Easter Sunday

About 7 a.m. this morning, I stepped out to pick up the newspaper and noticed our neighbors tiptoeing around their front yard. This is a hard-working couple (a physical therapist and a teacher) with a teenage daughter and another who is about four. Sunday mornings are usually pretty quiet for them and I was about to wave and holler howdy when it dawned on me that they were playing Easter Rabbit as quietly as positive. I gave them a thumbs up and went back inside. I haven't checked to see if the hunt has taken place, but their activity reminded me of when my husband and I played that role for our sons. What they loved was for us to re-hide and further re-hide the eggs. No way did I do the fancy coloring. Neither did we get carried away with chocolates, etc. In other words, Easter celebration for the kids was pretty simple, something I'll never regret

In a round way, this experience has a lot to do with the way I approach writing. I have a friend who does amazing humor for Harlequin/Silhouette and her 'of the minute' narrative blows me away. She knows what's in, what's hot, what is new and now. That's what makes her writing so cutting edge and leave me in her dust--at least in that department. Me, I keep things simple. My characters don't have high tech careers because I wouldn't even know how to begin researching those careers.

Example: Last month I sold the first of what I hope will be at least a trilogy for Loose Id. Storm Howl takes place about an hour from where I live because I know the area. No research needed. It touches on re-introduction of wolves because I've written several nonfiction articles on the complex subject. My characters have careers that speak deeply to this area--he's a logger. I was comfortable with the physical world and understood how my hero feels about this physical and extremely dangerous career. With those elements out of the way, I could concentrate on the growing relationship and the paranormal elements which took off in directions I hadn't anticipated and thus fascinated me.

In essence then, I tend to write about what's within my comfort zone. That said, I have to laugh because like everything I do for Loose ID, Storm Howl is erotica. When I started writing in this genre, it was anything but in my comfort zone.

So, in closing, do they still make those yellow marshmallow ducks?
Vonna
www.VonnaHarper.com