As I pen this it’s been raining for 32 hours straight. Perhaps we should be crafting arks and not novels. Of course, there’s at least a few of us working on ARCs right now. hehe.

Hey, if we’re not trying to laugh at this point in the winter/spring of never-ending rain…you know what they say, “Tears in the rain….”

Last week I told you I was trying desperately to find someone to sub for our April 15 workshop; however, I have not been successful as of yet. Worse case scenario, the time and space will be there for those who are not attending NorWesCon to have some quiet heads-down writing time in a different space. Sometimes moving locations helps spur creativity. But, once again, I will continue to find a solution. I heard from a couple of you that you decided to attend this convention and I’m thrilled to hear that. Again, it’s local, very affordable for the whole weekend and chock-full of writing panels and inspirational programming. So that is still very much an option for anyone not already attending.

Regardless, there is much work to still be done on our track of Level Up Your Writing! So far you’ve looked at lots of mechanical things — description, dialogue, lay out. Now we’re going to start looking at themes in the story and the tools used to reveal them. So take your chosen text and re-read as necessary, making note of themes. Maybe take a few minutes and journal out thoughts about what you think the themes are in the novel you’ve chosen. The biggest thing I want you doing is thinking about the text and deeply considering it. Next week there will be more definitive exercises, but thinking is part of the creative and learning process. We’re at that stage in this examination, so give yourself permission to just think.

Want to also tell you all about an event that’s headed our way on April 27:  Wine & Words at the Black Dog. So pencil in that early evening for a literary event that I hope will become a regular one. More details next week. Just mark your calendar today.

Also, I was trying to update the blogs on both my personal site as well as SnoValley Writes! some of them are linking to blogs that have disappeared. Please take one minute and respond to me with the link to your most current or “main” blog. Thanks.

Don’t forget our weekly writing cafes Tonight at Little Si Cafe beginning at 6 p.m. and Friday morning at The Black Dog Arts Cafe at 9:30 a.m.

Now your moment of Writing Zen:

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