Doing The Carrots And More

 

It’s Monday, the start of a new week, and I hope all of you Priscilla Bennett Friends had a peaceful weekend. I used to love the heat, but now that I’m older, I find it doesn’t agree with me. I was happy to stay inside with Harry. He had decided to “do the carrots” that he’d picked up at the grocery store in the morning for our little dog, Reilly. He got out two big pots and divided the six bags of organic carrots up to boil, then into the colander to cool, so he could chop them up bite-size and put them in freezer baggies to use as treats over the next month. I watched with admiration at his patience and dedication before I left him to his task to go into my office to write. Since our children had moved away from home, Reilly had taken their place. “It’s like he’s our baby,” Harry said. “What do you mean, ‘like’? He is our baby,” I said, and we both laughed.

In my book, I developed the Katie character first. She was a conglomerate of experiences I’d had in the emergency room, and I decided I wanted to shatter some of the stereotypes and develop a character that came from the upper echelons of medical society. It seemed to be more hidden than most, and it was an environment I was familiar with—nursing, doctors and surgeons and all the different levels of society we treated. I wanted to show that there were no boundaries to abuse, and I began to write down who this young woman was, and how she would react. It was more complicated than I thought, and I decided that I had much to learn. I had the idea that writing a book would be a snap, but it wasn’t, so I signed up for a fiction writing class close to my house. That was a turning point. I’d never had a community of writers I could talk to and discuss my ideas with and get positive feedback from—it was a great help.

Thank you, my Priscilla Bennett Friends, for listening and support. Please visit my website at www.priscillabennett.com to read this blog, make a comment, write your own story and get helpful information. Remember the Priscilla Bennett Pledge to help someone by starting a conversation, giving a kind word or a touch on the shoulder. We all have SOMETHING TO BE BRAVE FOR.

Have a good night,

PRISCILLA BENNETT XOXO