I was just thinking how much I have learned through my writing. The opening page on my phone says: “I write to discover what I know.” Well, I’ve discovered that I need to learn new things as my stories take me places I didn’t even realize interested me. Examples: in It’s a God Thing!, I had to learn about Indonesia, about luxury living in a penthouse near Central Park in New York City, how churches feed hundreds of people a day, how to plan a celebrity wedding, and how to disguise my college town to avoid suits and changing reality.
In my newest book, Whispering Woods, I’ve researched 9.11 personal stories, organic farming, Victorian architecture, city maps of New York, menus, legal terms, real estate, the worlds of architecture, aquaculture, advertising, public relations, business, restaurant kitchens, volunteerism, and maneuvering the NYC subway system. So, in the words of the quotation by Flaubert, I discovered what I know leads to many things I don’t know yet, but want to know about to enhance the story.
It’s amazing how stories evolve. I am not one to plan the details ahead of time. The characters evolve as the story does, and as the story evolves, so do the characters. This is the first book where I’ve used an illustrator, and that involved a whole different skill set in making clear what I imagined in my mind translated into the very creative and talented mind of Sarah Chimento. She surprised me with details that are just perfect, and our individual perspectives melded into something truly magical.
And so, as I create the next phase of Whispering Woods Estates, with the ink not yet dry on the first one about to be issued, I wonder what new things I’ll learn about as guests come and go, the staff faces each new day, and the story unfolds.
I’ve no regrets except that I didn’t begin this adventure 70 years ago when the writing bug first started tickling me. I could have completed sixty or more books by now instead of six in four years! Maybe I just didn’t know enough! : )
About the Author
