Castle in the Clouds

Last night I drove through my old neighborhood. I caught a glimpse of the first house my husband and I had bought together; it still has the goose mailbox affixed to the front porch steps and I could see the fresh green sprouts of spring in the flower beds under the living room window. A couple minutes later I was paused a the stop light in front of the Kroger's we used to shop. It looked exactly the same. Even the parking lot had not changed - cracks and potholes aplenty. I don't normally have a reason to point my car in this direction. My daily work commute may whisk me by the old neighborhood, but the expressway leaves little time for reflection or even recognition. A quick glimpse of our old rooftop and siding is about as much as I ever see, and that's only if I'm paying attention. Last night, though, I had a reason to drive through this once familiar territory. A few weeks ago one of my instructors sent me an e-mail asking if I knew of anyone who might be in...

I've been thinking about this on and off all weekend. Friday night I made it to my writer's group biweekly meeting. I took an old but persistant story with me to read. This particular idea has been with me in one form or another since 2002. (That's seven years. Yikes!) Considering the number of years it's been rolling around inside my skull, I'd really like to get the rough draft hammered out. I'd like to finish it! So I opened up the folder where I've stored all the bits and pieces. Research data, scene by scene outline, premise, character exercises, and several false starts. I probably have ten very different first chapters. I opened several of the false starts, debating on which one I should take. Finally I settled on the one that I thought did a fairly good job of introducing the worldbuilding I've done. Then I read. I got some great feedback. They brought up things I hadn't considered and should have, things I will be sure to incorpo...