Autumn Leaves

The change of the season from Summer to Fall always gets the creative juices flowing for me. Something about the chill and freshness of the air. So different from Summer’s stagnant humidity. Autumn air is alive. It is rich with possibility.

Part of it is the back-to-school thing. It makes me crave clean notebooks and the smell of heavy hardcover books to read. (Seriously, you’d think I would have stayed in school longer, wouldn’t you?)

Fall is also a time of warm liquids on cold days – whether it’s soup or hot cocoa. I like mine with a dash of cayenne and cinnamon, to bring out the richness of the chocolate. It’s actually my favorite writing drink. But the calories – oy, the calories!

NaNoWriMo is also a Fall tradition for me. I take part just about every year, even though I’ve only ever finished it once. I suppose I’ll sign up again this year, too. The hard part is getting through the first two weeks. If I can do that, I’m set. But falling behind in the first two weeks is a set-up for failure.

The first year I did NaNo, I finished it. I turned out a 64,000-word pile of crap. It was exhilarating! The third year I began a story that never got completed. I hated it. Stuck it in a virtual drawer and ignored it for a year. Then something made me give it a second glance. It was excellent! I’m actually still working on it, and am having trouble with the ending, but the characters are full of life and the story flows. I promised my friend Jen that I would finish it by year’s end, and I will. Who knows what will happen after that? Maybe I’ll self-publish it. Seems like a better idea than flogging it around to myriad agents, wasting time and money.

One of my favorite parts of the season is walking. I take long, long walks all over the city, seeing the neighborhoods in the light of clear blue skies and changing leaves. I fill the iPod with playlists and podcasts, and wander for hours at a time, only coming home when my feet are aching. Of course, half the time I forget to take my camera with me, but c’est la vie.

If you’ll excuse me, i suddenly have a craving for that cocoa with cayenne…