There are some authors that I wish could write really, really fast, as I anxiously await their next book. When a new one does come out, I delay reading it, choosing instead to let it sit beside my bed while I read thrift store paperbacks, overdue library books, favorite blogs. Not only to delay gratification, but because the longer I wait to open that new book, the less time I have to wait until the next one comes out.

Several of us chatted before about Elizabeth Peters, so I thought I would like to bring up another author I like, who, by the way, is nothing like Elizabeth Peters.

Carol O’Connell has a mystery series out with a main character named Mallory. I won’t tell you her full name as that is one of the mysteries and a subplot in one of the books. Mallory was a street urchin picked up by a police officer and eventually adopted by him and his wife. She’s grown up to also be a police officer. She’s strong, independent, has a very small circle of people she trusts, and solves mysteries. Oh, and she’s a sociopath.

I first picked up a Mallory book because I was bored with protagonists who were beginning to all sound alike. I’ve stayed with this series because Mallory is so flawed, so injured from her past, so vulnerable. In spite of being one of these super strong female protagonists. I root for her while reading because I want her to find happiness. And yet I don’t want her to change because her sociopath behaviors not only give her strength but also, oddly enough, give her empathy for others who are also injured. She’s the classic hero of the underdog, even if she doesn’t realize it, and her methods are usually illegal. There is also humor in the things she does, and I have laughed often reading these books. O’Connell writes with a wry humor that catches me unawares.

You don’t have to read these books in order, but it does help to understand the character of Mallory if you do. Chalk Girl is the newest in the series, and I have finally given in and opened it. There’s nothing like the smell of a new book, the feel of pages not yet dog-eared, the sound of a book spine being cracked open for the first time.

Chapter One. A little girl, hundreds of rats, Central Park, a sunny day. Now there’s a combination to make me want to know what’s going to happen, where Mallory fits, and what she’s going to do. Excuse me while I go turn a page.

Last week a friend posted a beautiful piece on snow at http://sparksinshadow.wordpress.com/. Her words made me long for snow, as up until that day, our winter had been mild. I even commented on how I was looking forward to the predicted snow we were supposed to get within a few days.

That was before a nightmare trip on the highway that took hours of negotiating spun out cars, trucks, and buses, driving sideways in the road in my own truck, and seeing trees come down. That was also before spending three days with no power, running the generator, feeding the wood stove, watching more trees come down, and chainsawing our way out. I regretted my comment on that blog.

Only momentarily.

Because today I did not have to run a child to school, do laundry, and run errands. Instead, the snow has given me a whole day to write. How wonderful is that?

The photo below doesn’t show the depth of the snow that much. We have three feet right now and it’s still snowing. I’m going to see if I can find a way to send it back to the sparksinshadow blog. After I finish writing, of course.

The owner of a bookstore is offering a course on writing and has asked myself and two friends to host it. Of course we said no.

Right. Of course we greedily jumped at the chance. We will be meeting soon to brainstorm ideas, and here’s where my mind has wandered off to. Let’s see. Plot, character arc, dialog, setting, to outline or not to outline. Blah, blah, blah. How many times have we listened to people discourse on those topics?

It seems like eventually a writer ends up talking about their individual  writing process. And believe me, I’m not one of those who says a writer has to write my way or they’re doing it wrong. Which then makes me wonder, why talk about my process if it is simply what works for me? And who cares?

See how easy it is to talk yourself out of feeling like you have anything valuable to offer?  But seriously, how can you make such a course fresh and interesting? Well, of course it depends on the skill level of the audience. Brand new writers are going to be excited to talk about any of those topics. Writers who have been in the business a while, however, might want more.

That all sounds fine, but I still want a flash-bulb idea. I want to walk along the story river and find a rock of an idea that’s never been turned over.

I want to have people leave excited to write. That, to me, is more important than talking about whether to outline or not. So then the question is, how do you create and share that excitement?

I guess you talk about the love of writing because really, that’s why we write isn’t it? We don’t love writing because we get to plot or create a synopsis.

So help me out here. Why do you love writing? Or creating any art form for that matter?