My tea bag note says “Plant Something” Dena Rubin.

Probably many readers have been planting lately, now that Iowa weather has decided to give us a chance.

I’ve been thinking lately about the seeds of ideas that come to us. A seed is so different from what it becomes with soil, water, and sunshine, and that’s how it goes with our story ideas, too.

Standing in a hallway one day, a character comes to us. It’s kind of mystical, and definitely a gift. What stirs us to feel this person’s reality, and the story they have to tell?

After months/years of fleshing out a heroine, she “feels” almost as real to me as the actual people I meet. That’s pretty amazing, when you think about it.

So I’m  posting a photo of Iowa corn…little seedlings that have already transformed into plants spattering rows. We’ll watch them grow all summer, through sunshine, storms, and scares. Just like our characters.