"Reality Surprised"

"Fiction is more than a recitation of facts or author embellishments. It is reality surprised. It shakes us up and makes us see familiar in new ways. Fiction is like wrestling with angels--you do not expect to win, but you do expect to come away from the experience changed."--Jane Yolen

The day started out with the surprise of a spectacular dawning sky on what I thought would only be gray reality on my morning walk. Then, in preparation for a day of revision, hoping to come much closer to the final chapter, I picked up one of my favorite books on writing, Jane Yolen's Take Joy, A Writer's Guide to Loving the Craft, and discovered the above quote. No better inspiration to set the stage for tweaking and tightening--wrestling if you will--with words. A day at the desk, or BIC (a term coined by Jane for "butt-in-chair"), turned out to be a fun experience. I may not have "won"--but I did come away with a number of  improvements when some of what had become familiar flipped around and wanted to be expressed in surprising new ways.

And then imagine my surprise when, in surfing a few writers' blogs, I found word about an interview with Jane Yolen at Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market Blog. Here Alice further links readers to Martha Brockenbrough who offers a great talk with this author of over 300 books and counting (and also the second author ever to join SCBWI back in 1971). On Martha's post is also a video interview, where Jane discusses writing in general and also reads from her book, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night. It's a real treat--a "reality surprise," of its own. You might want to check it out.

All in all, a good day.

How about you? Any "reality surprised" events happening in your world? I bet there's a lot of that for those who are participating in NaNoWrMo (National November Writing Month), where--from last count--172,000 participants in this "seat-of-the-pants approach to novel writing" have signed up. The goal here is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I didn't sign up but I cheer on those hardy souls who have!

May all your surprises this November be happy ones.

Open Eyes, Open Hearts

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the

greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. --Roald Dahl

stock photo: kllproject.en

A great secret, it turns out, was hidden in the plane's belly.

While riding the shuttle from long-term parking to the Northern KY/Cincinnati airport for a trip to California last week, we learned for the first time about the World Equestrian Games to be held in the next few days in Lexington, KY--a mere 75 miles away. "Horses," our shuttle driver said, "are being flown in from all over the world. The first fifty came in that." He pointed to a huge FedEx cargo plane on the tarmac that we could see from the curb.

Fifty horses in one plane. That's a lot. And more to come, over a thousand more (plus 800 riders)--and from 57 countries. That figure blew me away, too. The countries represented run through the entire alphabet at least twice--from Argentina and Azerbaijan to Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico all the way through to Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela. The games will start this Saturday, Sept. 25, and run through October 10. It's the first time the WEG, held every four years, will be hosted outside of Europe. (You can find the story's coverage and original pictures at Lex18 News.)

I don't know about you, but it sounds like a pretty big deal to me. The world--represented by some of the most skilled horses and riding athletes--has come to our doorstep. For some reason, this amazes me, though I myself have had little experience with horses. (The time in college that I took horseback riding for a phys.ed. credit doesn't count. That experience will remain a secret--at least for now!)

Once we arrived in California, a stroller held secrets of another kind--baby Nicholas, four months old, tooling around the neighborhood with this doting grandma at the helm. I learned real quick that he was not content to just stroll, he wanted to see his little world. As long as he could see out, he was happy. But when a blanket was draped over the stroller's canopy to keep the sun out of his face, he changed his tune. He not only wanted to watch the world go by, he wanted to be a part of it.

One day his world will expand beyond the stroller to airplanes, too. Adventures will be embarked upon, surprises met, secrets revealed. Until then, I savor a specialness that should be no secret to anyone--babies are to be held, cuddled, cherished and loved. I'm so glad my plane took me to him. Our time spent together was precious--and too short.

Now I'm home, and I bring me with me a reminder: watch the world with glittering eyes, everywhere and at every chance. Take in as much as possible. Be open to surprises. Learn from the children. Yes, the greatest secrets are often hidden in the most unlikely places. 

What part of the wider world has opened up to you lately? Any recent surprises that you might even write about?