Patty Mayeux Blog

Writers are observers. We watch. We pay attention. We make stories from the seen world. We notice colors, patterns and unexpected beauty. We pause, take in the surprise and think about what it means in our world. We tuck it into an emotion-packed memory to draw upon in times of drought, crisis or solitude. We share our experience, telling about the pivotal moment, even if it is as minute as a wave rolling toward a foreign shore. 

Such a moment came to me on a recent walk along the beach. The crashing waves and calling birds whispered memories of my childhood growing up on the shores of a great lake. The sounds, the smells, the sky. Tiny flowers, a saturated explosion of deep yellow/orange, poked above low green cover sprouting between pebbles and rocks. The beauty of it stopped me in my tracks, nearly bringing me to my knees. I sat and recorded a voice memo for a scene in which my current protagonist falls in love with beauty, noticing a brilliant color for the first time in her sheltered life. Observe your world. Open your eyes, see what you see, be amazed and share it with your world.