I CAN SEE IT NOW....

"Writers must read and read some more, so that your bloodstream is charged by the alcohol of fiction and you come, at last, to feel and see and believe in the visions that fill your head."  Hallie and Whit Burnett

I have always loved to read.  Always.  This Sunday, I read an article in the paper about Marguerite Henry's novel, Misty of Chincoteague.  Instantly I was catapulted back to my childhood and my dog-eared, beloved copy of that book.  I read it over and over...imagining the wild ponies on that island.  I carried a desire to go and see for myself for many years, until someone told me they had huge mosquitoes big enough to carry you off...so I crossed that adventure off my list.

But - the story had such an impact on me.  I read Henry's other books, too, like Stormy, Justin Morgan Had a Horse, and King of the Wind.  The illustrator, Wesley Dennis, came to my elementary school for an assembly and sold packets of his illustrations on tables in the gym.  I kept that packet on top of the old upright piano in our house forever.  Actually, I guess my parents threw it out when they moved to a new house after I was in college.  The town of Warrenton, where I grew up, was in the middle of horse country...almost everyone either had horses or rode horses.  I even took riding lessons for a while - keeping the visions of Misty in my head.  I soon discovered, however, that horses are really big - and when you fall off, it hurts!  So - that ended my equestrian dreams. 

Henry's books had the ideal effect on the reader.  At least, on THIS reader.  I could see that horse in my mind...I could picture that island...I could smell the sea spray and watch the wild ponies swim...visions so clear and believable.  Her written words created a world I could know - without ever being there. 

That is how I want to write.  That is what I strive for.  It isn't about using big words, or writing long descriptive passages...it is about simply telling a story and making it real.

Oh course, now that I am older, I realize that Marguerite Henry knew it was best to leave out the part about the blood-sucking mosquitoes.  A wise choice.