IRON SHARPENING IRON
No, I'm not talking about skillets or knives. :-) We wield a pen, er, a computer keyboard, but it's still a tool that we use to advance the Kingdom, and sometimes it needs sharpened. I know you're wondering what the heck I'm yapping about so I'll tell you. A bunch of writer friends got together and brainstormed ideas. There's something special writers congregating together. Only other writers "get" the excitement when an idea just gells and we see how the pieces fit together, only someone as peculiar as I am understands when I say "No, that won't work because I have to kill someone and this sounds like women's fiction." Only another weirdly bent person nods in agreement when told they have to torture their characters more and create more dissension.

I just got home from Kansas City. We call ourselves the Kansas 10: Nancy Moser (perfect hostess though she made this fabulous toffee that made me gain five pounds), Deborah Raney (who looked fabulous and skinny this year but swears she hasn't lost weight), Judy Miller (who only seems quiet until you tell her she could create more conflict if she makes one of her characters an out of wedlock pregnant girl), Stephanie Grace Whitson (Higgins) (newlywed still who reminded us all how if feels. :-)You'd never know by watching her quilting that she's a motorcycle mama), Mel and Cheryl Hodde (Always ready to help me kill off a character and have fun doing it. They're always good for melatonin or any other supplement I forgot to bring), Doris Elaine (Till) Fell (our grande dame of fiction who had us eagerly urging her to write Esmeralda's story), and my husband and me (plotting a new series set in either Wyoming or Montana. Curious yet?). If you're counting, you know that's only nine, but we were missing Rene Gutteridge this year.

Anyway, I came away from the weekend recharged, focused, and ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. I'm a big fan of brainstorming. With other writers who have other experiences you can really hone a story and make it sing. I think it makes ANY story better. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot! You'll be glad you did!