Yesterday, I had a lovely conversation about books and plots and Big Ideas and...conversations. The popcorn magic of talking to someone excited and interested about what you are talking about (and vice versa) comes out of conversation, the exchange of ideas and words, tonality and energy, something we strive to recreate from our days after school or late at night on college campuses with trusted friends that wouldn't laugh at the crazy things that swim through our minds. It's the sort of thing authors try to capture on the page or bloggers on the screen; the give and take of dialogue that paints a picture of our lives--the ones that matter going on inside of our heads that we share infrequently with the people in our closest confidences.

All writing is a conversation.

The best books are the ones that made me think (Feed), the ones that made me feel something new (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) or something I forgot (Where The Wild Things Are, The Night Circus), the ones that made me look at the world--and its people--differently (Callahan's Crosstime Saloon), gifting me with brand new ideas both wondrous (Tuck Everlasting) or uncomfortable (Unwind). They are the ones that made me feel like the author understood me (Spider Robinson) or something about the universe (Kurt Vonnegut, Shel Silverstein, Mark Twain), or where the characters understood and I forgot that they were never real (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay). The stories welcomed me into a conversation with the author, the characters, but ultimately myself and I took the time to think about it, about my reactions, about what I loved and hated most and then I could turn to the people I felt closest with and say, "You *HAVE* to read this book!" or "Have you read this book? What did you think about...?" and start a conversation. A real world conversation. One that somehow transported itself from the words to my mind to the sounds out of my mouth or onto my own pages and the conversation kept going, transforming, reliving, and reaching out to embrace more and more people into new thoughts, new ideas, new connections, new friends. All out of a conversation. The ones that matter, anyway.

So, as writers, the question is: What do you want to say?

This. This thing? This is my printout of INDELIBLE line edits and they are complete. **Hooray!** Now I can concentrate on other things like this:

and this

and this

Ostensibly, I should be working on my next project. With the yet-to-be-named sequel already marinating in a drawer and several possible ideas on the kettle, I figure I'd languish in the pool of thought for the moment and wait until the right and proper thing rises to the surface. The one that cries out the loudest and demands to be heard. That and give my neck muscles a rest...did you know your head weights 10 lbs?!? No wonder I'm tired!

But for the moment, I want to savor the little successes. I turned-around my line edits despite physical challenges and holiday timing and made no excuses and got it in three days prior to deadline. It's a small thing, really, but it's something, and every author and mother I know out there knows to treasure these little somethings as mental Gold Stars to make it through the next time we feel overwhelmed or unable to get it done.

So now I'm looking out my office window and notice that there are leaves on the ground. Autumn's snuck up on me. This is the time to sit back and enjoy the crunch of apples, the chill in the air while walking outside, the spicy smell of woodsmoke and cloves--it's a time to reconnect with the things that make life beautiful, that time outside of the Have Tos and To Do Lists and make a little room in our heads for feeling thankful and prosperous and successful. It's Harvest Time. Sit back and take just a moment to realize all the things you made happen, all the successes you've brought to fruition, before you start this week (or the rest of today) and congratulate yourself on a job well done. If no one else is going to do it, might as well be you!

Ah, who am I kidding? As my son would say, "CONGRATULATIONS! GREAT JOB!"

(A cheering section goes a long way. Go get 'em!)