I feel it in the crisp morning air when I take Ms. Cleo out for her early morning constitutional walk.  Morning has yet to break through at 6:30 a.m.  A crisp chill has relaxed the muggy saturated morning air of summer.   I’m glad I live in an area where seasonal changes are distinct.  Each one has its own flavor.  My favorites are spring and Autumn.

I’m pretty much self motivated when it comes to writing.  Of course I sometimes delay difficult decision rewrites.  There are times when I get so caught up in researching a minute detail until IO can spend weeks on it and still come up dry.

The conference served as a reminder to spend my hours wisely, to try something ‘out of the box’ for me personally and to keep my dreams alive.  For instance I’m well into reading again Al Capone does my Shirts   by Gennifer Choldenko.  This time I’m reading and dissecting the make up of her book simultaneously.  I’m not aiming to be the next Gennifer Choldenko but to pick up on clues that separate her from the rest of us. 

I had a special treat to come my way at the breakfast gathering on Sunday morning.  I met a delightful young lady from Alabama who lives not too far from Columbus, Georgia.  Soon another girl joined her.  She was a Georgia girl.  I like that!  My address you see is in Tennessee but my heart belongs to Georgia.  As our words exchanged she told me her mother lived in Waycross.  Wow!  Waycross, Georgia, was my  birth city as well as where I the years 13-15 of my life.  

Where will I and my writing be by the time the next Mid-South Writer’s Conference rolls around?