Hey Blogger Family! Long time, no see!

#ithasbeenawhile

Indeed, it has. I feel like I’ve been to some dark places over the month and a half since I last saw everyone. My wife says it’s “end of school depression”, which I can get behind. Yet, at the same time, I wonder, what the hell is wrong with me?

However, I decided to write today, not about my own nonsense in my head, but about an author we saw a couple of weeks ago.

#okmydudewriteaway

My wife and mom have me reading the stories of Cork O’Connor from Aurora, MN, a fictional place up in the Northwoods, near Ely, MN. He’s the main character in a series written by William Kent Krueger. He’s written 22 books in the Cork O’Connor Mystery Series, and let me tell you, these are awesome books. I’m currently waiting for book 8, and am looking forward to summer to get a bunch of them read.

We had the chance to see William Kent Krueger speak in a nearby town, a rarity in rural Northeast Iowa, so we met my parents at the opera house to take that opportunity. On a side note, my father says they are “groupies” because they’ve seen him speak more times than they can remember!

#ohgoodness

Well, he spoke for about an hour and answered a bunch of questions as well. As an adult, seeing my first author speak, who wasn’t in a school or who writes kids’ books, he was engaging and told some great stories! The title of this blog is one of the things that he said about his own writing: “Words are like gems, waiting to be placed in a place where they can shine and sparkle!”

#wow

I’ve thought a lot about those lately, which is why I’m writing tonight. While my words may not be as sparkly and shiny as others, I need to get my out for them to glimmer! Listening to him talk about the joy he finds in writing, the routines that he sets, and the things he does to get himself, daily, to write. I listened to those things and just felt myself warming again to the thought of getting some words down on the screen.

So, find your gems, place them for those out there to admire, and enjoy watching them sparkle. Allow the world to see those gems as well. We all want to see your beautiful genius!

#youneedtodothismoreoften

Ya think? 🙂