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My Journey as
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MY BOOKS ON AMAZON

Pterodactyl Eggs and Dino Chicken

10/31/2016

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I've been having a difficult time understanding the inner emotions of my protagonist in my MG historical novel. At first, she was stubborn, fun-loving, and devoted to her family. She cared deeply about the people and animals around her. I felt she was well-rounded, but lately she has begun to feel hollow and without emotion to me. My fear is that Rachel has developed into an adaptable character. Not that being adaptable is bad. After all, she has been captured by Apaches. But I couldn't see--or write--beyond the corner I put her in and her adaptable response to her situation. That is until I had a lunch of pterodactyl eggs and Dino chicken with my granddaughter.

Pterodactyl eggs are egg whites that are allowed to roam free in a skillet until they are fried into a large oblong blob. My daughter made them for her daughter when she refused to eat anything that came from an animal. They made a game out of looking for cracks in the make believe shell, and somehow that made eating it okay for a five-year old. A year later, Dino chicken was added. The small pieces of white meat cut into shapes of various dinosaurs became the only protein the then six-year old wouldn't tun her nose up at.

​Today, my  granddaughter and I sat down to a remembrance lunch of pterodactyl eggs and Dino chicken in honor of her mom, and It's amazing what an imaginative lunch with an 11 year old can do for a writer. As she talked about the good times when her mother was with us, and the bad times that we have worked through this last two years, I began to see how adaptability can actually be a life jacket. It can keep your head above the waters of depression and uncertainty. It can keep your emotions just below the surface where they are safe and close to your heart. It can keep the world at bay, and cocoon your sorrow. But it also allows moments of happiness to peer through the fog.

The look on her face, and the deepness of her pain and joy made me realize that I am not seeing a hollowness in my character. No. Instead I am seeing only the surface in Rachel--the life jacket that she has chosen to keep her afloat in an alien world. It's given me a new perspective, and a need to bring some of her emotions to the surface. Who would have thought that pterodactyl eggs and Dino chicken could be so inspiring? Or, maybe it was the wisdom I found in the heart and mind of an eleven-year old who has experienced the pain of loss. Thank you granddaughter.



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Non-Fiction Can Be Exciting!

10/15/2016

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There was a time when I thought that fiction was the only way to write a page-turner, but that was a long time ago. Today, there are so many exciting non-fiction books available that I am drawn to the library's overstocked shelves as soon as I walk in. Non-fiction can stimulate the brain and put the reader in touch with feelings long forgotten. It can inspire courage, integrity, love, and a yearning to write that long dreamed about memoir. It doesn't matter whether it's an essay, an autobiography, a biography, a factual account of an event, or an author's take on an event, every piece of non-fiction has the ability to excite the reader. So what makes an exciting book of non-fiction? Character. The writer's character that it.

Character is defined as an individual's moral and mental qualities--an individual's personality, nature, and even temperament. Every book written displays a slice of the writer's character. It's evident by the pace, the style, the sentence structure, and even their choice of words. If it's an educational work or even a cookbook, the reader can see the writer in the choice of pictures, maps, captions, and even how the work is presented. Take Ree Drummond's Pioneer Cookbooks for example. The reader is enticed by the colorful photos, but they keep reading because of the Pioneer Woman's take on food and everyday life. 

If it's a biography, or even an autobiography, the reader can understand the writer through his or her visions, and versions, of the past and even the future. My favorite book in this non-fiction genre is "I know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. Through her choice of words, you feel what she felt as a black woman and understand her struggle. But, she tells it in such a way that you are inspired by her experience to be a better person, open your heart to love, and to make your life, and the lives of others, matter. Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom" is another book that takes you on a journey you didn't anticipate, but when the journey is finished you are inspired, hopeful, and touched in ways that you will never forget.

If it's creative non-fiction, then the writer shows his or her personality through the story he or she weaves. Laura Hillenbrand's books "Unbroken" and "Seabiscuit" are two such books. From the story Hillenbrand weaves around each of these two events, you can see her compassion, her empathy, and her penchant for the truth as raw as it can be sometimes.

​Yes, non-fiction can be exciting if the author has character and allows it to seep through his or her written word. Personally, I love non-fiction. I love to read it and write it, but I also love fiction. That's why my present work in progress is non-fiction. My only hope is that my character does it justice.







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    Photo bySamuel Ferrara on Unsplash

    Sherry Alexander

    Dreamer, believer, reader, writer

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