Wednesday's Word: Rain

This week's word has got to be rain.

But it isn't because I want to complain.
Yes, dismal, dark days are growing quite old,
and my basement steps are now growing mold.
But beneath their dark linings, the clouds show some white,
and every few days they allow the sun's light
to peek through with blue and dry out the rain
and bring color to Earth's every terrain.
True, good weather'd be nice to have everyday;
have the storms and the wind stay far away.
But endless sun would dry-up the earth,
fry the plants, prevent their new birth.
Just like anything worthwhile to know,
there must be opposition in order to grow.

Wednesday's Word this week: Green

A few days ago, before all the rain, after all that other rain, as I went walking I was delighted by the varying shades of green that I saw along the trail. It was like candy for my eyes, treating them with a visual treat. I decided that this week's word had to be GREEN.

Chartrueuse, moss, or pine,
shades of green define
the fresh landscapes of spring
and the new life they bring
to tired eyes like mine
after months of wintertime.

So when someone calls me green
in my development of scene,
or character, plot, or voice,
I think it's a lovely choice.
For as a new writer I know
if I'm green,
I'm full of life, ready to grow.

Book Review: Miles From Ordinary

Thirteen-year-old Lacey wakes to a beautiful summer morning excited to begin her new job at the library, just as her mother is set to start  her first day of work at the lockal grocery store. This is where the ordinary elements of this story end. Carol Lynch Williams pulls the reader into the head of her young protaganist as no other author can. She builds a scary, uncertain world, not one of science-fiction or fantasy, but of  everyday life through the eyes of a girl living with a severly depressed mother.

The book started out a little slow for me. This was probably due to the fact that Williams had to set the stage for her drama, just as science-fiction writers have to dedicate pages to world building because their story takes place in a setting unfamiliar to the reader. Also, it could be that the entire book takes place during the time period of only one day. The fact that she began her story with a dream and peppered the entire novel with flashbacks held me back from liking the story as much as I had enjoyed her first novel, The Chosen One. But the more I read, the more I was rewarded with a story that kept me on the edge of my seat and made me want to bite my fingernails down to the quick--even though I'm not a nail biter.

I did like the ending of Miles From Ordinary more than the Chosen One, as it gave me a closure that worked for me.

I realize that this book may not be for everyone, as it is quite dark in places and deals with subject matter to which some people may not want to expose their kids . But having grown up in a family that is racked with depression, I found it realistic and my heart ached the more for young Lacey--an innocent victim of the poorly understood disease of depression.

Wednesday's Word: Plant

This past weekend I was finally able to plant my garden. It's no wonder that the word that moved me this week is the word PLANT. Here are my thoughts on that word.

PLANT

To me, it's a viseral verb
or a life-giving noun.
To others it might be
a factory on the edge of town.
Regardless of your choice,
I have need to give voice
to the verb, a word of renoun.
To PLANT one usually begins with a seed,
whether a squash or a weed,
a good thought or good deed,
or a character in need.
Each then grows into somthing more,
something much larger than before.
But it never could have been
without planting that seed way back when.

I had so much fun doing the A to Z Blogfest, taking random words and writing my feelings about them, that I have decided to continue the fun, but only on Wednesday. I won't restrict my writing to any particular letter of the alphabet. I will simply write about an object or word that has impressed me from the past week.
Today, as I went walking, it was so nice to finally feel the warmth of the sunshine touching my face. So this week's Wednesday's Word is SUNSHINE

Sunshine on my face,
sunshine on my toe,
the sun up in the sky
is more important than you know.
It brings us warmth and life.
It helps the world to grow.
But there is another Son.
He too brings us light.
And warmth and joy and life
if we keep him in our sight.

You want to make it dystopic? Take away reading.

It's strange, the places that teach the importance of reading. I've been working on a new novel in a post-apocalyptic/dystopic setting. I just finished reading The Giver and am currently reading 1984 for as brain fodder as part of the process. Last night as I read in the Book of Mormon with my daughter, it talked about the importance of the brass plates. They not only kept a record of the history of the Nephites and the commandments of God, but a record of the language of their people. In other words, without the written word, the Nephite civilization would have gone the way of the Lamanites: illiterate, aimless, and a barbaric. This reminded me of almost all the dystopic/post apocalyptic novels that I've read. These dystopic societies all seem to have one common element: the absence or forbiddence of books/reading. I found it strange that before I even came to this conclusion, my WIP contains this same element. (Though it is out of apathy rather than regulation).
The words of the prophet Mosiah brought to light why the element of the written word is such a crucial element in a utopic world, and why a society turns dystopic without it.