Letting My Monster Go

When a story has your agent’s final mark of approval, there isn’t a word to describe how wonderful it makes you feel. It’s done! Completed! YAY!!! It’s ready for that next step toward publication. At least that’s the way I thought I should feel. I asked a few other authors their feelings on finishing novels because I was very confused with mine. Most I talked to celebrated. They felt proud, relieved and were ready to move on to the next story. I, on the other hand, felt a little sad.

Benjamin Bohns came to me in a dream. He showed his face to me. I was the only one who knew him. I was honored that he picked me to tell his story. Me! A little house wife who lives in the Appalachia Mountains. Me! The world’s worst speller. I often asked, what did he see in me? He must have seen something because for years he was my friend. For years he let me in on his secret life and opened up to only me. For years, I secretly snuck away to my little corner and stayed up late with him while my husband slept on. For years, I got up early typing away…click, click, click…following his lead.

I've never experienced the sadness of sending a child away to college or to be married, etc. but I think I got a taste of that feeling when I knew Mr. Bohns’s story was finished. Like most children, they’re ready to leave and move on but most moms aren't quite ready to let their babies go. Mr. Benjamin Bohns is thrilled with what I’ve done and now he can live on even though he’s dead. I nurtured him well and gave him experiences to help him grow into a fine and proud skeleton. I know he loves me. That is way he’s pushing me to write again.

I guess in Dreadville Mr. Bohns has been pretty busy talking about what I did for him. As I start Dreadville’s next adventure, it’s amazing how many other monsters are waiting for their tale to be told. Who would you like to hear about next?

1.) The Blue Lady and Her Bleeding Hearts

2.) The Frog-Faced Bureaucrat and His Motor Bike Adventure

3.) The Pumpkin Fellow and His Tic-Toc Clock Shop

4.) The Red Devil and His Broken Tail

5.) Licorice Larry and His Man Eating Ice Cream Shopp

6.) ALL THE ABOVE

Once a Farm Girl Always a Farm Girl

When I was little, I remember baking in the sun while crawling down rows of vegetables and weeding for hours. I remember dipping recently butchered chickens in boiling water so I could pluck their feathers. I remember standing over bubbling pressure cookers making sure the temperature gage stayed just right. I remember thinking what a lot of wasted time.

Those were hot and miserable days. I couldn't wait to grab my pole and a can of worms and go fishing in the pond or at Flat Creek. I just didn't get why my Mom thought it important to put up food for the winter. I mean, it was easier to just go to the store and buy it. We canned everything; from watermelon rinds to turkey neck soup. At the end of the growing season, our basement was nothing but shelves of packed jars.

Now that I’m a Mom, my kids ask the question I never did. “If you can buy all this at the store, why do we waste so much time canning?”

I now know the answer. There is nothing more rewarding that opening up a jar rather than a can. There is nothing more rewarding than tasting freshness instead of tin. There is nothing more rewarding than a job well done. There is nothing more rewarding than a family working together. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing you can do it! And this one touches home, for it takes me back as a child; there is nothing more rewarding than knowing through the long winter months, you are not going to go hungry. Mom has just secured your life. Food is in abundance.