When I Grow Up...

I want to possess the creativity of my mother. She is incredibly gifted in her ability to tell a story. I read a chapter of her soon-to-be-published novel tonight and was stunned at what I'd just read. I'm not just saying this because she's my mother, the lady is truly all that. To respect her privacy I won't discuss her work, but I will say this. Mouths will drop when this hits store shelves. I'm so proud of that woman. Now that's a storyteller.

Two nights ago I had to force myself to stop reading In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Copper. I was so captivated by two of her characters that I went on to dream about them. I was beside them and listening to their voices. Now that's a storyteller.

I don't seek fame or wealth from my writings, but will graciously accept these blessings if presented with them. I'm sure some would call me crazy, why else write books if you don't want to get rich and become a household name. I'll tell you why. Because money and fame, though nice, are not the indicators of a great read.

In my mind, the mark of a great story is someone not wanting to put a book down. Someone thinking about a character's motivations long after a book has been put away. A daughter making a blog post praising the words that her mother writes. I want that.

I want a woman to almost miss her train stop because she's reached the scene where my protagonist is about to reveal the reason why she talks to herself. I want to receive an e-mail from "Anonymous" who says, "Hi Jennifer, read your book and I must say that the stuff you write about, those are the types of stories that my grandmother in Mississippi used to tell me. Thank you for the memories."

That's what I want--what any storyteller wants. Talent and skill and the ability to captivate. I call this the foundation. All else--wealth, advances, making the bestsellers list--is merely the fancy house that rests on it. It can be blow away with the wind, but the foundation remains as it should be.

When I grow up...someone somewhere might have a dream about the people who first existed in mine.


xx