Tag: writers write

Author's Life

Inside the Writer’s Mind with Binoculars

Carol Ann Erhardt

I had a little fun on my Facebook page, Books by Carol Ann, yesterday. I used my binoculars to watch a few hawks who’d perched atop electric poles across the pond from my office window. As I did so, my imagination began to kick into action, as happens with writers.

I wondered what neighbors would think if they spied me at the window with big binoculars! Would they wonder if I was spying on them, or if I’d seen something they couldn’t see. The more I thought about this the funnier it got, so I started posting on my page little funny posts about this.

Later I had brunch with my daughter and she and I started laughing about it. She decided it would be funny to come to my place and she’d take pictures of me with the binoculars peering through the slats of the CLOSED blinds. I agreed it would be hilarious to add this to the post. I had posted on my regular FB timeline, too, and that’s where she put them. I added them to my Books by Carol Ann page as well.

You are invited to come to visit my page to see the pictures and I hope you’ll leave a comment, too. Here’s the link or if you have Facebook, you can search for Books by Carol Ann. Like the page if you want to. I’d love to interact with you there.

I suppose the point of the post is that writer’s have very active imaginations. While my last book, Katy’s Heart, was not a romantic suspense as are my other books, I seem to always think of the what ifs in a suspenseful format. Thus, the binoculars. Perhaps they will appear in my next series…to be announced soon.

Author's Life

Midnight Insights

Carol Ann Erhardt2 Comments

Last night I woke with a very clear thought. “She wouldn’t have said that!” I know I should keep a notepad and pen on my nightstand, but there are reasons I don’t. I could have walked to my office and captured the thought, but doing so would wake me enough I’d have trouble falling asleep again. So I lay thinking about the need to remember. And tossed and turned for an hour and a half before sleep took over.

As a writer, I receive insights into what I’m working on in unexpected moments. Like in the shower. A pen and notepad would not help at such a time. Right? Can you imagine trying to write when the pen slips out of your soapy hand, and the water ruins the notepad?

When I had a full-time job, I would receive inspiration while driving to pick up food on my lunch hour. Can’t write and drive at the same time either. Once I worked through an entire new manuscript idea in my head watching it unfold scene by scene as I drove home from a writing conference 600 miles from home. Lose it all by the time I unpacked. My idea was to get a small recording machine to carry with me. Yeah, that didn’t work. Nothing came to me except the thought I should be capturing something important.

Thankfully I did remember the insight from last night. Now I need to make the change before I lose it!

Morning Thoughts

Why I Find Peace in Shorter Days

Carol Ann Erhardt

Fall is definitely approaching. Each day the sun rises later, so I’ve been sleeping an hour later. The sun is setting much earlier, too. It is dark now by 7:30pm. For an introvert like me, this change doesn’t bother me very much. It’s like an excuse for not being out and about.

Yesterday at my small group, we were discussing 1 Peter 1:22. The question was to talk about a time when an act of obedience led to being more holy. The most recent I remembered was stepping out of my comfort zone to join the small group just a couple weeks after attending the church. I explained how uncomfortable I feel in a group of strangers and how I’m very shy until I get to know people. They were so amazed to hear me say this. They would never have guessed I was shy!

One of the ladies said how she was in awe that a published author was joining the group. She asked how I could be a writer and still be shy. I explained how it is the perfect job for an introvert because I could write in the privacy of my comfort zone! I could interact with people without being face to face. Everyone laughed.

When I was young, I used the crutch of being funny to be comfortable. If people were laughing, they must like me. I realize this today, but then it was just a way of trying to fit in. As I grew older, people who didn’t know me thought I was standoffish. They didn’t see the scared little girl inside who wanted so much to be accepted. I never had the gift of conversation. I never felt good enough. I had low self esteem.

Maybe this is what led me to have a passion to write. So, as fall descends upon the extroverts who love being outdoors and with friends being active and adventurous, this change isn’t as easily accepted. As the days grow shorter, I feel the pull to sit at my computer and write. It’s my comfort zone.

Lifting my morning cup of tea and thanking God for filling my heart with a passion to share His love and goodness through the gift He has given me. May your day be beautiful and may you find joy in who God created you to be.