getting up to the counter. I told the cashier I wanted to get something from the locked cabinet for my husband. I left my stuff on the counter and followed the young man to the cabinet. Big mistake! When we returned, all my stuff was gone! Yes, gone! I approached a female employee who was gathering up every stray item in sight with the speed of an engine and throwing it into an empty cart. My face must have betrayed my ire for she gave me a look as if to say, “Don’t look at me.”

Long story short, I retrieved one item I’d bought for my daughter and that’s how I happened to leave the store with two items. I’d lost precious time and had very little to show for it. And so, my friends, maybe that’s the reason I got sick on Christmas Day. I came down with a nasty case of the flu – runny nose, sneezing and headache. I am a little better as I write this, but I think I learned my lesson. At least for this year.

As I look back on my almost futile shopping trip, I ask myself why did I do it. Was it to please my loved ones or to please myself? They would not have loved me any less if I hadn’t got them a Christmas gift. They are used to me giving them stuff, not only at Christmas but all through the year. Spending time with my loved ones and letting them know I love them is far more important than any amount of toys or baubles I could have bought.

To my fellow writers, and readers, let us reflect on what is really important -in our relationships as well as our work. Until next time, remember “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

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While on my walk this morning, I came across a couple staring at something on a tree branch. As I drew nearer, the woman pointed to the tree and said, “Isn’t it amazing how God puts so much detail into everything?” I peered at the tree to see what she was talking about, and there was a huge spider caught in a big web. I agreed with her that God is a God of details. Then I saw she had her phone out. “Did you get him?” I asked. “I sure did,” she replied. So I got out my phone and took two shots. See one of them here.

As I walked away, the word “details” kept popping into my mind. I immediately thought of my writing. As fiction writers, it can be very easy for us to focus on getting our plot just right; working out the conflicts, all the little twists and turns and surprises, while ignoring the details. But its these little details that make the story come alive and make the reader feel she is in the story, not looking in from the outside.  Let’s look at the paragraph below from The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George:

Warmth. Wind. Dancing blue waters and the sound of waves. I see, hear, feel them all still. I even taste the sting of the salt on my lips, where the fine, misty spray coats them. And closer even than that, the lulling, drowsy smell of my mother’s skin by my nose, where she holds me against her bosom …

Do you see, hear, feel and taste the details? That’s the kind of sensory experience you want to give your readers. This is not the same as clutter, which adds nothing to the story. If it feels cumbersome, it must go. But if everything fits into place, like the markings on a spider’s leg, then you are on to something. Like any craft, it takes practice, but eventually, you should get it just right.

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I will be taking my book Women For All Seasons on a virtual book tour from October 7 – 18.  I will also be giving away a copy of the book and downloadable excerpts to readers who visit the blogs and leave a comment. I will post all the details as the time draws nearer. Meanwhile, if you wish to jump ahead you can purchase a copy on Amazon from the link on your right, or from Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34069

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