What to write.....what to write.....think....thinkthinkthink....think....think

I had been asking myself that for years.  I mean, it is like trying to decide where to eat on Federal Hill.  You could starve to death trying to choose.  Limitless options.  Likely satisfaction around every corner.

Finally, the voice said "For God's sake, just write something!"

"Yeah, but what is the most marketable......... how do I want to define myself.....what do I want to be remembered for?"  Quandary quandary quandary.

"WHO CARES?!"  The voice stormed off, totally exasperated with my waffling.

Once that mean voice left, and I could think, I asked myself what I loved about books.  The answer was easy.  It was that feeling of gleeful delinquency I had as a kid, reading under the covers with a flashlight, past my bedtime,  because I just could NOT put it down. (it never occurred to me that someone was putting the batteries in my flashlight - thanks, Mummy)

So, while there may be other genres to explore in the future, I am stepping out of the closet with juvenile fiction.   I hope I can pay it forward, aiding and abetting the next generation of kids reading under the covers with flashlights.

I tip my hat in reverence and gratitude to Mary O'Hara, E.L. Konisberg, Marguerite Henry, Ruth Christoffer Carlsen, Madeline L'engle, Norman Thelwell, Thornton W. Burgess, Ellen Raskin, Keith Robertson, Joan Aiken, Robert McCloskey, Robert C. O'Brien, E.B. White, George Thompson, C.S. Lewis, Betty MacDonald, it is just endless........salute!