This is the view from my office window.  (Click on it for a full-screen view.)  I love looking out at the trees and flowers, and at my neighbor’s red barn.  What do you look out at from the corner of the world where you write?

My mailbox is overflowing with wonderful things that I need to share with you all!  First, a fabulous poem from fabulous Zoe (yes, the same one who attended my writing workshop last weekend):

I love your amazing books
They always make me grin
I spend hours reading them
The books take me within

The Mother Daughter Book Club
May be the best series on Earth
The price on the back cover
Is much less then they are worth

They are worth more than money
They fill me with joy every time
And so I’ll tell you in this poem
Written all in rhyme

I can’t wait for Wish You Were Eyre
I want to see what happens next
I think I might explode while waiting
Until September, I won’t rest

I am a writer, just like Emma
And of course a reader too
I love your books more than words can tell
And so I’ll say thank you!

Thank YOU, Zoe!  :)

Next up, an amazing collage poster made by Eileen:

I absolutely LOVE all the details — so fun!  Thank you, Eileen!

And now an adorable picture of Janna:

How cute is THAT?  Thank you, Janna!

Here’s a very cool poster designed by Leah — it was the winning entry in Emma’s movie-poster contest:

Thanks to both Leah and Emma for this!  SO FUN!

And finally, a full set of mother-daughter book club bookmarks, designed by Rachel:

WOWZA!  Thank you so much, Rachel!  (By the way, if you click on the above image, it should expand to full screen so you can print it out and make your own bookmarks.)

See why I have the best job in the whole world?   I ♥♥♥ you all!

I don’t keep a journal or a diary, but once in a while I jot something down to capture a thought or feeling.  I came across this snippet I wrote a few years ago about my writing process (well, part of my writing process) that still holds true:

I wonder if other writers spend as much time “getting ready to write” as I do.  Am I turning into the Adrian Monk of the literary world?  So many little rituals – a cup of tea (Yorkshire Decaf and Stash’s Lemon Ginger are my current faves), a moment or two spent arranging my pens beside the armchair where I write, lap desk just so, phones turned off, small pillow tucked behind my lower back.  Hmmm.  Way too Monk-like for comfort.  On the other hand, perhaps I’m being too hard on myself—is what I do all that different from a pilot running through his pre-flight checklist?  I muse for a minute on the aptness of this metaphor.  Writing is definitely a lift-off of sorts, if only for a flight of fancy, and that scramble down the runway toward the work each day, that leap of faith into the subconscious, is not unlike an airplane surging from the ground into the sky.  And that sudden, upward-soaring feeling when inspiration kicks in and you’re thrust deep into the slipstream of the creative process is definitely akin to the wind beneath a jetliner’s wings.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?  Am I the only Golden Retriever out there, circling the rug before I settle down and get comfortable?  What are your little rituals for “getting ready to write”?