WHAT I LOVE

By Kelly Bridgewater

With Valentine's Day a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to write about five things that I love. I'm not including God or my family because those are pretty much a given. I know we all have things that we just can't imagine living without! I have those things I love, and I wanted to share them with you.

Let's get started:

1.) BOOKS-

          I love anything to do with books. The filled bookshelves. A new, unexplored bookstore. New books. I love to look at classic leather-bound books. I love to find a hidden treasure in a bookstore and take him home to live among my friends in my home library. With my Kindle, I love it too. Even though it is a physical book, and I can't smell the page or see my books lined on a shelf. I really enjoy taking my Kindle with me everywhere I go. That way if I start a book and it doesn't catch my attention right then and there, I can always switch to another book. Right now, I have downloaded 1000 books to my Kindle. Don't worry! Only 500 are downloaded to the actual device.

2.) SNOW-

          I know there are some of you out there are cringing, but I can't help it! I LOVE SNOW!!!! I always have. I watch the weather reports from December 'til March, praying for at least five inches of snow. I love winter the best. It is cold, and the world is quiet. Have you ever gone outside while the snow is falling and lay down in the snow and look up to the heavens. Peaceful! I love building snowmen, animals, and forts with my family. Sledding is awesome! I spend all day running up and down the hills, laughing and making memories with my boys. Nothing is better than spending hours out in the cold, then come inside, drink cocoa and play games. The perfect day! But of course, Indiana hasn't gotten a lot of snow in the past twelve years, so I feel cheated. Lord, bring me more snow!

 

My golden retriever, Happy

3.) DOGS-

          I'm a little partial to my golden retriever and beagle, but I have a soft spot for dogs. They are warm and cuddling. What is better than to have an animal that loves when you come home! My husband knows that for the rest of our lives we will have a golden retriever. My golden retriever is my only daughter and she means so much to me. She is well-behaved and loves to just sit next to me when I write, read, or take walks through the countryside. She is my constant companion. I even refer to her as my only daughter. I can't imagine my life without her. She has been around for almost ten years, and I don't want to lose her ever!!

4.) NATURE WALKS-

          I really love taking a walk through the woods, especially in the fall and winter. Nothing is more serene then spending time with your thoughts and my golden retriever. Some of my best story ideas occur while I take a stroll through the woods. Also, some of my favorite moments are spent in prayer with God as I walk along. Those moments resound in my soul.

vrundavan.wordpress.com

5.) MY CHURCH FAMILY-

          We are a part of a Married with Children Sunday School class, and it has about 11 couples in the class. All of us have children and are walking through this life together. We have books and Bible studies that we do as a group, but there have been a number of weeks where we don't talk about the book. Instead, we lift each other up in prayer and seek God's face. We spend time helping out each other's houses and meet for dinner once a month where the kids can roam free and play while us adults take a break and enjoy our fellowship. I'm truly grateful that we got plugged into a great Sunday School class as we journey through life and our relationship with God together.

Here are just five things that I LOVE. How about you? Is there anything, besides God and your family, that you LOVE? Leave a comment and let's start a discussion.

Write What You Read

By K. L. Bridgewater

I have heard this told to me a lot of times by a number of different published and unpublished writers. It is good sound advice. If you had read a lot in that genre, then you probably understand how the genre works the best. You have subconsciously woven in your brain where the inciting incident occurs, how many bad things have to happen to make your character squirm, and how satisfying the ending has to be.

As a young girl, I enjoyed reading The Baby-sitters Club and Sweet Valley series, but I gravitated toward their mystery series, which is why I probably spent one summer reading all fifty something Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene.  Yes, in one summer. I couldn't wait to return to the library and check out another one. Even if the library was a two hour bike ride, one way, from my childhood home. It was worth it.


One of my favorite books is The Count of Monte Cristo. I was assigned to read that book during my freshman year. I signed up for a senior level creative writing class, where I couldn't wait to write stories and get graded for it. The teacher passed out a copy of the book to everyone in the class. We would have weekly quizzes on certain chapters, but we were suppose to have the book done by the end of the semester. That night, I went home and after all my other homework was done, I pulled out Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece and started reading. I finished the 1000+ page book in one week. I truly enjoyed it. Revenge. Escape from prison. Sword fights. Buried treasure. Betrayal. Romance. It was great. Today, I return to the hollow pages of that book every winter.

Recently, I found Sherlock Holmes. Great books. I love how Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the books over one hundred and twenty-five years ago, but you would never know that by his verbal skills. It flows like a modern day novel. Mystery. Action. On the hunt following clues. I always try to find out who did the mystery before Sherlock Holmes does.

Trust me, I took a class in graduate school on the beginning of the novel from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and I hated the way some of those authors wrote. Way too much description and interior monologue. I really don't care what the characters are wearing. Maybe that is why I can't stand Jane Austen. Too boring! Don't throw stones at me. The girls I went to graduate school already gave me the riot act because I won't read Jane Austen. 

Another one of my favorite authors is J.K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't read a lot of fantasy. I have tried, but I get bored. But these three authors have created entire worlds with their writing, that I love getting lost in. I love walking through the halls of Hogwarts, rummaging through the wardrobe to Narnia, or traveling the countryside to Mortar or the Misty Mountain. Also, books I like to read in the winter.

Because of these great authors, I try to write suspense that will be lasting and stick with the writer for the rest of their lives. I would love, in the future, someone told me they would pick up my book and read it every winter because they enjoyed my writing.

What authors influences your writing? What book do you keep returning to every year, wanting to learn more and experience that rush of happiness?