What do most people think of when they hear organic? By definition, organic means “of, relating to, or derived from living matter.” In the nutritionists world, organic means eating foods derived from plants and animals in its purest form, i.e., no chemicals, antibiotics, preservatives, steroids, and the list goes on. And to go along with organic food, we have organic cookware!

The movement toward using more organic products also includes clothing, laundry soap, body soap, shampoos and deodorants, lawn care products, home cleaners, paper products, food containers, and when you finish using all those daily items, you can finally sleep on your organic mattress.

Why writers fascinate people, I’m unclear, but for some reason when a writer tells an interested person he writes novels, his audience’s attitude changes with an inquisition like none other. He will run a whole gamut of common questions until he’s exhausted his grab bag, but the one he will always ask is, “Where do you get your ideas?” Or, “I have all kinds of ideas, but could never write a whole book.”

And in asking a room full of writers, answers will cover a wide spectrum. Perhaps some will share similar processes, but responses will be as varied as the stories found in bookshelves!

Upon starting my first semester in college, a good friend called me, her words tripping over her tongue with such speed, I comprehended few words—"creative writing class," "right up your alley." A creative writing class? Really? Where? I’d pored over the college catalog numerous times and would not have missed such an opportunity.

“Not here, silly,” she laughed, as if I were expecting too much from my college choice, a college of a small, intimate nature—smaller staff, smaller class size, smaller catalog.

Perhaps the title I assigned this blog is misleading. This is not intended to address words created in sentences and paragraphs to bring the opening scene of a story to life. Instead, I have been asked the question so many times—how did you get started writing or did you always want to write—I though I’d share my journey.

With each of my novels, research is a key component in delivering a story with as much credibility as possible. Readers are savvy. They have a wide knowledge of subjects, and if, by chance, a writer touches on a topic close to a reader’s heart or training and doesn’t get it right, believe me, he will be promptly informed of his mistake and with it, lose the reader's trust. Hiding behind the all-encompassing license of “fiction” doesn’t work.