Rain, Rain...

Yeah,  I know, I know... it's been a while.

It's raining here as I type.  In fact, after last year's drought, this has been an amazingly damp winter.  I'm not complaining, mind!  I'm glad of it.  Last year's drought contributed to the burnout of our well pump and therefore to the unplanned expenditure of a couple thousand bucks.  But I digress.

Actually, I like rain.  Rain somehow seems to make me more creative.  As I sit and listen to the rain falling on the roof, beating on the window, and pattering on the deck, it relaxes me.  And it changes enough not to become really monotonous--like a constantly varying source of white noise.  

While I sat here this morning, I've gotten three new ideas for stories and made a few notes on each one.  I've worked on a video teaser for a client.  And, I haven't had to beat my Muse with a club to make it happen.  (Good thing, too, because sometimes she takes it away from me and returns the favor.)

On the home agricultural front, our Boer doe, Hazel, is quite pregnant.  It seems Teddy, the buck, managed to convince her of his good intentions and, well, the natural thing occurred. We're expecting her to deliver her kid(s) in late February or early March.  It's a very cool thing, and I'm only hoping that Lara will not be at work when it happens.  After all, she's the nurse, I'm not.  But if I'm here on my own, I'll do the best I can.  We have a "kidding kit" all prepared and in a safe, easily accessible place.

Yes,  I do talk about the mundane, non-writerly things here.  But you see, it's the mundane parts of life that give ideas for stories.  The truth is, if a novel only includes the exciting bits of a protagonist's life, I find it boring.  Give me some of his or her day-to-day events.  Tell me what he had for breakfast before going out and getting shot at.  Tell me the name of her hairdresser and beauty salon, the one she's walking out of as she witnesses a hit-and-run accident.  Make the life of the character real, so I can connect better with him or her.  

Maybe that's why I have a hard time connecting with so many of the shows on TV lately.  I simply can't imagine being that person... I can't put myself into his or her shoes, perhaps because I have no idea what sort of shoes he or she actually wears.

Make some small helpings of real life part of the meal that is your book.  It will make it all the more appetizing for the reader.